The Duck Thread

[Jattaway]

Hello all,
Well we went and did it! We got our baby ducklings on 3/11/2015. I have been researching, learning and discussing the possibilities of getting a couple of ducks for pets for my son Drew for seven years now, he has been ranting them since he was five years old. I knew this was a long term commitment so did not rush into this lightly.
After all the hours of reading on BYC, and the long discussions with my husband and with Drew, we decided we can do this, so we bought our ducklings at a local feed store and brought our new babies home! Four days in so we are still getting to know our little ones and are busy building their Duck Treehouse!
My husband is modifying Drew's treehouse and soon it will be a beautiful home for Rex ( baby Peking) and Sadie( baby Rouen)Dave and I thought the above ground pen would work well for us and I am very excited to share our pictures with you all, I am still a nervous Nellie about being a good Grandma to Rex and Sadie, but with Drew and Dave for help and support and this site I am up for the adventure!
Thanks for all the wonderful ideas, informative advice and loving support!

 

[localife]

OMG, those babies are so cute -- and with the dog.... very weet!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Welcome to BYC

Beautiful home for your ducks but how will they get into it? Pekin and Rouen are heavy weights and don't fly?

Those babies are adorable.

 

[hennible]

X2

Ramps? My Rouen's can't get an inch off the ground...

 

[Jattaway]

We will have to have a ramp for them to walk up into and down out of it, Dave is also trying to figure a way for them to get into the top floor of the tree house, he has taken the window shutters off and will put screening over those up top, and he will have their house next to the tree, inside the pen, he just got started really, I will post some more pics as we progress, as we are new to this any helpful hints are apreciated! We are excited, and are learning as we go! Cody( our furry best friend)really seems interested in the babies, and a little spooked too, the babies chase him, I think they are just following, but Cody feels chased based on his reaction to it, very cute and funny to see two baby ducks running as fast as they can behind Cody!

 

[hennible]

Very cool, I'd love to see more pics of the duck tree fort down the road, it's a very neat duck house.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I'd be very careful with your dog, looks to have Terrier or all Terrier and prey drive can kick in at any moment I have dachshunds and they have a very strong prey drive, and I learned a very hard lesson when one of my dachshunds killed one of our ducklings. And he has been raised around them since a tiny pup. Adult ducks fine ducklings I don't let them that close.

Ducks don't do ramps real well if steep. and they have to be wide enough they can waddle up an down with out falling off the side. I do have a couple ramps going into a few of my houses but they aren't very far off the ground.
Look forward to seeing how your duck tree house goes.

 

[PotatoWaffles]

They actually look like they may almost be old enough to not need much in the way of supplemental heat. What are your temperatures like? Maybe just one heat lamp if they will not huddle to much together and end up hurting each other that way.

We have one heat lamp in their coop. Temps are in the 40's and 50's. I think they will be alright.

 

[Lizzy456]

What brands of feed(all stages) do all of you use?I'm looking for opinions because Tractor Supply carries so many of all stages and brands it is a little overwhelming.
Plus I thought I'd get opinions from the experienced people here....this is my first time with any kind of poultry(I'm getting 6 Khaki Campbell ducklings in May)so you could say I'm a duck newbie , lol.

 

[needlessjunk]

What brands of feed(all stages) do all of you use?I'm looking for opinions because Tractor Supply carries so many of all stages and brands it is a little overwhelming.
Plus I thought I'd get opinions from the experienced people here....this is my first time with any kind of poultry(I'm getting 6 Khaki Campbell ducklings in May)so you could say I'm a duck newbie , lol.

I start with Flock Raiser since it is higher in protein and had niacin added. Then when I run out of that bag I switch to DuMor Grower/Finisher. I'm another week or two when I run out of that bag I'll be switching to layer since my girls will be old enough. Some people use just flock riser, some use just grower and supplement with oyster shells. I have free choice oyster shell out right now since I have 1 that is laying.