Pekin Duck Club!

[neohiobiker]

I have 14 chickens and 3 ducks on sand in my coop ... Best decision I ever made was getting rid of shavings and switching ...
No smell. Nails are kept trimmed , super easy to clean , super absorbent , also used as grit, super cheap - $7 a truckload . Awesome O annnnd I just got 2 American buff goslings today haha yay they will join the coop craziness

I got my chickens and Pekins from Meyer hatchery in Polk, Ohio . LOVE THEM . Awesome hatchery .

Thanks for the info on Meyers in Polk Just ordered my new Females........... Started Last year with 10 maybe a few more (getting old lol). One had to be put down. They rest carried away by wild animals and neighbors dogs I only have 4 male left....I use hay word real well.

 

[countrygirl74]

OK, you experts

My two Pekins are doing great, still, but that's the problem. They are fine with the chooks living in the stall and run in the barn. They even venture out to free range as of 4 days ago. I'm in the process of building another coop to move everybody into. Under orders I am not supposed to remove any scrub oak so the run is built over some of it. There is no room for their ducky pool! I plan on leaving them in the barn until a horse needs their stall. Then what????

We ended up getting a great deal on a nice big pool for our ducks AFTER we had built their pen, so our pool is actually outside of their run. They still have a couple buckets of water in their run for dunking their heads in and a shallow one for standing in - to cool their feet in the heat. However, their actual swim time is supervised when we let them out to free-range. You could just do that too... I'm kind of glad that it worked out this way because my daughter's bratty Rouen is always pulling out my Jumbo Pekin's breast feathers when they swim. If they were allowed to be in the water all the time, she'd be bald - LOL. So, they pretty much get swim time once a day, sometimes twice, and sometimes not at all, depending on how busy we are. They ALWAYS have access to water, just not deep swim water. You could just set up a pool outside of the pen and take them swimming when you can...

 

[summer9498]

Your female actually retains semen from the male for 2-3 weeks, so if she's laying an egg a day, you will find that they are likely fertile, too.  Let her have her eggs, and build up her clutch  Any that don't hatch at the end of the incubation, which will likely be towards the end of the time she builds it up, and she'll stop laying for a while while she is broody.  Let nature take her course.

That is awesome. I was thinking only the one egg from the day before with him would be fertile! She laid another today and has been sitting on the nest quite a bit throughout today. Normally she would be ready to bolt right out. Last night she did go out and free range for a bit. I am really hoping she hatches out a companion. My other ducklings are only about 7 weeks so there would not be a huge age diff. Keeping my fingers crossed that nature plays out well!

 

[chickery-do]

We all can't have ponds, so do what the poor folk do buy a kiddy pool!

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Pekins are really load from what I hear. Is this true?

 

[BarredRockGirls]

Pekins are really load from what I hear. Is this true?

Females are louder than males And yes they are loud when they wanna be . But they are ducks ... They quack. Honk and chatter . It's all part of their charm . Mine are quiet most of the day unless they are telling me something ( i want in / or out mom ! i want treats mom! i wanna swim! somethin weird is over there thats scary!!" Other than that they forage eat play swim and sleep

 

[chickery-do]

Pekins are really load from what I hear. Is this true?

I think you must mean loud?. ha ha I guess the girls are. Mine are boys, they just barely quack above a whisper. Want some boys? !
I was hoping for girls! I can't say to much, these are my 1st. Looking at gettin some?

 

[countrygirl74]

Pekins are really load from what I hear. Is this true?

YES! LOL - I have a standard Pekin and a Jumbo Pekin and they are loud - they are females of course. However, as they got older, they slowed down on their quacking. When they were younger they would wake me up, from outside, because they wanted me to come out and give them breakfast. Now, they are quiet in the morning and know that I will come when I come. My standard Pekin quacks and my Jumbo almost honks. I will try to get some video soon. We also have a Rouen male and female... obviously the male is quiet, but the Rouen female is also loud, though a tiny bit quieter (and less quacking) than the Pekins.

 

[chickery-do]

Yup I have boys

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Females are louder than males And yes they are loud when they wanna be . But they are ducks ... They quack. Honk and chatter . It's all part of their charm . Mine are quiet most of the day unless they are telling me something ( i want in / or out mom ! i want treats mom! i wanna swim! somethin weird is over there thats scary!!" Other than that they forage eat play swim and sleep

Okay thanks.

I think you must mean loud?.

ha ha I guess the girls are. Mine are boys, they just barely quack above a whisper. Want some boys? !
I was hoping for girls! I can't say to much, these are my 1st. Looking at gettin some?

Whoops typo! Thanks.

YES! LOL - I have a standard Pekin and a Jumbo Pekin and they are loud - they are females of course. However, as they got older, they slowed down on their quacking. When they were younger they would wake me up, from outside, because they wanted me to come out and give them breakfast. Now, they are quiet in the morning and know that I will come when I come. My standard Pekin quacks and my Jumbo almost honks. I will try to get some video soon. We also have a Rouen male and female... obviously the male is quiet, but the Rouen female is also loud, though a tiny bit quieter (and less quacking) than the Pekins.

So any not so loud breeds of duck you would recommend?