Pekin Duck Club!

[Miss Lydia]

hey girls like my new mustache?

I believe it maybe a Clark Gable impersonator LOL

 

[eldridgebrood]

I guess I need to keep up better. I thought you had said earlier on that one of the other two was a drake.

Nope, we thought one of our first two MIGHT have been, but turns out she's a mixed breed and just looks confusing lol. We hope to get a drake soon though!

 

[eldridgebrood]

Kindly neighbors who are hard of hearing...that's what I wish I had!

oh no! Do you have complainers!?
We love our neighbor, she will call her daughter and have her text us if she heard coyotes out the previous night to make sure everyone is okay. We are very lucky.

 

[JadeComputerGal]

Nope, we thought one of our first two MIGHT have been, but turns out she's a mixed breed and just looks confusing lol. We hope to get a drake soon though!

Somebody's gonna have babies...

 

[Nerraw23]

Welcome!

You have some good questions there.

I am worried that someone - not you - has frightened the Pekins, and they have every reason to fear for their lives.

Although the pond looks lovely to you, well, I am going to be bold and ask you to bring them onto your property and keep them safe.  Yup.  Short sentence, tall order.  And I am going to say that I believe that their lives depend upon you doing that.

There is a wealth of knowledge here about how to do that - they need a simple but sturdy shelter, and some good fencing.  A kiddie pool provides enough water for them to enjoy themselves in.

Hey ok so here are a few options I have either I can clean out half of the lean-to and add on to it so they can go in and out of it as they please. With a fenced in area and a built in pond etc or I can build them an area behind our shed with their own duck house and a pond, fence etc. What is your opinion?

 

[Amiga]

Either sounds like a great place for the ducks. Myself, I lean toward whatever is closer to places I go every day. It is estimated that a person visits their chicken coop about 800 times a year - I reckon it's the same for ducks - so I'd put it where it will be easiest for me to get to and monitor.

In my case, I moved the duck night pen really close (into the walkout basement). It's not an option for most people, but I must say, I do not need to shovel snow to get to the ducks!

 

[kendorama]

Hey guys,

I'm getting 4 Pekin ducklings on Wednesday! I read that female's chests are broader and male's have longer necks and heads @ super early age. Any truth to that? Hoping not to get more than one drake.

Any tips you guys have on raising them? I've read some people thinking they are way too messy and not liking it in the end.

Thanks

 

[Nerraw23]

Hey guys,

I'm getting 4 Pekin ducklings on Wednesday!  I read that female's chests are broader and male's have longer necks and heads @ super early age.  Any truth to that?  Hoping not to get more than one drake.

Any tips you guys have on raising them?  I've read some people thinking they are way too messy and not liking it in the end.

Thanks

I got to skip the whole duckling stage but I heard they are very messy, as with any animal though comes with responsibilities of cleaning haha! Lol
I have four males and didn't know they were males up until about two months after I got them and their tails finally curled. Now mind you I got them when they were a bit older. I'm assuming they are either almost a year of not a year old.
Best of luck to you!

 

[Nerraw23]

Either sounds like a great place for the ducks.  Myself, I lean toward whatever is closer to places I go every day.  It is estimated that a person visits their chicken coop about 800 times a year - I reckon it's the same for ducks - so I'd put it where it will be easiest for me to get to and monitor.

In my case, I moved the duck night pen really close (into the walkout basement).  It's not an option for most people, but I must say, I do not need to shovel snow to get to the ducks!

Ok awesome!
We don't get much snow here in NC only in February or March at most a a few inches. I am thinking near the shed that way I don't block the double gate. An I don't have to hear my husband complain about getting the lawnmower in and out of the gate haha! Thanks for your help!
Now to figure out some type of nice duck house that will look good in the back yard.


On a side note the ducks have not been swimming much I think because the owners of the pond have stopped caring for it. It started getting what they call duckweed algae covering the top of it. Nasty green stuff and from what I have read bad for ponds. I have researched and it's not from my guys haha.

apparently it was there long before they moved in but the previous owner took care of it.
So a small kiddie pool will be enough for four ducks?

 

[Amiga]

Ok awesome!
We don't get much snow here in NC only in February or March at most a a few inches. I am thinking near the shed that way I don't block the double gate. An I don't have to hear my husband complain about getting the lawnmower in and out of the gate haha! Thanks for your help!
Now to figure out some type of nice duck house that will look good in the back yard.


On a side note the ducks have not been swimming much I think because the owners of the pond have stopped caring for it. It started getting what they call duckweed algae covering the top of it. Nasty green stuff and from what I have read bad for ponds. I have researched and it's not from my guys haha.

apparently it was there long before they moved in but the previous owner took care of it.
So a small kiddie pool will be enough for four ducks?

You may want to be able to expand to two kiddie pools, but one would be a good start.

Be careful about the pond getting icky. Dead plant material can produce the organism that causes botulism, a potentially fatal illness. It's also called limberneck, and one of the symptoms is the duck acting drunk, wobbling, losing muscle control. It happens this time of year fairly often.