Should I get a duck or two? How can I make this as easy as possible?

[justusnak]

ok, I am by NO means a duck expert...however, in my own observation....females are a LOT noisier than males....muscovys are quiet, either sex...but LOVE to fly about. I live on 5 acres, and have a small pond, and about 1 1/2 acres of trees. They love to forage in the "woods" and usually fly away for about a day or so, then come home. Water water everywhere...and not a drop to drink...why?? DUCKS! They will muddy any water they can find. But, the plus side...they are so comical...and i just love my muscovy's. The way they wag thier tails...and the hissing noises they make...Elvis..my biggest male..tooo pretty. Good luck on whatever you decide.

 

[Carole AM]

I've enjoyed reading this thread. I'm a duck newbie too! When I went & got chicks from Mercedes, she added this little cutie call duck.

 

[cockadoodlemom]

Okay thought I would put my 2 cents in. Muscovys are the quiet ones of the bunch. I had a Muscovy male named Venture that I raised with my chickens and he thought he was a chicken. My daughter called him a Chi-duck. His water pan was all the water he wanted and yes they get messy but they are so worth it-or he was. I have 6 ducklings and 6 goslings coming 4/9 and I look forward to having a duck around again. If I figure out how to add a picture I would love to share a picture of Venture with yall.

 

[Freebie]

I want some ducks. (insert pouting emoticion here)

 

[cockadoodlemom]

I figured it out and this is Venture. Just wanted to share his photo.In this one he is mad at the roster and he is after him.

 

[eggchel]

I think that you should consider getting a couple bantam ducks. Their small size makes caring for them easier. They can share housing with your chickens and can practically swim in a bowl, lol. Some breeds, such as Call ducks and Australian Spotted can fly so you would need to keep a wing clipped. But there are others such as Silkie ducks that dont fly. Black East Indies are beautiful and Miniature Appleyards are adorable and probably better layers than the others. The Call ducks are the smallest and definitely the cutest, but the females are loud (hence the name), so you might want to choose one of the others. Check out Feathersite's section on ducks :
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Ducks/BRKDucks.html

Holderreads has Black East Indies, Australian Spotted, and Miniature Appleyards. Best Quality, but spendy:
http://www.holderreadfarm.com/

If you go with a full size duck, the quietest are Muscovy. The female can fly really well so you would need to clip a wing. The males probably couldnt get much air under them in your small yard... they need to get a running start. LOL. The males do get really big, nearly twice the size of the females. The muscovy are really sweet and funny. They arent as much into swimming as the domestic duck breeds, either. Just supply them with a bucket to dunk their head in and once in a while pull out the kiddie pool, and they'll be fine. Muscovy hens are good layers but they are also good mothers, so they will hide a nest and sit on the eggs if given a chance.
Runners are also a great choice. They are much lighter weight than the other domestic ducks (other than bantams) so they eat much less. They are egg-cellent layers and good foragers, too. If you decide on Runners, you can get them from Metzers (http://metzerfarms.com/) but you might consider getting them from Holderreads so that you can get show quality ducks..... then you can enter them in the Stockton show next year!!

Ducks in general are much hardier than chickens. They rarely get sick and dont have much in the way of housing requirements, especially in our area. They can just be herded into a night shelter to protect them from raccoons (although my giant muscovy males didnt need protecting) and allowed to graze during the day. They wont wander far from their water source. They dont need weather protection in our area, just a dry nest and dry feed. They arent bothered at all by rain (waterfowl

) but appreciate some shade during the summer.





chellie

 

[DuckLady]

We're still back and forth about the whole duck question: Should we get any?

Uh, YEAH!!! And the sooner the better, I'd say! Then you can be admitted into the Quackheads Hall Of Fame.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Okay, a few quick comments:

1) Muscovys sound like a good fit, but... um... not sure my wife will be a big fan of their looks.

2) Chel, you mentioned "hurding them" in at night. Will they not go into the coop at night like my chickens?

 

[DuckLady]

What's wrong with their looks? They are beautiful!...Oh, you mean the caruncles? Well, they grow on you. Besides, they are soft and smooth and sweet. Once you raise it up from little, you won't mind it a bit because you will love your ducks like dogs.

They are easy to herd. (Cheerios go a long way)They don't go to roost like chickens, but once they learn the routine, they will want to follow it.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Quote:
Oh great... all I need is caruncles growing on me. I didn't think they were contageous, now my wife definitely won't want them!

The think I love about my chickens is/was that I simply had them in the coop for about 2 weeks, then after that they instinctively went back to the coop every night.

Maybe I'll need to go visit Chel and see her ducks / setup.