Raising two ducklings in a fairly urban setting. Questions and observations.

[Velmas]

Hi yall. A few days ago, my family and i decided to begin raising two ducklings as pets in our fairly urban /suburban neighborhood. Neither my wife nor myself have ever raised poultry of any kind, and our closest exposure is visiting farms and family members raising chickens, with some encounters with wild ducks. I made an account here to have some conversation about duck keeping and hopefully learn some stuff.

Anyways, we did a lot of research on care and sprung for the decision. At this point, i feel that we have a suitable brooder setup with expansion plans as the chicks get older. However i was hoping to maybe find some guidance in terms of keeping them in our fairly small yard.

In terms of size, i would say we are at about a 1/5th acre with a fenced in back yard. The longest part probably stretches 200 feet or so with the widest part being around 50 feet. My main worry with keeping the ducks long term is that our yard may not be big enough. Do you guys think so? If it turns out to be a problem, i have an alternate location for them to stay. I know and have read extensively that ducks are messy, but we already have a large hard plastic kiddie pool, about 12ft wide and 2 and a half feet deep, that we plan on using for the ducks. Im not worried about water splashing out as our yard has very thick grass and low growing ivy(unsure what it actually is but its thick) that will prevent mud for the most part. I

I guess the main thing im worried/unsure about is the amount of poop and digging that there will be with two ducks. I dont want a stinky yard, nor do i want the ground destroyed, but im not thinking just two birds could make my life that hard. What do you guys think?

Next, ive been wondering about adult duck housing. I was hoping that i could just build a duck house myself, but i have no idea how big it needs to be. I already have a medium sized dog house(about 5sqft) that i have attached a locking screen door to use for the birds when they get a little older, but i dont know if itll be too small or not to use when they are fully grown.

Also, in terms of housing, should i just let the ducks roam the backyard with the dogs or should i have them in a separate, smaller fence most of the time. I was hoping i wouldn't have to do that.

The experience so far (only 4 days in lol) has been very cute and also surprisingly very manageable and very little work. My wife and i are pleasantly surprised at how little smell and noise these two little guys make, and the kids aren't too grossed out by the poop, even when the birds go in their hands(or hair, haha). I'm hoping nothing turns for the worst in the future, but i do have a very solid backup plan that will provide more than enough habitat for the birds but will make them harder to enjoy as pets. Any advice or conversation would be appreciated.

 

[Isaac 0]

Hi yall. A few days ago, my family and i decided to begin raising two ducklings as pets in our fairly urban /suburban neighborhood. Neither my wife nor myself have ever raised poultry of any kind, and our closest exposure is visiting farms and family members raising chickens, with some encounters with wild ducks. I made an account here to have some conversation about duck keeping and hopefully learn some stuff.

Anyways, we did a lot of research on care and sprung for the decision. At this point, i feel that we have a suitable brooder setup with expansion plans as the chicks get older. However i was hoping to maybe find some guidance in terms of keeping them in our fairly small yard.

In terms of size, i would say we are at about a 1/5th acre with a fenced in back yard. The longest part probably stretches 200 feet or so with the widest part being around 50 feet. My main worry with keeping the ducks long term is that our yard may not be big enough. Do you guys think so? If it turns out to be a problem, i have an alternate location for them to stay. I know and have read extensively that ducks are messy, but we already have a large hard plastic kiddie pool, about 12ft wide and 2 and a half feet deep, that we plan on using for the ducks. Im not worried about water splashing out as our yard has very thick grass and low growing ivy(unsure what it actually is but its thick) that will prevent mud for the most part. I

I guess the main thing im worried/unsure about is the amount of poop and digging that there will be with two ducks. I dont want a stinky yard, nor do i want the ground destroyed, but im not thinking just two birds could make my life that hard. What do you guys think?

Next, ive been wondering about adult duck housing. I was hoping that i could just build a duck house myself, but i have no idea how big it needs to be. I already have a medium sized dog house(about 5sqft) that i have attached a locking screen door to use for the birds when they get a little older, but i dont know if itll be too small or not to use when they are fully grown.

Also, in terms of housing, should i just let the ducks roam the backyard with the dogs or should i have them in a separate, smaller fence most of the time. I was hoping i wouldn't have to do that.

The experience so far (only 4 days in lol) has been very cute and also surprisingly very manageable and very little work. My wife and i are pleasantly surprised at how little smell and noise these two little guys make, and the kids aren't too grossed out by the poop, even when the birds go in their hands(or hair, haha). I'm hoping nothing turns for the worst in the future, but i do have a very solid backup plan that will provide more than enough habitat for the birds but will make them harder to enjoy as pets. Any advice or conversation would be appreciated.

Two ducks in 1/5th of an acre should be fine, that's enough space their waste should just disperse and end up adding fertilizer to the yard, but if you have any low spots in your yard be prepared because ducks can make a muddy mess in no time, although thick grass may help, you will find "mud holes" regardless of the thickness around the yard.

Many people have converted small dog houses as a duck house, 5 sqft seems a bit small though, the general rule is 5sqft per duck regardless of space, make sure the house is easy to clean and collect eggs. Dogs and duck can coexist as long as the dogs are nice, my dogs get along great with my fowl.

 

[Velmas]

Two ducks in 1/5th of an acre should be fine, that's enough space their waste should just disperse and end up adding fertilizer to the yard, but if you have any low spots in your yard be prepared because ducks can make a muddy mess in no time, although thick grass may help, you will find "mud holes" regardless of the thickness around the yard.

Alright, duly noted. I'm glad the poop won't be that big of a problem. I figured as much because our thick grass. Hopefully the mud holes arent too god awful and the grass holds things together.

