The Duck Thread

[AmandaMBG]

Ahem... girl ducks produce 'lubrication'...

Thank you lol!! Probably what I was seeing.

 

[AmandaMBG]

I have to agree as I see the same thing daily .

Yes I know about dominance play like I stated they were doing in the comment. It's not that that was throwing me off.

 

[MandyJ]

Yes I know about dominance play like I stated they were doing in the comment. It's not that that was throwing me off.

What Was "Throwing You Off"?

 

[chickengirl72]

We have a flock of runner ducks right now, and i love them, they're beautiful and hilarious. But, they're so skittish! We also did a batch of pekins for meat ducks, but they were so noisy and poopy and ate like pigs!

I'd love to get a couple or 4 ducks that are really calm and friendly, will come up and eat out of our hands, and ducks that will lay eggs consistently. We have 8 foot fences, so our perfect duck wouldn't be able to fly higher than that--i have bad neighbours on one side who are very loud and have big untrained vicious dogs that would eat any duck that crosses the fence.

I was thinking about getting khaki campbells, but is there any other kind of duck that we should consider? Whatever we pick, we'll get some hatching eggs in the spring so that we can handle the ducklings when they're babies.


Criteria for new ducks:
calm and friendly
frugal eaters
lay eggs every day
can't really fly

 

[tonisummers]

Hello everyone, so I recently got three new ducklings. I have started them on quik chik, and niacin. Is t okay that I am giving them both? I just want to be sure that they are super healthy. Also, I have dumor 24% food for them, and I was curious if there are better feeds I should look into? And lastly, I need a good heating light for them, to be sure that they're warm at all times, as I currently have a heating pad keeping them warm. Thanks so much.

 

[jtn42248]

Hello everyone, so I recently got three new ducklings. I have started them on quik chik, and niacin. Is t okay that I am giving them both? I just want to be sure that they are super healthy. Also, I have dumor 24% food for them, and I was curious if there are better feeds I should look into? And lastly, I need a good heating light for them, to be sure that they're warm at all times, as I currently have a heating pad keeping them warm. Thanks so much.

You should be fine with those combinations. The Quik Chik does not list Niacin so it is o.k. to mix the two. I would not keep them on the Quik Chik for very long but the Niacin should be added as a supplement for at least their first 10 weeks. The Dumor feed is fine and you should add the Niacin to it since it does not have any. Once they are grown (16 weeks or so) you should be able to shift them over to a good mixed flock feed and they should thrive. Enjoy your ducks, they can be a real pleasure even with all their mess.

 

[Amiga]

I would add that there are ceramic heaters that fit into the heat lamp fixtures sold for keeping brooders warm, and I find them safe and effective. They cost more but I have not had one shatter on me, as others have with the heat light bulbs. They last and last.

 

[ManawaGirl]

Hi @JanetMarie -
I'm someone who has both! We started out with 6 chickens years ago and I think we have 27 right now. Last year we bought 3 ducklings from Tractor Supply. We'd been considering getting ducks for a while and last spring the timing was right. The duck population has gone up and down - we had our originals Roy - a Welsh Harlequin, Daisy (a boy)- a buff, and Swede - a Blue Swedish. All 3 boys who got along great. Then someone gave us two male Khaki Campbells. Shortly after integrating our duck population, my neighbor's horrible aggressive dog got out once again, broke into our coop and killed one of the KCs, and broke the other KC's leg. He died a week later. Then, about two months ago we bought a female KC named Peanut. Although the boy/girl population is way off in our ducks, Peanut holds her own and lays us about 2 eggs a week.
As far as being a poultry lover, I'm all about the chickens, especially the Silkie breed which we got into a year or so ago. I love our 4 ducks but they are so indescribably messy! And Swede, our big Blue Swedish, is kinda pushy. Not in a bad way, but he definitely is the head-honcho.
Earlier this spring I went to lock the ducks up at night (they and the chickens free-range most days) and couldn't find them - they decided to switch coops and now bunk every night in the hen house.

 

[MandyJ]

Hello everyone, so I recently got three new ducklings. I have started them on quik chik, and niacin. Is t okay that I am giving them both? I just want to be sure that they are super healthy. Also, I have dumor 24% food for them, and I was curious if there are better feeds I should look into? And lastly, I need a good heating light for them, to be sure that they're warm at all times, as I currently have a heating pad keeping them warm. Thanks so much.

Use 1 Tablespoon niacin/cup of food.
Good luck & enjoy!
Mandy

 

[Gabby2016]

Hello. We have 16 ducklings scheuduled to ship from Metzer Farms next week. I have an extra large dog crate set up as a brooder for them for the first couple of weeks and was wondering if one heat lamp would be enough for them or should I expect to have to use a second. Our coop is built and ready to go when they outgrow the crate. I want to make sure everyone will have enough heat and if I should go ahead and get a second lamp or is that overkill. Thanks for your thoughts and experience.