Questions about ducks?

[goatfarmer]

I am wanting to get a few ducks. I have dug a pond about 9' by 9'.

1st things is they will be free-range but want to make sure they have housing to get out of the weather but don't know were to start on this.

2nd is I've been reading about them and people say they make a mess and are dirty. Is this true?

and finally I really don't want a big duck just something kinda small I was thinking about something kinda like mallard because they are small but didn't know if yall knew of another one.

any help would be appreciated.

 

[Wifezilla]

Ducks CAN be messy, but you can easily take care of that with some planning. I have 6 ducks in a small back yard and they are fine. I use deep litter in their pen so no mud problems. I give them as much area as possible to free range, and I hit the yard with a hose every day to get of the duck poo. (Takes about 5 minutes...I do it when I refill their water buckets.)

As for housing, ducks are pretty weather proof. They don't need shelter as complicated as chicken housing. Somewhere to get out of the wind and rain is fine. Often it can be snowing or raining like crazy and my ducks are out in the middle of it even though they have a nice covered pen and an extra large dog igloo that are dry and warm.

As for your pond...what are you going to use for filtering?

I use a modified skippy filter...
http://www.skippysstuff.com/biofiltr.htm

 

[kcardella]

We made this 8 x 8 pen to use when the ducks were too young to free-range. I now leave the door open with their pool, water and feed in it, and they hang out there in the hottest part of the day.

We built a 4 x 4 version of it with 3 solid sides and a wire bottom for my sister to use as a night pen for her ducks (she has four). It only took a few hours to build, and has held up well.

We live in South Florida, so the cold is not really a problem, but we have terrible thunderstorms nearly every day in the summer, and they will come out from under the roof area to sit in all but the worst rain.

As Wifezilla said, it only takes a few minutes to hose the poop down each day, but they will make holes in your yard if there is a wet spot!

I aspire to have a pond like Wifezilla's someday!