New duck owners! Wooohooo!

[nachoqtpie]

Tweety- We do have plans for an outdoor run. We're going to make an 8x24 enclosure for the ducks, and we plan on getting some chickens as well here in a couple of months, so by this fall we should have 4 ducks and 6-8 chickens. I believe that we're going to use 2 dog houses for the ducks. We're in a subdivision so I'm not super worried about predators other than cats, dogs, and hawks. I don't even have a fence around my garden, and other than the occasional cat... I've not had any intruders. I really want to put a stock tank in there for the ducks, but I'm trying to figure out if the chickens will be okay with it in there.

Apyl- Well... I was just guessing really. I thought they were mallards too when I first got them (they were labeld "assorted ducks"), but when I posted on TEG, some people were saying that we should call them Rouens instead because you need a permit to have mallards. I don't care what they are really... they're just adorable.

I'm hoping that I have just 1 drake and 3 hens. If THAT happens we might start raising meat ducks. Dunno yet tho.


Fluffy- I'm hoping to keep my duck addiction to a minimum. We only have so much room!

 

[Apyl]

Apyl- Well... I was just guessing really. I thought they were mallards too when I first got them (they were labeld "assorted ducks"), but when I posted on TEG, some people were saying that we should call them Rouens instead because you need a permit to have mallards. I don't care what they are really... they're just adorable.

I'm hoping that I have just 1 drake and 3 hens. If THAT happens we might start raising meat ducks. Dunno yet tho.

No worries, I was told when I got my first pair of Mallards from people here on BYC that they looked like Rouens but after doing a TON of research I found the differences between Mallard and Rouen. But yeah if you need a permit to have Mallards but not Rouens lol I would call mine Rouens also lol. Good luck with your ducklings I hope you get your 1 boy and 3 girls. So far our first pair is both girls and the 5 2week olds we can't tell yet, in about another 2 weeks we'll know if we got some boys. DH really wants a couple boys.

 

[tweetysvoice]

Tweety- We do have plans for an outdoor run. We're going to make an 8x24 enclosure for the ducks, and we plan on getting some chickens as well here in a couple of months, so by this fall we should have 4 ducks and 6-8 chickens. I believe that we're going to use 2 dog houses for the ducks. We're in a subdivision so I'm not super worried about predators other than cats, dogs, and hawks. I don't even have a fence around my garden, and other than the occasional cat... I've not had any intruders. I really want to put a stock tank in there for the ducks, but I'm trying to figure out if the chickens will be okay with it in there.

That sounds great! I have a stock tank pond in there for my ducks and the chickens just ignore it. They really won't head that way if the ducks are splashing in it. I've had a couple look at it and drink out of it, but other than that, they are more interested in scratching on the ground than going near the water. You can see the pics of our set-up here, It's for 4 chickens and 4 ducks. We'll be getting more chicks next year to keep a nice rotation going for egg laying.

 

[nachoqtpie]

How old do they need to be before I would be able to sex them accurately?

I know you kinda "open" them and if you have a male you will get a umm... surprise?!

*giggle*

I'm going to say they're a week old... I really have no idea tho. LOL I don't know how long they had been at TSC before we got them. Sometime this week I'm going to put them outin a large dog crate for a little while so they can get some fresh air and grass

 

[nachoqtpie]

Tweety - I seen your coop! It's amazing!! I actually think we're going to do stock tank above ground tho because I want to be able to easily use the water in the garden without baling it out. Less work for me, and the end result is happy plants AND happy ducks! LOL I can't wait until we start building tho! As soon as my husbands back pay for the VA comes in, we're going to build. It should be here within the next week! Neither one of us are carpenters, but our neighbor is! I'm going to have my husband ask him if he can help up get the lumber/fencing, and possibly assist a bit with building the coop. I'm PRETTY sure I can handle putting together the run... but you never know!

 

[Apyl]

How old do they need to be before I would be able to sex them accurately?

I know you kinda "open" them and if you have a male you will get a umm... surprise?!

*giggle*

I'm going to say they're a week old... I really have no idea tho. LOL I don't know how long they had been at TSC before we got them. Sometime this week I'm going to put them outin a large dog crate for a little while so they can get some fresh air and grass

I have a set a Mallards that are 4 weeks old and you can tell they are females because the feathers coming in are deffinitly female. Luckily the male versus female feather colors and pattern are different so its easy to tell once the feathers start coming in. Here is a pic, the larger duckling is 3 1/2 weeks old the littler ones are 1 1/2 weeks old in this pic. If you look at the large ones feathers she deffinitly has the female pattern on her feathers and colors. And yes she is a Mallard she was originally all black just like the little all black one behind her, I have no clue why she or the other one are all black but the feathers are coming in identical to my properly marked Mallard that is the same age as the big duckling.

 

[QuackerJackFarms]

I think you might have a mallard there. They are so precious!

And as far as the permit thing.. I think if your TSC can sell them, then you wouldn't need one in your state. But I need to look into that, because I don't think you need a permit for "domesticated flying mallards".

That whole thing is something I've been wanting to research.

Anyhoo- I would vote mallard. Here's a profile of one of mine for comparison..

 

[nachoqtpie]

Well.... looks like I might have a couple mallards then! Lol

Do your Mallards have speckled feet? One of mine has patches of hite on its black lil feet. They also seem to be getting longer darker feathers on their tail?

 

[QuackerJackFarms]

Well.... looks like I might have a couple mallards then! Lol
Do your Mallards have speckled feet? One of mine has patches of hite on its black lil feet. They also seem to be getting longer darker feathers on their tail?

Ya know? I don't think I've ever looked at their feet. LOL. I'm going to put them away now and I'll take a look.

 

[tweetysvoice]

Tweety - I seen your coop! It's amazing!! I actually think we're going to do stock tank above ground tho because I want to be able to easily use the water in the garden without baling it out. Less work for me, and the end result is happy plants AND happy ducks! LOL I can't wait until we start building tho! As soon as my husbands back pay for the VA comes in, we're going to build. It should be here within the next week! Neither one of us are carpenters, but our neighbor is! I'm going to have my husband ask him if he can help up get the lumber/fencing, and possibly assist a bit with building the coop. I'm PRETTY sure I can handle putting together the run... but you never know!

We thought about putting it above ground, but that's one of the reasons that I got the spitter. I Just turn it around, point it at the lawn, and it drains it within 1/2 an hour!

Well.... looks like I might have a couple mallards then! Lol
Do your Mallards have speckled feet? One of mine has patches of hite on its black lil feet. They also seem to be getting longer darker feathers on their tail?

I had to look at Goose, my mallard, and yup. She has black speckles on the feet. Here's a pic from a few weeks ago that you can actually see her feet in:


This is what she looks like just 3 weeks later:


(Goose is the one in the middle) Ignore her blue wing. I had to use BlueKote on it since we are having an issue with a bully pekin.
They grow FAST! Take lots of pictures. We'll come home from work and I sware they've changed since the morning!