Hi!
We don’t have chickens, but got 4 ducklings in March. Couldn’t have been luckier with our random Tractor Supply picks, ending up with 3 females (2 Rouens, 1 Pekin) and 1 male (Pekin). In July we took in 2 adult ducks (1 male Rouen, 1 female Silver Appleyard) from a family that just wanted to concentrate on chickens. Having 2 males has been challenging, but they all get along...most of the time!
Now here’s my problem/question... I mentioned that I would love a couple more female ducks and they would make an excellent Christmas present. On Sunday, I received 2 buff Orpingtons. (Yay!) These new girls were from a large (400+) fowl farm and my son (the gift giver) said that he didn’t see any swimming area for the ducks. After observing them clean and preen from a water tub, I am wondering if they have ever been swimming. We keep a kiddie pool of water available and I have had to lift them into it (squawking and flapping) although once in, they splash, clean and preen happily. Is it possible that they have never been introduced to a swimmable amount of water?
Kind of a long introduction post, I know. One of the reasons I joined BYC was because it was the place I always seemed to end up when Googling my duck questions. Is this how big farms generally operate?
Looking forward to reading about everyone’s feathered friends and gathering information as we go along. We are so enjoying our ducks and want to make sure we’re keeping them happy and healthy!
We don’t have chickens, but got 4 ducklings in March. Couldn’t have been luckier with our random Tractor Supply picks, ending up with 3 females (2 Rouens, 1 Pekin) and 1 male (Pekin). In July we took in 2 adult ducks (1 male Rouen, 1 female Silver Appleyard) from a family that just wanted to concentrate on chickens. Having 2 males has been challenging, but they all get along...most of the time!
Now here’s my problem/question... I mentioned that I would love a couple more female ducks and they would make an excellent Christmas present. On Sunday, I received 2 buff Orpingtons. (Yay!) These new girls were from a large (400+) fowl farm and my son (the gift giver) said that he didn’t see any swimming area for the ducks. After observing them clean and preen from a water tub, I am wondering if they have ever been swimming. We keep a kiddie pool of water available and I have had to lift them into it (squawking and flapping) although once in, they splash, clean and preen happily. Is it possible that they have never been introduced to a swimmable amount of water?
Kind of a long introduction post, I know. One of the reasons I joined BYC was because it was the place I always seemed to end up when Googling my duck questions. Is this how big farms generally operate?
Looking forward to reading about everyone’s feathered friends and gathering information as we go along. We are so enjoying our ducks and want to make sure we’re keeping them happy and healthy!
We are glad you joined this flock!
and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.
I had once owned ducklings also. I let them swim in my pond when they were only two weeks. A pool to a pond was a quick move. Hope you enjoy it here as much as we all do!
