• giveaway ENDS SOON! Cutest Baby Fowl Photo Contest: Win a Brinsea Maxi 24 EX Connect CLICK HERE!

SHOULD I GET DUCKS!?!?!

Date sort Score sort
Owenp_2

Owenp_2

Songster
Jul 27, 2020
325
461
151
Middle of North Carolina
Hey everyone, for those of you who don't know I have seven chickens and I am currently trying to expand my flock. I am trying to consider if I should get ducks or not? I know this is a short thread but please give me helpful tips, advice, breed information, diet, and care information also.
Thanks,
Owenp_2
 
 
 
Y e s.
Ducks are awesome! Messy, but awesome!
When my Mallards visit I love to watch them play in the water, follow me around, and forage between my toes!
 
Owenp_2 said:
Mallards are the ducks I wanted to add to my pond!! That seems cool!!
Click to expand...
They're so cute! And pretty! Mine are wild and decided to visit us last year and they stayed almost all day at our house from March until July. If you want to keep them as pets rather than just attracting wild ones beware that they can fly, only lay seasonally, and are quite small compared to a lot of dyco breeds.
 
EverythingDucks said:
They're so cute! And pretty! Mine are wild and decided to visit us last year and they stayed almost all day at our house from March until July. If you want to keep them as pets rather than just attracting wild ones beware that they can fly, only lay seasonally, and are quite small compared to a lot of dyco breeds.
Click to expand...
Okay, will take note of that.
 
I LOVE my ducks and enjoy going out everyday to do chores! Everyone who comes to visit and sees my ducks ends up getting ducks. A decent read if you are looking for a book is "Story's Guide To Raising Ducks"

- If you plan on keeping them with your chickens make sure that you only have hens. The drakes will try to mate your chickens and injure/kill them. If you do keep them separated and want Drake's, make sure that you have at the very least 5-6 hens per Drake.

- Ducks need access to water deep enough to submerge their head.

- Ducks nutritional needs differ from chickens especially when it comes to Niacin. I would highly recommend reading up on Niacin and deficiencies in ducks. So many people don't do their homework and then ask why their two week old ducklings are all starting to have bowed legs. A lot of people who have both ducks and chickens seem to like Purina All Flock.

- Some people do not like the fact that ducks like to play in their water and tend to throw it everywhere. It doesn't bother me personally, but knowing this before I purchased ducks I ensured I had good drainage and planned out their coop/run with this in mind. We also rigged up stock tanks with a drain and auto waterer. The drain is attached to a water hose that leads down a ravine so I have no water puddling up or old stagnant water sitting around.

- As far as breeds go it's really what purposes you are going to use them for, your local climate and general personal preference. If you live somewhere that gets very cold or very hot you will want to look for hardy breeds that adapt well to weather extremes. If you want eggs go with breeds like Khaki Campbell, Runner and Welsh Harlequin. If you want meat go with Muscovies, Pekins or Rouen's. Good dual purpose breeds are Cayuga's, Buffs and Swedish.

- As far as tips go I really like my sand in my run and pine pellets in my coop. Everything stays dry even though my ducks have water access 24/7.
 
Last edited:
Be sure to check out those links @Isaac 0 shared--some great stuff there!

As for us, we would answer your question with a resounding "yes!"

We keep silver Appleyards, which is a large breed duck. They are an endangered heritage breed, and that was a big part of our decision to keep them. We need more heritage breeds of everything from peppers to ducks.

We also wanted a duck that has a good disposition (generally friendly and gregarious--although that also has a lot to do with how you raise and treat them), produces eggs well and forages like a champ. Appleyards do all of this, and they are gorgeous too!

We always hear people talk about how messy ducks are, but that just hasn't been our experience. We use the deep litter method in their duckhouse and cleanout once or twice a year. Our predator-proof covered run is shavings and straw except for around their five-gallon bucket, which is cobbles. We put no food or water in the duckhouse ever, and the only water in the run is the five-gallon bucket (they need to be able to dunk their heads). They have 24/7 access to the run from the duckhouse unless it is a ferocious blizzard. We spot clean the run and duckhouse 2x/day, and it never really gets stinky, muddy or otherwise overly messy.

