So who has horses as well? ducks & horses question//

[Going Quackers]

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I truly didn't give it a moments thought either... i mean around here it's the same lots of people have a large variety of livestock.

 

[Birdcrazy]

My ducks and chooks free range on the same property as my horses and a dam. I hadn't heard of anything about risks.
My horses generally don't mix with any of the ducks and chooks, only occasionally go up to one trying to figure it out, but that usually scares the birds off anyway

 

[duckluck]

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so you don't free range then, i take it? I'm uncertain whether i can properly pen 4 muscovy... it would have to be huge if they were not allowed to be loose...

I do some free range, but it's limited freedom...they have a big separate pen (my old broodmare pen for mare and foal) and can't poop where the horse hangs out.

 

[duckluck]

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I've heard more negative about keeping them on a pasture with a pond together than just free range. Many people who have ponds don't give the horses any other source of drinking water.

 

[Going Quackers]

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I've heard more negative about keeping them on a pasture with a pond together than just free range. Many people who have ponds don't give the horses any other source of drinking water.

Now that i could see being well ewww is all that comes to mind lol yeah we're pondless(prevoius owners covered it in, of coarse it floods there every spring) one of the reasons we went with muscovy, they can have a kiddie pool instead..

 

[Going Quackers]

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so you don't free range then, i take it? I'm uncertain whether i can properly pen 4 muscovy... it would have to be huge if they were not allowed to be loose...

I do some free range, but it's limited freedom...they have a big separate pen (my old broodmare pen for mare and foal) and can't poop where the horse hangs out.

I see, i think ours won't probably go much where the horses are.. but i am only guessing.. the manure pile i have no doubt will be a great hangout though

 

[TLWR]

My neighbors have 2 horses and I think down to 4 or 5 muscovies. The horses are probably on about 10 acres and the ducks do/go as they please.

 

[KansasKid]

I have always let the waterfowl free range around the horse lot and pasture. They gather at the horse feed troughs at dinner time to catch the falling bits and pieces, and take complete ownership of the pond. We do have a large stock tank for the horses to drink out of that the ducks (knock on wood) never get in. i don't worry too much about them pooping on grass and the horses eating it and transmitting that way because (1), the ducks don't venture past the pond into the pasture, (2), horses (maybe its just mine) are picky about the quality and condition of there grass

But otherwise i make sure that if something has duck poop on/in it like a water bucket i rinse/bleach it out before using it. We had a horse come down with EPM last fall and ever since then we have been careful of everything that the horses eat/drink out of and have been trying to thin out the possibly causes of the disease i.e. coon, possum, etc.

 

[lakota_elder]

I have horses and Welsh Harlequins.... I have a small waterfall pond made out of an old garden style bathtub that the ducks call their own... the watering troughs for the horses are the big barrels that the ducks cannot get into..... too tall and the ducks have heavy butts so it's hard for them to fly... No problems...