Planning for ducks- lots of questions

[BusyBearMama]

We are planning to get ducks next spring. We will get 3-6 ducklings. The goal is all female. We are currently starting on putting in a pond with natural flowing ground water through this culvert. It will be near our garden and our guinea coop. They will have a pen and a duck house. What do ducks need as far as a house? I want them for entertainment & eggs so they'll need to be secure in there and happy. Can people post pictures of duck houses up off the ground for about 6 birds comfortably?! And what breed should I get? A friend is offering us a few so we will get whatever they have just 3 and 3 more I guess, they'll all grow up as ducklings together. I want something that looks good but isn't migratory, I like different looking birds and auto sexing breeds but I want to look at them and see they're ducks. Something fairly small will be good and birds that have a good disposition because we have children. They should also be accessible lol. I really would just like to be able to grab them or order them or something and like I said good egg birds that lay nice big duck eggs please share photos of your birds!!

 

[GitaBooks]

Ponds are really beautiful, and make very happy animals. Our dogs will spend hours playing in it, searching for frogs and turtles.

I don't have ducks, but I've done a lot of research on them, so I hope I can help. Ducks only need a simple shelter. It need to keep them warm enough, dry, and protected from the wind. It needs to be predator proof, but it doesn't need fancy nest boxes or perches, as they sleep and lay on the floor. It needs room for all individuals and an easy way to get in and out. It should be raised partially off the ground, for drainage, as ducks are very messy and it will need cleaned often.

As far as breed, go with what works for your needs but even more so with what you think looks and acts good. You don't want an ugly laying bird that you'll have to look at every day.

I've found this to be incredibly helpful when looking at different duck breeds. I hope it helps you: http://albc-usa.etapwss.com/images/uploads/docs/pickaduck.pdf


Best of luck!

 

[Keah]

Hi,

I know exactly what your going through!
When I first wanted ducks I had absolutely no idea. but I did loads of research and I decided to get pekin ducks. Pekin ducks are by far the best pet ducks I have owned to this day (also own Muscovy ducks). They are so active I could watch them all day. Pekins are social animals, always grouped together and moving as one and when ducklings can become very tame, although they are not the smallest bird they are very pretty. Very easy to tell difference between male and female ducks. Males will have a curl on their tale and females won't. They are a beautiful white colour and mine love a morning swim! They swim in a kids pool as we don't have a dam, but any water is good water! They will love your pond! Sounds like you will spoil these duckies.
My pen isn't off the ground but is very effective. Its really long and they only get locked up at night away from predators. We have tin that surrounds the bottom of the pen (it was dug into the ground) so predators can't dig under. It also helps for drafts when they are sleeping. Ducks are a simple bird to house for I believe. If you are getting a lot of females you would need roughly a nesting box per bird. ALSO Pekins are the best breed for eggs. They are egg laying machines! I only have 2 females and have had them for only a couple of months and they are laying everyday. Big delicious eggs.
Sorry if you wanted to know about other breed of ducks but I don't know others breeds from experience.
I hope I have helped.
Good luck!

These are my three Pekin Ducks (Male with curl on his tail)

 

[GitaBooks]

Those are pretty ducks.

 

[AA Maple]

Mine stay in a very simple box at night. Just enough to keep them locked safely away from predators. Otherwise I fenced off a section of stream and they pretty much stay in the water from the minute I let them out in the morning until dark. IMO if you have water you've got it licked. Mine will do a cursory run around the land in the morning to snap up any slugs or bugs but mostly they just swim and play in the water. Their food is right on the bank since they tend to go for a drink between mouthfuls.

I have Khaki Campbell's and they're not terribly friendly but supposedly they'll make good layers eventually and they haven't been much trouble.

I bought 6 total and lost 1 to a raccoon, of the remainder I'm guessing only 1 is a female based on early indicators, though there's another I'm not sure about him/her. If I were to do it over again I'd have bought a dozen just to be sure I have enough layers. Mine matured very quickly and it seems their size has topped out so I'll be eating the obvious males next week.

 

[BusyBearMama]

Thanks for all the help so far! I really appreciate it! I will look through that link & I love the breed specific info. The Pekin look very pretty & they sound great! I will be sure to look at them for sure I figure we should know what we are getting first and havebt good plan and get all set up in advance so come spring we can get them right away!! I'm
Going to find out the breed our friend has too

 

[BusyBearMama]

I think the cayuga & ancona ducks seem like they might be right for us. Does anyone know anything about them they'd like to share? Do you think they'd be happy living together? And does anyone know where I can get them? I hear the cayuga doesn't really fly? True? What about the ancona?