New to Ducks

[steven11788]

yep want some, so is there a book or a good duck webiste, any tips, breeds to avoid, i live in Hickory NC, is climate good year round, i Know they dont roost so do they sleep, sitting down, do they need large amonts of water, to swim in?????????

 

[jacyjones]

Hi, I think the breed depends on your reason for having the ducks. Khaki campbells are really good layers, runners are quite flighty, Saxonys are quite big and lay well, Cayugas are a beautiful black, lay black eggs to start with and are quite nervous. There are table breeds that are larger - we always have laying birds so not sure about the table breeds. I always have a pair, they bond with each other and talk a lot as they waddle round the field. They sleep on the floor of the shed or in water. They need to be able to get their heads in water and love to swim whenever possible. They make a mess rooting about and their poo is very runny!! I love my ducks - they are real characters and always make me smile.

 

[raindrop]

I read Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks by Dave Holderread before getting my ducks. You will have fun with them!

 

[steven11788]

i have storys guide to raising chickens, guess next time at barnes N noble guess i should buy that one, on breeds, somthing tamable, and i also heard that they keep flys down.

 

[waterfowlrescue]

I think the Storys guide is one of the best. There are some pet duck books around too.

If your interested in some pekins I have some coming in from Lenoir later today.

 

[waterfowlrescue]

Just another quick thought, alot of the things for ducks and chickens are very similiar. So you have a good base for the ducks if youve read the chicken guide.

There are a few things that are different, ducks have a higher protein requirement than chickens. They need some pellets instead of just scratch etc, but they do like to find their own foods and the more free range activity they have the healthier i think they are.

 

[ChickenToes]

My ducklings are coming on Wednesday and I am so nervous, it's ridiculous!

Here is my favorite site when it comes to raising ducks:

http://www.newagrarian.com/homestead/ducks/

Good luck!

 

[steven11788]

waterfowlrescue , thank you for the offer, gonna build some pens,so probely gonna get some later, i just wanted a basis, on them, i jumped into chickens head first, without nothng, so gonna research first, but really appreciate it,, and chickentoes i will check it out..

 

[Johndale]

a duck website is probably duckandeggs.com

 

[LV426]

I've currently got Cayugas, a Pekin, and a hybrid duck and I've just received some Golden Cascade duck eggs that I want to hatch. I decided to go with the heritage ducks like the Cayugas and Golden Cascades because they are really starting to fade out due to interbreeding or people just not being interested in them. I wouldn't say there are any ducks to really avoid but it does depend on what you want them for. Meat ducks tend to be heavier in the body and won't set on their eggs while egg ducks are lighter in body and tend to be more scatterbrained.

Mine do well with free ranging the yard and access to a rubbermaid water trough, 55 gallons and a 70 Gallon. They are fairly low maintenance but if kept in a coop or confined area they can be messy which is why I free range mine in the day time and at night they are locked up. They are really creatures of habit and once you get them used to going to bed at a certain time and place they will go back there by themselves. But woe unto those who move their bed because when I relocated their pen and gave them a different area to roam they kept going back to the old spot even though there was nothing there. It took me a few weeks to get them to figure out their new home was on the other side of the yard.