Still confused about ducks

[comp6512]

After having a wonderful rewarding experience with chickens, now at almost 8 weeks old, the "chick" bug got me again. So I ordered 14 (day-old) cayuga ducks who are to arrive the week of the 23rd.

I have no problem raising them in the brooder for about a month. But what after that?

1. Housing - thinking of putting a dog kennel straight on the ground, leaned to a cinder-block storage building we have in the back yard. Do I need bedding for that? We are in Florida, so cold is not an issue.

2. If I put bedding - should I use wood shavings, same as I use in chicken coup?

3. Cleaning. I clean chicken poop boards daily and add fresh wood shavings to the floor. But ducks don't use poop boards, so what do I do for cleaning?

4. Can I allow them to roam in my garden to eat bugs? Or will they ruin the garden?

I am worried ...

 

[barredrockmama]

1. You might need to secure it better than putting it on the ground as many predators will dig under with no problem. Maybe bury some wire or something.

2. Wood shavings will probably be fine. I like straw. Either way they'll manage to turn it into a muddy mess.

3. Just make sure you change the bedding pretty often.

4. They are so much easier on your garden than chickens! They don't scratch and they love slugs and snails.

Relax, ducks are loads of fun!

 

[rainplace]

They will eat your plants though...

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

They dont fly very well, so watch dog and preditors with them. We just lost half our cayugas to coyotes a couple weeks ago. They love to roam around the yard though, eat grass, bugs, and to a lesser degree, yes, your plants.
As mentioned, they are messy, we never even bother with bedding, it wont make it a day or 2 tops.
Once feathers, cold isnt an issue even in Alaska with ducks, It kind of tickles me this time of year to see how many folfs are worried about their ducks freezing! They LOOOOVE the cold! Just keep them in a heated brooder til they are feathered though! will be more than a month...

As for housing, we just keep ours in standard ol chicken style pens, 20x20 would do nicely for 14 ducks, small pool is always nice for them, and electric fence goes a long way on preditors...
You'll love them