New to ducks.

[chickachickawhat]

what do you need to have to make a duck pen?

Also, what is a good breed that is healthy and a good to start off with?

Is there anything else i should know?

Are they dirty and smelly like everyone says they are? because people said that about chickens to and mine dont smell


If possible may you please answer these questions and maybe add some pictures

thanks,
chickachickawhat

 

[headred]

Check out my new website and you can see a few photos and get my take on ducks.

Briefly, pens just need to hold them. Nothing fancy. In fact, they don't really like to go in a structure. I have 5 Khaki Campbells, 2 mallard and 1 pekin and so far they are awesome. I did a lot of research and picked the Khakis for egg production. The others I adopted ;-) I don't notice their smell, but they do poop bunches! Good luck!

 

[chickachickawhat]

thanks for the quick reply.

any other suggestions?

 

[One Acre Wonder Farm]

I've only had ducks for a week, so an expert I'm not but...

Our duck pen is a dog kennel (chain link panels). We separated two groups within the kennel with a low fence (maybe 3' high) and they don't even attempt to fly over.

I have Blue Swedish and Pekin ducks. I can't say much about other breeds but the Blue Swedish girls have given us an egg a day (blue at that!). We just got the Pekin girls yesterday so I don't have much to report so far.

These ducks are not people fans! It could be because we got them as 6 month-olds but I have read that they generally don't come running up to you (like my chickens do!).

Ducks have their own special kind of poop smell. It's not wonderful but what kind of poop is? A plus is that they're poops are usually melted away by all the water they splash all over their pen!

I wish I had pictures to share but none yet.

Good luck!

 

[chickachickawhat]

thank you

 

[EllyMae]

Quote:
Just wonderin if you have a heat lamp on them...I would LOVE to move mine out but they are talking about temps in the upper 30's for the next couple of nights. I have a hen house that I just finished but don't have any chickens moved into it yet. The new duck house isn't done yet.

 

[headred]

Mine are outside in 30 degrees! I have a heat lamp that I keep on inside the house, but they never go in. I put their food inside the house, they go in long enough to eat. Tonight when I changed their water, they all got in to play, was maybe 40 degrees. I guess ducks have a cold tolerance. Don't know that chickens do as much. Tonight will be 25 and the coldest night they have been out. I'm sure they will be fine. We'll see in the am! The key seems to be the HUDDLE!!

 

[SportTees]

You really don't need anything special for ducks. Put them in a pen with a kiddy pool and a hutch to get under when its hot. I tried everything last year and that's the best setup I found.

 

[ChickenToes]

When you are trying to pick a breed, think about what you want. If you want lots of eggs, go with Khaki Campbells, Runners, or Welsh Harlequins. If you want meat birds, go with Muscovies, Pekins, or Cayugas.

A duck pen doesn't need to be anything special. Just make sure they have a coop to go into at night. They won't want to go in, you'll have to herd them in for a few days until they get the idea. Ducks would prefer to stay out all night, but then they aren't protected from predators.

As for the poop...yeah, it's stinky and messy. But you just have to keep on top of it and keep everything clean and dry so it doesn't start to smell.

 

[jrleader99]

I also am new to ducks. When I was picking up my chicks, they had Indian Runners. The woman explained that the runners were much easier and cleaner than chickens plus they out produce chickens in eggs. Plus they are so darn cute. We ended up getting 12 chicks and 8 runners.

As far as housing/pen, we have a 20x30 ft pen with a custom house I designed and build (not finished yet). As most others have said they don't need much as far as housing. All of the research I found on the internet was that it is best to not make it too air tight either, mostly enough to provide shelter from the elements of wind, rain and snow, basically a dry place.

Good luck and have fun!!!