New Duckies

[HeartlandChickens]

Hello! So we have had chickens for less than a week and my husband brings home 3 ducks today. I know nothing about ducks. I bought them their duck food and set up a brooder for them in a large tote and put a heat lamp on them and they seem to be settling in okay.

Here come the questions.

1. The ducks he brought home were straight run ducks. How do we tell the sex? Or do we just wait and see if we get eggs? If he did get 3 males do we need to worry about fighting or will they be nice?

2. For their house for when I move them out of the brooder, how much space do I need to plan per duck? For at night and during the day.

3. Is a kiddie pool enough water for 3 ducks?

4. Nesting boxes? is a 12x12x12 good enough? Just 1 for the 3 ducks or do they each need their own?

Any help or advice or anything else I need to think about?

Thank you guys!

 

[Knighstar679]

Unless you vent sex you won't be able to tell until they start quacking or rasping. That will happen at about 6-8 weeks. If you got three males your good usually. It is if you ended up with one female and two males you might have an issue with over breeding in the spring do to hormones. (I just had to make the decision to rehome two black east indies because they were all trying to mate my single female).

Space per duck depends on what size your ducks are but usually 3-4 square foot per duck is ok but some people get by with a large dog house.

Nesting boxes, ducks don't often use them usually something like a large kitty litter box or an upside down smaller tote works good with shavings in it when they decide they are going to use them. Usually they will dig in the bedding and lay their egg sometimes they will bury it and others they won't.

kiddy pools work great for ducks. They aren't usually picky. My ducks use dollar store dish pans all winter for their pools. just try to have a ducky water thing too.

 

[Jlw0903]

Unless you vent sex you won't be able to tell until they start quacking or rasping. That will happen at about 6-8 weeks. If you got three males your good usually. It is if you ended up with one female and two males you might have an issue with over breeding in the spring do to hormones. (I just had to make the decision to rehome two black east indies because they were all trying to mate my single female).

Space per duck depends on what size your ducks are but usually 3-4 square foot per duck is ok but some people get by with a large dog house.

Nesting boxes, ducks don't often use them usually something like a large kitty litter box or an upside down smaller tote works good with shavings in it when they decide they are going to use them. Usually they will dig in the bedding and lay their egg sometimes they will bury it and others they won't.

kiddy pools work great for ducks. They aren't usually picky. My ducks use dollar store dish pans all winter for their pools. just try to have a ducky water thing too.

All great advice!
Ducks from my understand are pretty similar to chickens except they need more space are more hardy and more resilient to extreme temps and disease. The one thing I would caution about Is mud. They LOVE mud and due to splashing in their water make big messes that cause more mud. Plan for this. But my ducks have been pure joy for me so congrats and good luck.

 

[Ava Silkie Chickens]

Hello! So we have had chickens for less than a week and my husband brings home 3 ducks today. I know nothing about ducks. I bought them their duck food and set up a brooder for them in a large tote and put a heat lamp on them and they seem to be settling in okay.

Here come the questions.

1. The ducks he brought home were straight run ducks. How do we tell the sex? Or do we just wait and see if we get eggs? If he did get 3 males do we need to worry about fighting or will they be nice?

2. For their house for when I move them out of the brooder, how much space do I need to plan per duck? For at night and during the day.

3. Is a kiddie pool enough water for 3 ducks?

4. Nesting boxes? is a 12x12x12 good enough? Just 1 for the 3 ducks or do they each need their own?

Any help or advice or anything else I need to think about?

Thank you guys!

"AWWW" ducks I love them But I have never raised them so I'm not sure.
\ But I like your profile name its perfect I'm Jealous.

 

[Ava Silkie Chickens]

"AWWW" ducks I love them But I have never raised them so I'm not sure.
\ But I like your profile name its perfect I'm Jealous.

I'm sure those ducks will have a very happy life. good luck with them

 

[Isaac 0]

Unless you vent sex you won't be able to tell until they start quacking or rasping. That will happen at about 6-8 weeks. If you got three males your good usually. It is if you ended up with one female and two males you might have an issue with over breeding in the spring do to hormones. (I just had to make the decision to rehome two black east indies because they were all trying to mate my single female).

Space per duck depends on what size your ducks are but usually 3-4 square foot per duck is ok but some people get by with a large dog house.

Nesting boxes, ducks don't often use them usually something like a large kitty litter box or an upside down smaller tote works good with shavings in it when they decide they are going to use them. Usually they will dig in the bedding and lay their egg sometimes they will bury it and others they won't.

kiddy pools work great for ducks. They aren't usually picky. My ducks use dollar store dish pans all winter for their pools. just try to have a ducky water thing too.

 

[HeartlandChickens]

Thank you so much for the advice! It helped a lot.

One last question (for now anyway) How old should the be before I let them have water? I was thinking to put them in a bin with an inch or so of water while I clean their brooder every day. Is that okay?

 

[Isaac 0]

@Knighstar679 , Gave you the great advice, not me. Ducklings can be put in water as soon as they hatch, but for a permanent water source a shallow container is preferred so they don't drown, 1-3 inches of water would work, just make sure they can get out with ease.

Love to see some pictures and

 

[Miss Lydia]

Only warm water and make sure it doesn't get cold or they will chill.

 

[Texag87]

Duckling pics are mandatory on this site