Switching to ducks - do I have the space?

[OzarkEgghead]

Hello, everyone! Hope all who celebrate it had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I'm looking to transition from chickens to ducks. I've had chickens for a decade but I'll be a first-time duck mom. I'd like to do a mixed flock of 3 breeds...Pekin, Silver Appleyard & Ancona. My coop is a walk-in coop that's 10' x 12' for a total of 120 Sq ft of floor space. The ducks will be permitted to come & go from the coop as they wish from just after dawn to right before dusk & free-range in a 20' x 60' exercise yard. Since they will all come in together only at night to sleep, can I safely house 20 ducks without overcrowding them? Are my preferred breeds appropriate duck-beginner breeds?

 

[Jenbirdee]

Min for ducks at night in coop is 4 sq ft each. I have 12 ducks in a 8x6 shed (48 sq ft) and its perfect.
What size pekins are you considering
for a beginner I might shy away from the jumbos

They need at least 1 sq ft ventilation each duck , windows up high and covered with 1/2 hardware cloth
ducks release a lot of moisture into the air

I would not get straight runs
Buy from a good breeder like metzer
the drake to hen ratio for ducks is 1 - 5
and there's very good reason for that
too many drakes and hens will get injured and/or killed

I have pekins and a silver appleyard but not anacona (yet lol) they are wonderful ducks - in fact I cant imagine a non-wonderful duck

 

[OzarkEgghead]

Min for ducks at night in coop is 4 sq ft each. I have 12 ducks in a 8x6 shed (48 sq ft) and its perfect.
What size pekins are you considering
for a beginner I might shy away from the jumbos

They need at least 1 sq ft ventilation each duck , windows up high and covered with 1/2 hardware cloth
ducks release a lot of moisture into the air

I would not get straight runs
Buy from a good breeder like metzer
the drake to hen ratio for ducks is 1 - 5
and there's very good reason for that
too many drakes and hens will get injured and/or killed

I have pekins and a silver appleyard but not anacona (yet lol) they are wonderful ducks - in fact I cant imagine a non-wonderful duck

I was looking at "standard" Pekins, not the Jumbos. The coop has a 7' ceiling, a window that can be opened on 3 of the 4 sides & a standard house entry door on the 4th side for excellent cross-breeze in summer. I was thinking 3 drakes & 17 hens which would put the drake to hen ratio at 1 drake to roughly 6 hens. I never buy straight runs. Too chancy ending up with far too many males & not enough layers. I live not far from Cackle Hatchery here in Missouri so that would be my first-choice supplier of ducklings. I've gotten all but my very first crop of chickens from them & have been happy with the quality, health & survival rate of the chicks so I have no reason to think I wouldn't get the same with ducklings.

 

[Jenbirdee]

that’s excellent! do you plan to use kiddie pools or something else for their bathing/swimming water? i use kiddie pools and i learned to keep them in the lowest corner of the yard so when I dump them, the water goes out through the fence. Otherwise the muddy area the ducks create is overwhelming. It’s still gets muddy, around them because they splash so i use sand and gravel and stepping stones and even some sections of outdoor carpet, the kind made out of recycled soda bottles.
You probably know, ducks need water deep enough to stick their head under ( chickens on the other hand can use those nipple drinkers, but they’re no good for ducks). Ducks don’t necessarily have to swim every day, but they need the buckets of water to stick their head in every day.

 

[OzarkEgghead]

that’s excellent! do you plan to use kiddie pools or something else for their bathing/swimming water? i use kiddie pools and i learned to keep them in the lowest corner of the yard so when I dump them, the water goes out through the fence. Otherwise the muddy area the ducks create is overwhelming. It’s still gets muddy, around them because they splash so i use sand and gravel and stepping stones and even some sections of outdoor carpet, the kind made out of recycled soda bottles.
You probably know, ducks need water deep enough to stick their head under ( chickens on the other hand can use those nipple drinkers, but they’re no good for ducks). Ducks don’t necessarily have to swim every day, but they need the buckets of water to stick their head in every day.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to get a cheap plastic kiddie pool or buy a large(ish) round, metal livestock tub that's as deep as a kiddie pool. The metal tub will have sturdier walls for pulling it over to dump & wash out but could be very heavy to overturn when filled with water. The kiddie pool would be lighter to overturn but I'm concerned the cheap, thin plastic sidewalls will break easily & quickly with repeated dumping & require frequent replacement.