As for the duck house, I'll make one that's 10sqft and just leave it at that. The dog house we have won't be very conducive to collecting eggs if we ever have that opportunity and will be hard to clean. Do you think i should build a smaller pen coming out from the duck house for them or just let them roam the yard during the daylight hours?

Thank you for your comment. It's reassuring.

 

[Isaac 0]

Alright, duly noted. I'm glad the poop won't be that big of a problem. I figured as much because our thick grass. Hopefully the mud holes arent too god awful and the grass holds things together.

As for the duck house, I'll make one that's 10sqft and just leave it at that. The dog house we have won't be very conducive to collecting eggs if we ever have that opportunity and will be hard to clean. Do you think i should build a smaller pen coming out from the duck house for them or just let them roam the yard during the daylight hours?

Thank you for your comment. It's reassuring.

Ducks live much happier lives when they have some space to roam, I would let them range during the day. Do you have many predators around you? If they are common in you're area you might want to do "Supervised free-ranging"

 

[chickens really]

Ducks are messy. Drill holes and poop does stink. You won't want the kids crawling around or doing cartwheels on the lawn where the Ducks have roamed..
They are easy to care for..I'm sure you will successfully raise them. Do you know what sex you have? Drakes can be a handful once sexually mature.

 

[Ratchnick]

I would set up a "triplex duck run" as described in dave holderreads book, "stories guide to raising ducks" this consists of

a duck house to lock in at night 5sqft/bird is good but bigger means less cleaning. Using a half sheet of plywood would make it easy to build.

Duck run, attached to the house. 10sqft/bird, again more is better. This should be covered and predator proof. Full access.

A pasture (your yard) 100 sqft/bird.


With this system your birds can have access to the run all the time and you can keep them out of your yard when you need to. Like when it rains or if you go on vacation ect.

 

[Trish of the Coop]

Hi yall. A few days ago, my family and i decided to begin raising two ducklings as pets in our fairly urban /suburban neighborhood. Neither my wife nor myself have ever raised poultry of any kind, and our closest exposure is visiting farms and family members raising chickens, with some encounters with wild ducks. I made an account here to have some conversation about duck keeping and hopefully learn some stuff.

Anyways, we did a lot of research on care and sprung for the decision. At this point, i feel that we have a suitable brooder setup with expansion plans as the chicks get older. However i was hoping to maybe find some guidance in terms of keeping them in our fairly small yard.

In terms of size, i would say we are at about a 1/5th acre with a fenced in back yard. The longest part probably stretches 200 feet or so with the widest part being around 50 feet. My main worry with keeping the ducks long term is that our yard may not be big enough. Do you guys think so? If it turns out to be a problem, i have an alternate location for them to stay. I know and have read extensively that ducks are messy, but we already have a large hard plastic kiddie pool, about 12ft wide and 2 and a half feet deep, that we plan on using for the ducks. Im not worried about water splashing out as our yard has very thick grass and low growing ivy(unsure what it actually is but its thick) that will prevent mud for the most part. I

I guess the main thing im worried/unsure about is the amount of poop and digging that there will be with two ducks. I dont want a stinky yard, nor do i want the ground destroyed, but im not thinking just two birds could make my life that hard. What do you guys think?

Next, ive been wondering about adult duck housing. I was hoping that i could just build a duck house myself, but i have no idea how big it needs to be. I already have a medium sized dog house(about 5sqft) that i have attached a locking screen door to use for the birds when they get a little older, but i dont know if itll be too small or not to use when they are fully grown.

Also, in terms of housing, should i just let the ducks roam the backyard with the dogs or should i have them in a separate, smaller fence most of the time. I was hoping i wouldn't have to do that.

The experience so far (only 4 days in lol) has been very cute and also surprisingly very manageable and very little work. My wife and i are pleasantly surprised at how little smell and noise these two little guys make, and the kids aren't too grossed out by the poop, even when the birds go in their hands(or hair, haha). I'm hoping nothing turns for the worst in the future, but i do have a very solid backup plan that will provide more than enough habitat for the birds but will make them harder to enjoy as pets. Any advice or conversation would be appreciated.

I am in a similar position to you. We have 3 chickens and we are in the middle of a small town on 1/3 acre. As far as smell goes, usually only on hot humid days we can smell them, but even at that it's not overpowering or disturbing to anyone. There is nothing in our bylaws that says we can or cant have them, so I keep them in the run 6×10 duringnthe day and let then roam when I get home from work. I clean thier coop about once a week and have a compost pile at the back of the yard ( that poop accumulates way faster than I thought). I would think you will be fine so long as the neighborhood doesn't mind.

 

[Velmas]

Ducks live much happier lives when they have some space to roam, I would let them range during the day. Do you have many predators around you? If they are common in you're area you might want to do "Supervised free-ranging"

We do not have many predators. The only thing that could feasibly kill them are neighborhood cats (while they're small) and maybe hawks, but that is still unlikely. I'm more than likely going to build a run for them to stay in at night then let them roam the yard when I'm home.

 

[Velmas]

Ducks are messy. Drill holes and poop does stink. You won't want the kids crawling around or doing cartwheels on the lawn where the Ducks have roamed..
They are easy to care for..I'm sure you will successfully raise them. Do you know what sex you have? Drakes can be a handful once sexually mature.

No idea on the sex. Hoping we have two females tbh but i believe it's too early to tell externally what sex they are although we are pretty certain we have the Pekin breed.

 

[chickens really]

No idea on the sex. Hoping we have two females tbh but i believe it's too early to tell externally what sex they are although we are pretty certain we have the Pekin breed.

Alright..Well best wishes..