Nervous newbie

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Sarah8

Sarah8

Chirping
Feb 6, 2022
8
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Hey guys- new here again after a long hiatus of researching and planning and then chickening out on having feathered friends!

Any advice on my following ideas?
Thinking that ducks would be an ideal situation for me to have some feathered friends for egg production and company!
I live in the high desert of Oregon… so can be hot, but also very chilly- and usually very dry!! Not the typical rainfall you think of for PNW. The duck poop may dry a bit easier and be less a mess, than in other more wet areas… altho winter with snow has me scratching my head! 🤔

I’m thinking it would be easier to keep water from freezing in a pond (horse trough), and bucket than it is for chickens with smaller waterers… and that I could also use their pond/muck water for neighboring garden. I’ve also heard ducks are way more heat tolerant than chickens, meaning if I took off for a camping trip in the middle of summer, I wouldn’t have to worry as much. Same as in winter- they’re pretty hardy and don’t mind the snow so much?

It seems a lot less stressful to build a tiny duck hut as well, as opposed to a coop for chickens that is larger and requires more skills than I have currently 😂

I’ve also been told ducks are more hardy when it comes to any kind of diseases or stresses…

I foster a lot of 4 legged friends as well… so I guess I’m wondering if the duck run/pen should be outside my fenced property or within… and how often do your ducks needs to forage and free-range? Do ducks get predation from hawks or more so raccoons/skunks etc? We have quite a few hawks during the day so I’m wondering on species which might be best or if that even matters.

Thanks for listening to the rambling! Insight appreciated!
 
Hello from Oregon as well! ❤️:highfive:

Ducks are great! They are messier than chickens with water and feed and they’re poop is more gross! 😂 💩 ducks also tend to be more flighty than chickens, this depends on the bird but all the ducks I’ve had are way more flighty then my chickens. I have heard they are pretty cold tolerant and I would assume they are heat hardy because they can cool down very easily by taking a swim. And yes it is way easier to keep water from freezing with ducks because they are in it constantly, make sure their water is at least big enough for them to dip their whole faces in. Are you thinking of getting ducklings, it adult ducks? How much ? What breed? These are all questions that will depend on the supplies you need the coop and run you need, etc. but yes they have predators similar to chickens hawks owls coyotes bobcats foxes minx weasels dogs or cats. As far as putting their coop inside or outside of their fenced area if you put it inside of your fenced area and you have dogs running around there make sure the run and coop is very secure so that they can’t attack them. How often you free range them depends also on how big your coop and runners and basically you’re perfect personal preferencHow often you free range them depends also on how big your coop and run is, and basically you’re personal preference. If their run is really big then free ranging isn’t required but if you have very minimal space in your run then you might want to free range them more to make sure they don’t start picking on each other. I hope this answered some questions! Please tell us if you have any more questions! ☺️💕
 
Jenessa_096 said:
Hello from Oregon as well! ❤️:highfive:

Ducks are great! They are messier than chickens with water and feed and they’re poop is more gross! 😂 💩 ducks also tend to be more flighty than chickens, this depends on the bird but all the ducks I’ve had are way more flighty then my chickens. I have heard they are pretty cold tolerant and I would assume they are heat hardy because they can cool down very easily by taking a swim. And yes it is way easier to keep water from freezing with ducks because they are in it constantly, make sure their water is at least big enough for them to dip their whole faces in. Are you thinking of getting ducklings, it adult ducks? How much ? What breed? These are all questions that will depend on the supplies you need the coop and run you need, etc. but yes they have predators similar to chickens hawks owls coyotes bobcats foxes minx weasels dogs or cats. As far as putting their coop inside or outside of their fenced area if you put it inside of your fenced area and you have dogs running around there make sure the run and coop is very secure so that they can’t attack them. How often you free range them depends also on how big your coop and runners and basically you’re perfect personal preferencHow often you free range them depends also on how big your coop and run is, and basically you’re personal preference. If their run is really big then free ranging isn’t required but if you have very minimal space in your run then you might want to free range them more to make sure they don’t start picking on each other. I hope this answered some questions! Please tell us if you have any more questions! ☺️💕
Click to expand...
Btw sorry for the typos, I was writing really fast, lol
 
Jenessa_096 said:
Hello from Oregon as well! ❤️:highfive:

Ducks are great! They are messier than chickens with water and feed and they’re poop is more gross! 😂 💩 ducks also tend to be more flighty than chickens, this depends on the bird but all the ducks I’ve had are way more flighty then my chickens. I have heard they are pretty cold tolerant and I would assume they are heat hardy because they can cool down very easily by taking a swim. And yes it is way easier to keep water from freezing with ducks because they are in it constantly, make sure their water is at least big enough for them to dip their whole faces in. Are you thinking of getting ducklings, it adult ducks? How much ? What breed? These are all questions that will depend on the supplies you need the coop and run you need, etc. but yes they have predators similar to chickens hawks owls coyotes bobcats foxes minx weasels dogs or cats. As far as putting their coop inside or outside of their fenced area if you put it inside of your fenced area and you have dogs running around there make sure the run and coop is very secure so that they can’t attack them. How often you free range them depends also on how big your coop and runners and basically you’re perfect personal preferencHow often you free range them depends also on how big your coop and run is, and basically you’re personal preference. If their run is really big then free ranging isn’t required but if you have very minimal space in your run then you might want to free range them more to make sure they don’t start picking on each other. I hope this answered some questions! Please tell us if you have any more questions! ☺️💕
Click to expand...
Thank you so much!! I have plenty of space so i can make their run large if I need to… lots of decisions to make! Haha! Thank you!
 
Hi and welcome back! You have lots of questions and concerns, which is great. I just picked up on this one:

Sarah8 said:
I took off for a camping trip in the middle of summer, I wouldn’t have to worry as much.
Click to expand...
Your concern was about them being more heat tolerant than chickens. But my concern is for their safety. I have chickens, not ducks, but where predators are concerned, their needs are pretty much the same: somebody has to lock them into a safe environment about dusk, and release them in the morning. Here in SE MO we have raccoons, opossums, skunks, snakes, coyotes, foxes, dogs and feral cats. Where you are, you may also have rats, bobcats, mink, weasels, fishers, cougars and bears. Domesticated birds need a predator-safe enclosure to protect them from these marauders, particularly at night. If you take off for several days and nights, leaving your birds to fend for themselves, you may not have any birds to come back to.
 

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