My Love Affair With Ducks...

[shawluvsbirds]

Just look at my brooder-setup of this year: Food, Water, blank heat-pad and a freaking egg-carton as the duckling cave! - I can't believe how much time (and duck-tape) i invested into to »Building a Momma Heat Cave for Ducklings« last year. The ducklings are perfectly happy sitting on that heat-pad with a cardboard box over their little heads. If the heat-pad is full of poop, i rinse it down with the garden hose, if the cardboard-box is too poopy, i get another one out of the endless Amazing supply…
Compare that to the elaborate setup of last Spring:

I must have been crazy! - And of course the 'lings trashed their place within days!
It's the same symptom as with fthe first kid and every other kid after that:
View attachment 2330021
As with the water: Ducks can overstuff themselves, remember the episode when my ducks ate too many grasshoppers, but that usually only happens to young and greedy ducks. Every morning Blanca Duck alone gulps down at least two scoops of cat-food without anything to drink. Then she kicks over the water bucket and guzzles it all up from the ground. Seriously: My ducks prefer to drink the dirtiest, ickiest water from wherever they can get it over a bowl with nice clean water. Clean water is only good for »corkscrewing«.

I worried myself to death over my first ducklings trying to make sure everything was perfect.
I now know I was crazy too. Duckin crazy.

 

[Mimi13]

They are soo cute! I was wondering, do you have chickens paired with your ducks? Because we were thinking of getting ducks and putting them with our chickens? Do you have any suggestions on that? I know that is off topic of this, but just wondering.

Someone said on this thread that the ducks would soon rule everything. And after having mine for 6 months I see the truth in their statement. My poor chickens, all of them except two, run, run, run when they see my Ralphie Dux or Petey Dux (Ralphie is the male and, despite the male name, Petey is a female...named by my grandson.)

For a while I was thinking I would have to separate the two species. Once I found Ralphie Dux “hitching” a ride on one of my sweet little Ameraucanas. No Bueno! I know it scared the bejeesus out of her.

I spend a lot of time outside with my creatures and from what I’ve noticed lately is the chickens high-tail it when they see the ducks coming. It’s generally just Ralphie Dux that runs them...away from their water, away from their food, out of their lot/house. But, but, but, any of the chicken watering holes are fair game to the ducks. It’s kinda aggravating.

Every once in a while my chickens will be preoccupied eating something I’ve thrown out for them and the crazy Ralphie Dux will sneak up and get ahold of some feathers. He is very stealthy and can hold on pretty good as they flap and run and squawk to get away.

But I’ve also noticed the chickens and ducks usually are not around each other much unless I’m outside with them. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed that nothing happens when I’m not out there. I would prefer that they’d all be able to range the yard together.

 

[Mimi13]

I know you can't pair chickens with drakes. Hens are fine. Drakes will sex everything and chicken hens are not physically designed for that. So if you just have duck hens. You should be fine.

This is true.

 

[Mimi13]

I worried myself to death over my first ducklings trying to make sure everything was perfect.
I now know I was crazy too. Duckin crazy.

I think that’s what we all do.

I even tried to make sure everything was perfect for my first broody and her babies — only did that once!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Yes I was joking. I thought it was a good one. A hundred ducklings would make me laugh. So 50 would be enough?

Nah! Just 50 or 100 ducks? That's not adequate for such an important event like a wedding:

All the best i wish for you and your new wife!
May you never run out of duck eggs. ​

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I am surprised Hillbilly wife has not left him. Every time he gets more ducks I figure it’s the last.

She loves to eat duck eggs!
And holding little ducklings.
And feeding them meal-worms.
And watching them hiding under White Man's Foot leaves...

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

They are soo cute! I was wondering, do you have chickens paired with your ducks? Because we were thinking of getting ducks and putting them with our chickens? Do you have any suggestions on that? I know that is off topic of this, but just wondering.

I know you can't pair chickens with drakes. Hens are fine. Drakes will sex everything and chicken hens are not physically designed for that. So if you just have duck hens. You should be fine.

You can pair chickens with a ducks and you can have a few drakes. But only if there are enough ducks for the drakes, like five ducks per drake or even more. Otherwise, as @Magnolia Ducks said, it will be likely that the drakes try to mate with a chicken, which is really bad for the poor chicken…

 

[Mimi13]

You can pair chickens with a ducks and you can have a few drakes. But only if there are enough ducks for the drakes, like five ducks per drake or even more. Otherwise, as @Magnolia Ducks said, it will be likely that the drakes try to mate with a chicken, which is really bad for the poor chicken…

It also looks pretty bad for the poor duck too!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

First off, I can’t believe you have your brooder set up on tables in your office. But after seeing this picture I better understand the story of the sweet potato poop stain!

I will have to say my ducks did not use the heat plate like my chicks did. It was mostly used to sprawl out on. It put them a little higher so they could shoot poop a little higher on the kiddie pool wall and on the cardboard box I had placed behind the heat plate once I had to relinquish the entire bathroom to them. It also let them see past the brooder wall a bit better.

I’ll have to agree about dirty water. Mine would rather drink the water from the pool’s overflow as it runs through the yard and into a hole they dug. Silly ducks.

“Clean water is only good for »corkscrewing«.” This quote of yours couldn’t be truer!

It was quite nice to have the ducklings inside of my office! - Imagine lousy cold weather outside, snowflakes flying horizontally while you are sitting in a comfortable chair, sipping on a huge pot of hot sweet tea, watching little ducklings exploring their world.
In the evening i turned off the light in the room, while working on my computer, only the green banker's lamp on and i could hear the little ones peeping in their sleep.
And farting and shooting out stinky meal-worm poop…

Even today those ducks are much more bonded to me than all the other's.

I wouldn't do that again with 14 ducklings, but two or three would be nice…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Oh dear, I’m thankful I can hold mine, well some of them. Quinny and Peaches aren’t much for being picked up at all.

I guess I’m naive as to what damage a duck can do. I hold and hug them like they’re stuffed animals, with no thought of them hurting me. I suppose I’ll find out.

Well, the saying »Being pecked to death by ducks« comes from somewhere. A furious momma duck can cause some superficial damage, i will never forget Katharina duck scratching my back bloody, while clamping on to my ear… And there are some videos out when a drake bites into an imbecile's nose. I would never let the bill of any bird come too close to my eyes, even the tiny round bill of a duckling can cause a serious injury to an eyeball.
Other than that i am usually more afraid of their weapons of mass poopification!