new to ducks..

[crazypoultrychx]

ok......so about 4 months ago I went and bought 12 baby peking ducks...and bought my friend 2 which she returned 6 weeks later....(lol....she was keeping them in her house....and she is a moron apparently)....so now they are not so small......they are huge.....and they love the pond.....and life......but I have a question.........they are starting to behave rather oddly........they are fighting.......and Im not sure but I think they are mating>>>?

some of them are doing this strange neck roll thing and I have seen 2 on several occasions one get on top of the other in the water and looks like it is trying to drown the other one.......is that in fact what they are doing?.......and since now I dont put them up at night (too much of a p.i.t.a) and they are always in the pond will they lay eggs in the pond....? and do duck eggs float?....... and will they lay like chickens? if they dont float how do you get them? will each female lay an egg a day or is it more sporatic?

I plan on incubating the eggs that is why I am so curious.........any advise or help is much appereciated......

 

[AmberRex]

Well most ducks do not lay in the pond but will leave the water to lay-I would check the surrounding bushes if you think they are laying but to me it seems like they might still be a little young; I have never had ducks start before six months but perhaps I am just unlucky or the way that we organise their routine makes them lay later.

A Pekin duck's cycle is in general shorter than a standard brown hens but they do lay for most of the year. Females tend to lay every day or at least most days during their cycle.

You may have a duck that lays in the pond- the eggs do not float until they have gone off and thus I would not recommend using them for imcubation...or eating and if they have been in the water they are less likely to hatch because the humidity and temperature will have been wrong for storage ( and the eggs with be smothered with wet duck poo.)

(Why don't you join the Pekin duck club, there are a fair few people who have joined now and it is a handy place to find out information about..well, Pekin ducks!!!

)

 

[crazypoultrychx]

okay........so how do I join the peking duck club......is it a site on here??

 

[AmberRex]

Yep! Just post a reply in the box below just like you did here asking if you can join and stating the names of your ducks!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/742668/pekin-duck-club

 

[wildsam]

Kinda new to ducks too and was wondering what I can start feeding my young ducks (they're about 4 weeks old now) besides the chick starter and dandilions and whatever they find in the small fenced in area at the shores of our "weather pond" (that developed about 2 weeks ago due to thunderstorms and heavy downpour).

I did find the thread of someone on BYC with some useful info but am still kinda confused as to what exactly anyone feeds their ducks. Boyfriend is not very interested in my duckies at all and has not even bothered of spending time or effort in finding out things about them so I guess it's all on me. He is all into his pheasants and chickens... and it gets annoying since they don't seem to develop a bond as much as my duckies do and I'm not that fond of picking beaks...

So... anyone who can maybe give me some hinters as what to feed them, since I'm really getting sick of simply giving them the chick starter and would like to provide them with better food? yeah, I know, some might already shake their heads about my foolishness

but I can assure you that I'm only trying to do my best and I am sooo in love with my little duckies and only want the best for them!

 

[loraleaf]

I too am new to ducks but I've been told they can eat chicken feed we feed out chickens non-soy non-gmo feed from texas naturals. I read somewhere that they needed supplemental niacin? But we are going to let ours free range with our chickens so I'm hoping they'll find that on their own. We have 3 baby mallards in a kiddie pool with their food and water and some bedding for now. Hubby plans to grow duck weed for them and some aquaponics stuff he's doing. I also read they can have pretty much the same "treats" as chickens fruits veggies etc. hth

 

[RouenDuck]

My ducks have layed two eggs a week for a while, and my chickens never do that.... I was pretty surprised when I found 8 eggs when there should have been 6.

 

[AmberRex]

I too am new to ducks but I've been told they can eat chicken feed we feed out chickens non-soy non-gmo feed from texas naturals. I read somewhere that they needed supplemental niacin? But we are going to let ours free range with our chickens so I'm hoping they'll find that on their own. We have 3 baby mallards in a kiddie pool with their food and water and some bedding for now. Hubby plans to grow duck weed for them and some aquaponics stuff he's doing. I also read they can have pretty much the same "treats" as chickens fruits veggies etc. hth

Kinda new to ducks too and was wondering what I can start feeding my young ducks (they're about 4 weeks old now) besides the chick starter and dandilions and whatever they find in the small fenced in area at the shores of our "weather pond" (that developed about 2 weeks ago due to thunderstorms and heavy downpour).

I did find the thread of someone on BYC with some useful info but am still kinda confused as to what exactly anyone feeds their ducks. Boyfriend is not very interested in my duckies at all and has not even bothered of spending time or effort in finding out things about them so I guess it's all on me. He is all into his pheasants and chickens... and it gets annoying since they don't seem to develop a bond as much as my duckies do and I'm not that fond of picking beaks...

So... anyone who can maybe give me some hinters as what to feed them, since I'm really getting sick of simply giving them the chick starter and would like to provide them with better food? yeah, I know, some might already shake their heads about my foolishness

but I can assure you that I'm only trying to do my best and I am sooo in love with my little duckies and only want the best for them!

I feed my ducks, high protein chick or broiler crumb when they are ducklings and then for a few weeks, duck grower feed just to give them a bit of bulk but I don't think that this is necessary and then they are fed the chickens food which in Ireland I buy Southern Milling "Layers Mash" which is good for ducks and hens (but it is not organic) If they are free range then they should find their own supplements if in an area where they might find it if that makes sense... Hope this helps.

 

[AmberRex]

My ducks have layed two eggs a week for a while, and my chickens never do that.... I was pretty surprised when I found 8 eggs when there should have been 6.

Occasionally you will get birds that do this. I was reading an article on here last week that said the most amount of eggs laid in one day by one hen is 9. I don't think that it indicates any problems and I personally would just appreciate the eggstra windfall!

 

[RouenDuck]

We never use our duck eggs because we already have too many chicken eggs so we give away as many as possible and throw out the rest.