I've never used nipple waterers...always the metal gravity waterers where you slip the top on over the inner portion. I've attached a picture of one. Is there something better to water ducks with?

 

[Miss Lydia]

My stock tank is heavy rubber and only 50 gallons my husband put a faucet in it so I can just drain the water where it sits and you can add a hose and let it drain where you want it to go.

 

[ruthhope]

I wasn't sure if I wanted to get a cheap plastic kiddie pool or buy a large(ish) round, metal livestock tub that's as deep as a kiddie pool. The metal tub will have sturdier walls for pulling it over to dump & wash out but could be very heavy to overturn when filled with water. The kiddie pool would be lighter to overturn but I'm concerned the cheap, thin plastic sidewalls will break easily & quickly with repeated dumping & require frequent replacement.

I've never used nipple waterers...always the metal gravity waterers where you slip the top on over the inner portion. I've attached a picture of one. Is there something better to water ducks with?

Plastic kiddie pools are ok but need to be replaced as tge plastic deteriorates and cracks in the sun. It always happens that they spring a leak in the winter when the stores do not have replacements!!! My son and I have found that kiddie sandbox are more robust and last a lot longer. I found a little tikes green turtle sandbox at the roadside. It was so good that I advertised in my neighborhood on NextDoor and I was given a second green turtle for my son. That was more than 2 years ago and they are going strong. I was offered another brand of sandbox through a Sell Nothing Buy Nothing group and now have two in my yard for the ducks who love them!

 

[OzarkEgghead]

Plastic kiddie pools are ok but need to be replaced as tge plastic deteriorates and cracks in the sun. It always happens that they spring a leak in the winter when the stores do not have replacements!!! My son and I have found that kiddie sandbox are more robust and last a lot longer. I found a little tikes green turtle sandbox at the roadside. It was so good that I advertised in my neighborhood on NextDoor and I was given a second green turtle for my son. That was more than 2 years ago and they are going strong. I was offered another brand of sandbox through a Sell Nothing Buy Nothing group and now have two in my yard for the ducks who love them!

That was my concern with the plastic kiddie pool, too. About the only way to make sure you don't get caught with a leak when there's no kiddie pool replacements to be had would be to buy 2....1 to use now & 1 to keep in reserve in case the other breaks/leaks. The biggest problem with that would be finding a spot to store such a large item until it's needed. I have a natural pond in the middle of my south pasture that I'm sure they'd enjoy but it's a fair distance from the coop, they'd be out in the open & at risk from predators & if I couldn't convince them to return to the coop in the evening, they would most certainly end up as a midnight snack for the local coyote or bobcat population. The pond is also visited on a regular basis by a wild Great Blue Heron & any ducklings my breeding pairs would produce would be a favored delicacy of herons. I want a self-sustaining flock, ie. breeders naturally replace any that I cull for meat, and allowing their babies to get eaten by that heron kind of defeats the purpose. Thankfully, I have several months to figure out all of the details before my ducklings become available & quite a few weeks after that before they're old enough & feathered enough for them to be permitted outside in the yard.

 

[Yardmom]

It is not that ducks can't drink from nipple waters. They just need access to a deep water source daily. My ducks drink from nipple waters when in their pen. They can also drink from gravity waters. Mine have access to a pond when they free range daily, so no need for a deep water source in my pen.

 

[Jenbirdee]

yes the ducks need to clean their eyes and their nares so i just use buckets.
i double up the kiddie pools to strengthen the walls
i buy extra when they’re on sale i have about 6 in my garage