Ponds, Ducks and Newbie Questions

[chrisrw]

Hello everyone. We're relatively new to raising any types of farm animals. We have a back acre that we've been 'playing farmers' with over the past three years. We started with four goats (which we adore) but this year, we started adding in some chickens and ducks. We bought five chicks of various breeds and they're now three'ish months old and are doing well.

Yesterday, we bought two black east indie bantam ducks, which are about 7 or 8 months old. As these are our first ducks (and we are just starting to learn about keeping birds in general) we have a few questions!

1) From what we've read and what we were told, they're okay with very little water to play in (a container or small kiddie pool) but we'd rather spoil them with something more awesome. I started on a small pond (5' across and 1.5' deep), but wanted to check with experts before I proceed.

The first question would be regarding a pond and chickens. I'm assuming chickens and deep water don't mix? I can't imagine the chickens wanting to be near the water, yet the chickens do mind numbingly dumb things day to day. If this is the case (no chickens + water), how so people get around this? Do I need to fence off he duck/pond area and let them have their own smaller chunk of the field?

How do people clean their ponds? I'm assuming they need to be cleaned from time to time? But I don't see an easy way to do it!

2) This breed is pretty small. They're not full grown yet, but from the description, they'll be considerably smaller than wild ducks. Obviously they'll be in a safe, secure coop at night, but my question is regarding cats. Are they big enough that cats will leave them alone?

3) The ducks are pretty wary of us at the moment. Eventually I'd like to get them to the point where they're super friendly, come up to us, won't freak out when being held, etc. The people we bought them from handled them some when they were younger, but probably not enough. Did I shoot myself in the foot by not getting infant ducklings and raising them myself (they're 7 or 8 weeks now)? Or can I keep working with them and get them very friendly? What can I do to help this along? I was able to get one of them to eat peas from my hand today.

Please excuse any typos, I'm on my phone. Thanks everyone!

 

[crazypoultrychx]

first of all good luck to you and welcome to the poultry world......

1) From what we've read and what we were told, they're okay with very little water to play in (a container or small kiddie pool) but we'd rather spoil them with something more awesome. I started on a small pond (5' across and 1.5' deep), but wanted to check with experts before I proceed.

NOT TRUE..........DUCKS ARE DUCKS.......AND WHERE DOES A DUCK LIVE.......(IN WATER)........FROM WHAT i HAVE LEARNED THEY NEED PLENTY OF FRESHA DN REGUALR CLEAN WATER.....

The first question would be regarding a pond and chickens. I'm assuming chickens and deep water don't mix? I can't imagine the chickens wanting to be near the water, yet the chickens do mind numbingly dumb things day to day. If this is the case (no chickens + water), how so people get around this? Do I need to fence off he duck/pond area and let them have their own smaller chunk of the field?

NO CHICKENS ARE NOT THAT SMART BUT THEY ARE SMART ENOUGH TO STAY OUT OF WATER.....THEY KNOW THEY ARE NOT DUCKS.......AND NO YOU DO NOT NEED A FENCE AS THE CHICKENS WILL GO GET WATER FROM THE POND BUT WILL NOT ATTEMPT TO SWIM AS THEY KNOW THEY CAN NOT.......THEY MAY ATTEMPT TO FLY OVER IF HOWEVER SO BE PREPARED TO RESUCE SAID CHICKEN IN THE EVENT OF SAID FLY OVER.....

How do people clean their ponds? I'm assuming they need to be cleaned from time to time? But I don't see an easy way to do it!

CLEANING A POND IS NOT LIKE A BATHTUB,............THE DUCKS AND TURTLES DO MOST OF THE WORK.......OCCASIONALLY YOU CAN THROW IN A POND BALL THAT YOU GET FROM TRACTOR SUPPLY IF THE DUCKS ARE NOT KEEPING UP OR IF YOU WANT TO CUTT DOWN ON EXTRA "GREEN" GROWTH HOWEVER THAT IS A LOT OF WHAT THE DUCKS LIKE TO EAT.....


2) This breed is pretty small. They're not full grown yet, but from the description, they'll be considerably smaller than wild ducks. Obviously they'll be in a safe, secure coop at night, but my question is regarding cats. Are they big enough that cats will leave them alone?

DUCKS ARE GENERALLLY FASTER AND SMARTER THEN A CAT........IF NOT........LUCKY CAT AND POOR DUCK.........HOWEVER IN GENERAL i HAVE NOTICED MY CATS LEAVE MY DUCKS AND CHICKENS ALONE.....EXCEPT FOR THE OCCASIONAL STALKING......AND THEY BOTH LEARN FROM THE EXPERIENCE....


3) The ducks are pretty wary of us at the moment. Eventually I'd like to get them to the point where they're super friendly, come up to us, won't freak out when being held, etc. The people we bought them from handled them some when they were younger, but probably not enough. Did I shoot myself in the foot by not getting infant ducklings and raising them myself (they're 7 or 8 weeks now)? Or can I keep working with them and get them very friendly? What can I do to help this along? I was able to get one of them to eat peas from my hand today.


YOU ARE NEW TO THE DUCKS......SO YES THEY WILL BE WEARY FOR A WHILE.....AND EVERY DUCK IS DIFFERENT.....BUT KEEP BRINGING THEM TREATS AND EVENTUALLY THEY WILL UNDERSTAND......TRY CALLING THEM EACH TIME YOU BRING THEM TREATS....LIKE "HERE DUCK".......OR COME DUCK.......SOMETHING.....THEY WILL GET USED TO YOUR VOICE AND YOUR WORDS.......DID YOU SHOOT YOURSELF IN THE FOOT.......NO.......WOUILD THEY OF IMPRINTED MORE IFYOU RAISED THEM ......YES.......BUT WILL THEY GET USED TO YOU CALLING THEM........YES........WILL YOU HAVE A LIFE TIME OF GETTING TO KNOW THEM AND NOT HAVE TO GO THRU THE PAINSTAKING TIME OF RAISING THEM FROM INFANTS.......YES.....AND NEXT TIME WILL YOU RAISE YOUR OWN.........YES.......EVENTUALLY THEY WILL EAT FROM YOUR HAND AND LET YOU PET AND PICK THEM UP.....BUT THE MOST IMPROTANT THING YOU CAN DO IS BE CALM AND PRAISE THEM AND TALK TO THEM EVERY CHANCE YOU GET........

wish you the best of luck for you and your new flock!!!

 

[sherrik9]

Quote:
Don't know anything about chickens but from everything I've read on this forum you would be better with a seperate area for the ducks.
I use a small kids pool and and cement mixing pan for play water. My ducks are calls (another bantam breed) so I use brick thin pavers to make steps in and out of water for them. With only two ducks you may not have to change water every day but for sure every couple of days. My pools are on sand so changing water doesn't create to big of a mess.
I wouldn't trust cats around small birds.
Even ducklings I've raised from hatch haven't liked to be held. I suppose if you spend enough time and have tons of patience it will happen. Whenever you are dealing with animals that are prey to larger animals patience and lots of exposure is the key.
I'm by no means an expert just my 2 cents

 

[cosbackyard]

Your pond may be big enough and your two ducks small enough that you won't need to change it very often. Just keep an eye on it. My three medium-sized ducks will foul a 35 gallon pool in two or, at most, three days. Then I have to drain and rinse it.

Small ducks I would not trust around cats. My experience is that ducks are not good at evading any predator unless they're living on a large pond. That said mind have never been bothered by housecats, being nearly as big as one.