New Duck Parents

[ncpf13]

Hi, all. About a week ago we had two female ducks come to our yard and settle under our deck for the evening. My guess is that they came from our next door neighbor who picked up and left in the night, abandoning both cats and ducks and left them all to fend for themselves. We know a thing or two about cats, so they're no problem. But we know next to NOTHING about ducks. We've had chickens before (and the ducks are now safe in our chicken run) but these girls are a complete mystery. Advice?

 

[Goosebaby]

You’ll need a waterfowl or mixed flock oriented feed, something that has enough niacin and other B vitamins for ducks. If you’re up in the U.S something like kalmbach flock maintainer, nutrina all flock, purina flock raiser, purina duck feed, etc.

You’ll need buckets, lots of buckets and enough patience to fill all those buckets. Ducks like their water filthy. The filthier it is the better it tastes. If you have chickens you really don’t want them drinking duck water for health reasons so you’ll need to be cleaning buckets a lot, or somehow separate the chicken and duck water sources.

Ducks also like water to swim and play in, a baby pool will suffice.

To keep mess to a minimum it can help to keep their food bowl in a low bus bin with a bucket of water or next to a bucket of water.

Ducks are hilarious creatures with big personalities and can be very loving, they’re also naturally unhinged with varying degrees of neuroticism that can ebb and flow by the hour so it’s best to prepare yourself mentally and spiritually for whatever they’ll throw your way depending on their mood.

 

[TheDaringDucks]

Welcome to duck parenthood!

It's possible they were dumped ducks, especially if they are drakes. To tell, listen to their voices. If it's voice is low and raspy, more like a grumble, that's a drake. If it's loud like an actual "quack" it is a hen. And IF either are drakes they should not be housed with chickens because come mating season and the drakes will get too frisky and could seriously hurt or kill your chickens. But that's not til late winter/early spring so you've got some time to figure it out. You could separate them into their own living space or try to rehouse them. If they are females for sure, great! They can be safely housed with chickens!

Be sure to give them a water source that they can dunk their full heads into (easiest I've found is a bucket with a 1.5 to 2 inch hole drilled in the side). This is necessary as unlike chickens ducks need to clean their nostrils (called nares) by submersion.

Uhhhh... Duck specific feed is a good point that Goosebaby already covered...

Hmmm what else... I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but feel free to ask specific questions!

 

[TheDaringDucks]

OH! Also! I'd love to see pics of your ducks! If you care to share!

 

[Yardmom]

Do you currently have chickens? Or are you just housing the ducks where the chickens have been?
If you are housing both chickens and ducks together no need for different feeds. Grown ducks can do fine on a standard poultry (chicken) feed, but nutritionally all flock food with around 20% protein would be better for all the birds. Keep oyster shells on the side. Ducks do make a mess in water, but can drink from most chicken waterers. Deeper water for cleaning nares is needed daily. Black rubber bowls work well. For swimming a kiddie pool can be used. Grown chickens are fine with either, but you may need to be creative if you have chicks.
Most ducks don't roost, so they will need floor space for the nights.
As far as if one or more are a drake ...keep an eye on it. Generally drakes that were not brooded with chickens will not try to mate the chickens, but with live animals you never know what might happen.