Our duckhouse is 4x8 for six ducks (about 5.3 sq feet per duck). This is more than enough room. We would not suggest less than 4 or 4.5 sq feet per duck. The attached run is 12x8, but the duckhouse is elevated, so it's really 16x8. We have the ability to separate the area under the duckhouse if we need to segment or separate a duck or ducks. We also have a small annex off one side of the run that provides additional space to separate a bird or birds from the flock. We have a Sweeter Heater in the duckhouse, which provides a mellow radiant heat that only warms the animals directly under it.

Our ducks free range (supervised) 2x/day for about an hour each time (morning and evening). They then spend most of their days in one of two fenced fields around their duckhouse. They get "soup for ducks" 2x/day, which is the way we get them to come back from free ranging. They come running!

We keep one drake and five hens presently. We like having a drake from a flock standpoint, but it's also helpful if you want ducklings. If you keep a drake, we suggest a ratio of no fewer than four girls per drake (some people say three). Regardless of your ratio, you will want a plan for being able to separate your drake from one or more girls during breeding season (~April to August for us). During breeding season, our drake spends his nights under the duckhouse (separated by chicken wire from the girls so they can all be together). Sometimes his favorite girl goes in with him and sometimes not. During the day, we mix them into two groups with different make-ups each day but always keeping the one or two girls he is picking on the most separate.

We have a small pond, which the ducks don't use....go figure. We have two additional drainages on the property that have pools in which the ducks like to play when they are out free ranging. We provide small tubs for them during the day in their fields, which, for us, is a WAY better solution than kiddie pools.

We feed Mazuri Waterfown Maintenance free choice and provide free choice oyster shells. We also feed all the eggshells back to them. As I mentioned, they get "soup for ducks" 2x/day, and that is peas and greens in water (warm in the winter) with a mealworm crumble. Mealworms are their favorite treat, and they get those when they go in at night.

That's all I can think of at the moment, but if you have additional questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Quack! :)
 
O
AstroDuck said:
I LOVE my ducks and enjoy going out everyday to do chores! Everyone who comes to visit and sees my ducks ends up getting ducks. A decent read if you are looking for a book is "Story's Guide To Raising Ducks"

- If you plan on keeping them with your chickens make sure that you only have hens. The drakes will try to mate your chickens and injure/kill them. If you do keep them separated and want Drake's, make sure that you have at the very least 5-6 hens per Drake.

- Ducks need access to water deep enough to submerge their head.

- Ducks nutritional needs differ from chickens especially when it comes to Niacin. I would highly recommend reading up on Niacin and deficiencies in ducks. So many people don't do their homework and then ask why their two week old ducklings are all starting to have bowed legs. A lot of people who have both ducks and chickens seem to like Purina All Flock.

- Some people do not like the fact that ducks like to play in their water and tend to throw it everywhere. It doesn't bother me personally, but knowing this before I purchased ducks I ensured I had good drainage and planned out their coop/run with this in mind. We also rigged up stock tanks with a drain and auto waterer. The drain is attached to a water hose that leads down a ravine so I have no water puddling up or old stagnant wanted sitting around.

- As far as breeds go it's really what purposes you are going to use them for, your local climate and general personal preference. If you live somewhere that gets very cold or very hot you will want to look for hardy breeds that adapt well to weather extremes. If you want eggs go with breeds like Khaki Campbell, Runner and Welsh Harlequin. If you want meat go with Muscovies, Pekins or Rouen's. Good dual purpose breeds are Cayuga's, Buffs and Swedish.

- As far as tips go I really like my sand in my run and pine pellets in my coop. Everything stays dry even though my ducks have water access 24/7.
Click to expand...
Okay, this is exactly what I need thank you so much!
 

Similar threads

RoosterBoost
Thinking of getting some ducks, any tips?
2
Replies
14
Views
933
3bird
3bird
1DuckMore
    • Love
Can you tell if these duckings are boys or girls (by sound)?!
Replies
6
Views
446
1DuckMore
1DuckMore
N
    • Like
How much to feed Pekins if they are foraging
Replies
1
Views
438
AGeese
AGeese
MaeM
    • Love
What should a chicken keeper know about ducks?
Replies
8
Views
271
CoopBoots
CoopBoots
ojwilliams
Collecting Eggs
Replies
1
Views
464
KathiQuacks
KathiQuacks

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom