Pekin Duck Club!

[Frutfarm]

2 out of 8 ducks have leg issues. One is pretty terrible looking-started out bowed and now one leg looks injured or just uneven. The other duck just seemed to pop up with a limp. It's sad to see the bow legged bird getting worse. I thought about separating her to her own spot where we could do focused interventions with nutrients and things-what do you guys do with these kinds of leg issues? I don't know if there are any vets here that take ducks.

 

[Patriciaallison]

A fence works most of the time but out here we have 200+ acres and fencing can only do so much. I still have strays come up to the yard. People dump dogs out here all the time.
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[tracyjg]

I have a chicken down not breathing . For cpr started leghorn.

 

[CyndiD]

hi, does a pink bill on a pekin mean anything?

 

[briknstone]

Dogs that are prone to eat, attack or track/hunt fowl need to be trained in a hunter type class, to only go after birds when told, and to "soft mouth" any fowl they get- as not to destroy the animal. I have hunted with a lot of bird dogs, for both waterfowl and pheasant/grouse- but these dogs dont go after the birds, they know better. Now if the dogs are STRAY or NOT ON THEIR property- that is a whole new issue to resolve.

 

[AxolotlLove]

hi, does a pink bill on a pekin mean anything?

Actually it may not be a pekin, could be white layer or buff duckling. Those are all yellow ducklings.

 

[annieb79]

I have a question my Pekin female has been sitting on eggs for about 3 weeks and the rouen female has been laying eggs and they roll her eggs in the nest. So we have a crap ton of eggs at different levels of development. Will she sit and try to hatch all the eggs or just the ones that hatch first?

 

[Nin315]

Help/ advice on duck housing plz..I have search on site and then posted a couple of times on different threads, but haven't found what I need and haven't had replies so I'm posting here hoping someone will actually see and answer me..
I am recently back into chickens and also have ducks, guineas and turkeys. Ihave a LOT of chickens..1 adult pekin female, and 8 other younger, but nearly grown ducks. I have my ducks in a chicken tractor but let them out each morning into my very large yard w woods and they r happy as can be...I am planning a very large coop for my chickens made w pallets in very near future. I am going to try deep litter method but have read that this doesn't work very well if u let the ducks into this picture..so, my questions are: what specifically is the best way or plan to have if I make a co-op for the ducks on their own..what do they need for a good home to sleep in and what should I do for cleaning plan?..they will pretty much just b sleeping in it and free range during theI day, the messy waste issues are my concern..is the best plan to clean it out constantly..meaning scoop out coop, or what? What do they actually need for housing v.s. chickens if I shouldn't keep them together BC of litter method?Incidentally, if I could keep all in one coop and use deep litter, that would b the best for me..no need for any advice not to keep together for other issues..a lot have said don't keep w chix for numerous other issues, but im noticing that many of the suggestions in other posts make it amazing that so many of the old farmers ever raised anything at all..lol....never feed corn ,etc....tho I don't feed anything but all flock..which, as with other "modern" foods, is mostly corn anyway..lol. But I digress.. Anyway, any help is appreciated..

 

[Nin315]

P.S. Here..no disrespect to all the cute designs and pics of housing intended.. Cuteness can come later for me..just need relatively cheap and practical plan for my housing and what they need. : )

 

[Amiga]

Hi! @Nin315

I don't know chickens, but I think I can help with ducks.

Right now our ducks are in their night shelter that is part of our walkout basement. Just FYI. It works well for us, but is not an option for most people.

However -

Their first night shelter was a very simple structure we built with 2x4s and plywood. I think you could adapt the design using pallets.

It's just a box, but it has double walls so that insulation can be placed between them. I used perlite and vermiculite because they don't mold and have a high R value.

Anyway, it's 4'x8'. At one of the 4' ends, it has a sliding door for the ducks. On one of the 8' sides it has a Dutch door so that I can open the top only. That makes it easier to keep the ducks in when I want to look into the shelter. It also makes it easier to have a foot and a half of shavings to make it nice and comfy, and cozy in colder weather.

Daily cleanout took 15 minutes or so. I would sometimes top the shavings with some straw. I spot picked poops from the top of the bedding and put that on the garden. Then I would slide the straw to one side and with a 4 foot pole or broom handle stir the bedding. I had mixed a two-gallon-bucket full of peat moss in with the bedding. That's because the peat moss helps prevent ammonia from forming.

The shavings would last for six months or more before needing to be changed out with that method.

To keep the bedding dry, the water and food were in The Veranda - a 4'x8' attached porch. Covered top, bottom and sides with half inch metal hardware cloth. Sand for bedding. I later covered the sand with sawdust pellets, and that worked out a little better, as I could scrape the top of the sawdust, then stir it, and add more as needed.

Here is a photo of Duck House I.



The space between the top of the duck house and the roof is covered with half inch metal hardware cloth. There is a three-piece ceiling at the top of the house walls, three clear plastic panels. Lets light in, but when it's colder, keeps the house a little more insulated. I can slide them open a little or a lot. But the hardware cloth is needed to keep predators out.

We don't use this for the ducks at night any more because in the coldest part of winter some of my Runners just cannot cope with the cold. The basement pen stays above 40F, so that's where they stay at night.