Pro- VERY cute.. their pond water is excellent fertilizer!
Con- the MESS cannot be over-exaggerated! Finally someone mentioned FLIES. When I had them, the fly problem was quite horrible to be honest. I know it was directly the ducks and the mess they make because the flies "magically followed" from a rental house to another house.
When a bobcat visited and killed all the ducks and geese in a single night.. in a week the fly population dropped by well over a half. Nothing else was done, simply the ducks were here and then they were not.
The ducks were always free range, no cooping for them. Even on an acre, the mess they left were very noticeable and whoo, the flies..
I did not notice a smell while I had the ducks.. but, when I visited someone who had ducks recently, the yard had a very strong odor. He kept the yard clean, but well, hard to do anything about the constant wet around the waters & baths....
I love them and really really would love to get Runners(show stock of course).. but am being honest with myself- do not want to deal with that level of flies ever again so that is putting a kibosh on that.. so far.
I'd say if one has 'sensitive neighbors' who are quick to complain, ducks are not a good idea probably.
Con- the MESS cannot be over-exaggerated! Finally someone mentioned FLIES. When I had them, the fly problem was quite horrible to be honest. I know it was directly the ducks and the mess they make because the flies "magically followed" from a rental house to another house.
When a bobcat visited and killed all the ducks and geese in a single night.. in a week the fly population dropped by well over a half. Nothing else was done, simply the ducks were here and then they were not.
The ducks were always free range, no cooping for them. Even on an acre, the mess they left were very noticeable and whoo, the flies..
I did not notice a smell while I had the ducks.. but, when I visited someone who had ducks recently, the yard had a very strong odor. He kept the yard clean, but well, hard to do anything about the constant wet around the waters & baths....
I love them and really really would love to get Runners(show stock of course).. but am being honest with myself- do not want to deal with that level of flies ever again so that is putting a kibosh on that.. so far.
I'd say if one has 'sensitive neighbors' who are quick to complain, ducks are not a good idea probably.