Good Morning all! My name is Heidi and I am new to raising ducks. My husband and I just recently brought home a small flock of Black Swedish home. When we first moved in back in August of 2018 and after we got settled in, I decided to start researching how to raise ducks. After years of living in a location where we couldn't have anything, not even a garden, I couldn't wait to finally be able to have my very own duckies. At first I was in love with Khaki Campbell's so I ran out and go two from someone selling them off craigslist. They turned out to both be males. No wonder I wasn't getting any eggs, lol! Then my husband was perusing craigslist once again and found a lonely male Pekin that needed a new home, his mate had died and the lady didn't want him anymore, so of course we rescued him. So that brings me to 3 male ducks and still no layers. After a few weeks of relentless searching we came across a small flock of Black Swedes; 6 females and 1 male. Finally!! So we checked them out and brought them home. 4 of the females will be 1 year old this spring and the male and other 2 females will be 2 years this spring. We are so excited to finally have our own little flock and can't wait to see what adventures await us. My favorite aspect of raising ducks is their funny antics and their beautiful colors and to just watch them; and of course all of the free eggs we will have! Some of our other hobbies are pretty much anything outdoors like hiking, hunting and fishing; and of course I love doing different crafts even though I have several unfinished projects laying about. I also love photography, especially nature photography! We have 3 dogs, a basset hound (4ys), German Short-haired Pointer (13ys) and a 6 month Black Lab. I currently work in an auction house with no specific job title since I have way too many responsibilities to nail it down to one title. I am also a vet tech at a local animal hospital part time. I absolutely love helping and working with animals. I was doing some research and found this lovely group of people and decided to join because I knew there would be wealth of information and help if/when I need it. Thanks for reading! Quack On!
Hello, Heidi and welcome to BYC - thanks for joining us. I hope that you enjoy your time here - the duck peeps are a great bunch so jump right in
Welcome to BYC! I'd try to get more females. All the males, drakes, will most likely start to over breed the ducks, females, and can cause injuries. Most try to aim for 4 ducks per drake. I also need more ducks myself! I have two drakes and four ducks, I'm making room for new additions soon. Here's my muscovies. My chocolate drake My black duck. Two more ducks My silver drake. And finally my last duck.
Love duckies! I always say..wish I could have ducks. Hey, question.. wondering about your German Short Hair. I've been looking. I actually want an indoor big dog. I'm guessing that they are very very active. I've had setters in the house, in the past when I was younger..but..they would actually have a field to run through. Any ol way........ WELCOME!
Welcome to BYC. We are glad you joined this flock! Jump right in and make yourself at home. This video will help you learn how to navigate this site: Coop Ideas: Chicken Coops BYC has an APP!
Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined and finally got to have your duckies! Congratulations on your new home.
Welcome, and congratulations on your flock! Ducks are a lot of fun! I hope you get lots of eggs now that you have some females. It might be a good idea to do a separate pen for three of the males, as they will fight over the females and probably overwhelm the girls too if they are all kept together, at least at breeding season, which is just about upon us.
Hi Heidi, congrats on your ever expanding ducks! Be sure to check out the Duck forum, lots of nice, helpful members there. Thanks for joining us!