Need help making a decision

[hencrazy]

I have a 8' x 15' completely enclosed pen with a 4' x 8' raised coop. I was using this to house a few chickens, but have recently added to the chicken population and ended up building them a whole new pen and coop. I now have this empty pen that's driving me crazy. I would love to get a couple ducks, but I don't know if this would be big enough. If it is could you tell me what the best breed would be - I live in MN. The coop is very well insulated and heated water is not a problem. Also wondering where I can get some good info about ducks and how to properly care for them. I grew up with ducks but ours just lived outside and it was survival of the fittest. Apparently ours were very fit cuz we had more ducks than we knew what to do with.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[chickboss]

I would say that is more than enough room for a couple of ducks. And with all your amenities, I don't see why you couldn't keep any duck that you would like. You just need to figure out what you would like you duck to do, such as make eggs, meat, just beloved entertainment, ect. The most important thing is to get a breed of duck that gets you excited.

Storey's Guide To Raising Ducks is the must read, but I did really well with the Hobby Farms Guide To Raising Ducks for the first bit as well. They are really pretty easy, and very hardy. Good luck!

Ducks are FUN!

 

[dumb_cluck]

I like Mallards. They can fly, but they are so smart (and cute, and pretty, and....)

 

[chasing ducks]

Personally I think runner ducklings are funny to watch and they lay a lot of eggs, but they are kind of high energy. Cayugas don't lay as many eggs but are beautiful birds. I live in New Hampshire and we have massively cold weather here too, if you look at my signature you'll see what I have and they all have been doing fine here.

 

[hencrazy]

I'm glad to hear that my setup should work for a couple ducks. I'm a little concerned about the fact that the pen is all dirt from the chickens scratching in there. Would I need to put bedding over the ground? How stinky are these guys when confined? What do you guys think the best bedding for ducks is?

Next question - what should I get??? I stayed up half the night doing research and I still can't decide. The biggest problem is trying to find a place to buy them. I can't order them because I only want two.

My first breed of choice was initially the khaki campbell, but then after I did some research I found out they are pretty high strung. My next choice was a dutch hookbill, but I was not able to find a single place in MN that sells them. Next I picked the Welsh Harlequin - same situation as the last. I would absolutely love runner ducks, but they are such active birds that I would feel guilty about confining them. We have a lot of neighbor dogs and the birds can only be out when I am home to watch very closely. Any other suggestions???

Also wondering what type of Purina feed is good for ducks - I usually use the Layena pellets and Start and Grow for my chickens and chicks and have been very happy with the quality and the results.

I have a silly question - How tall are runner ducks? Just curious!

I'm sorry for all the questions. I like to know what to expect and I love getting suggestions from people who have experience.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[duckyfromoz]

Quote:
When standing totally upright they can be up to about 25 inches tall for drakes- slighly less for ducks.

 

[maralynn28]

I had the same problem as you and chose WH and Cayuga. I heard Cayuga can do well in confinement, and they are just so pretty...plus who can resist the occassional black eggs! LOL The WH are harder to get, but Cayuga are very common from what I understand.

As for Purina feed, they have Flock Raiser which they say is specially formulated for waterfowl. I think even the chicks can be on it. The feed store (and website) say you can feed it to them from the get go and they don't need starter, grower etc until laying age when you switch them to Layena (or mix Layena with Flock Raiser).

I checked out the Storeys' Guide to duck raising from the library... From what I got from there no bedding needed, they will probably get muddy but they like to dig up the ground too so would do that anywhere where they have access to ground anyway. That's what ducky pools are for: to swim and bathe.

Good luck! How exciting for you!

ETA: Storey's also has a duck breed comparison and duck/chicken need comparison chart in the book to help you decide.

 

[Amiga]

I think three or four runners might be okay in that run, especially if you can get them out to other areas from time to time (I have temporary fence that seems to work fine for that purpose.)

Having pea gravel around their water areas is recommended in Storey's Guide. Also, making sure the run has very good drainage. I have very well drained soil, and we are at woods' edge, so I put some dry oak and maple leaves in their pen so they can rummage around in it. I plan to have at least a section with organic matter for them to go bug hunting in.

Some people use sand in the pens.

My runners just like to have something to do. Give them some water, some greens, some leaves to mess around with, and they seem quite content.

 

[sianara]

Your 8' x 15' run is 120 sq feet total. IMHO I wouldn't put more than 2 standard sized ducks in that space. My 3 Golden 300 hybrids have a 10' x 15' (150' sq ft) run and mess it up quite a bit overnight. They also have a huge yard (500+ sq ft) bujt they are confined to the run at night.

My run has 4" sand (with all kinds of little pebble/rocks in it) as flooring on top of a wire base and I am in the process of building a 7' x 12' addition that will be floored with pea gravel instead of sand. I'm adding 5 more ducks (from Metzer Farms) to my flock and want ample confined space for all of them. New run will be 234 sq ft divided by 8 large ducks = 29.25 sq ft per duck.

Now if you considered bantam ducks you could comfortably house a pair and let them have a few ducklings also but I wouldn't house have than 6 adult bantam ducks in that space. Yes, they will survive but happiness and health are extremely important to me and the more space you can give them the better.

BTW, Metzer Farms in Gonzalez CA http://www.metzerfarms.com/ does offer small duck orders now and you can order as few as TWO ducklings http://www.metzerfarms.com/MinimumOrders.cfm?CustID=71983. They have a small order charge of $12 (which is really $32 which would include up to 7 ducklings or similiar but read the details at the 2nd link) but for me it was worth paying that and getting only 5 instead of having to order their usual minimum of 10 and having to rehome 5 ducklings. Been there, done that and it's a pain!

It looks like the only bantam ducklings they have though is Mallards. I've dealt with Metzer in the past (7 years ago) when I got my hybrids and they are very friendly and professional people.

I bought a pair of Australian Spotted bantam ducks from Holderread's Waterfowl park last October http://www.holderreadfarm.com/. They were six months old and are doing fantastic. They are housed in their own yard which is 320 sq ft total which includes a house/run of 60 sq ft. I will let her brood 2-3 ducklings next year (if she wants to that is

)but I probably won't house more than 6-7 adult bantams in this space.

Good luck, keep us posted on what you decide to do. Please PM if you have any further questions on these two waterfowl farms.

 

[hencrazy]

Haven't made up my mind yet, but I have neighbors that I didn't even know existed. They have a lot of ducks and geese. They are going to let me take a couple of their runner ducks for a week or two just to see how my setup works out for them. Also they cautioned me about confining ducks and how messy and smelly the run will be. This will give me a crash course in Duck 101. If it doesn't work out then I guess I'll have to get more chickens!