The khaki-Campbell duck Thread !!!!!!!!

[mzmolly65]

Why are you having to worm your ducks? Is this a maintenance type thing?

Ducks (all birds for that matter) are fairly parasite resistant IF they are in clean conditions, have a healthy diet and are in general, healthy birds. However, if they live in dirty and over crowded living conditions their chance of having parasites is high.

I was suspicious they might have parasites because: 1. they were living in very dirty, over crowded conditions when I bought them. 2. they are all underweight (which could be parasites, but it could also be poor quality feed or lack of feed) and 3. Marvin started having diarrhea (could be parasites or maybe just the stress of moving and new feed).

All the symptoms could be something simple or "could" indicate parasites. I was about to take a stool sample to the vet to determine if they had parasites or not but then I saw round worms in their stools so .. no tests needed, just treatment.

This is a good article about parasites in chickens (but same for ducks) .. *warning graphic images there*

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/answers-from-chicken-vet-on-worming.html

 

[nchvac]

Ducks (all birds for that matter) are fairly parasite resistant IF they are in clean conditions, have a healthy diet and are in general, healthy birds. However, if they live in dirty and over crowded living conditions their chance of having parasites is high.

I was suspicious they might have parasites because: 1. they were living in very dirty, over crowded conditions when I bought them. 2. they are all underweight (which could be parasites, but it could also be poor quality feed or lack of feed) and 3. Marvin started having diarrhea (could be parasites or maybe just the stress of moving and new feed).

All the symptoms could be something simple or "could" indicate parasites. I was about to take a stool sample to the vet to determine if they had parasites or not but then I saw round worms in their stools so .. no tests needed, just treatment.

This is a good article from the UK about parasites in ducks.


https://poultrykeeper.com/duck-keeping/worming-ducks/

The article actually says "It is proven beyond doubt that worm loads in birds that are kept in free range systems are far higher than birds kept in confined spaces".

 

[dgibson0604]

i have 5 kc's and they all have black marks on their wings and only 2 of them have olive colored bills what do you guys think

 

[mzmolly65]

The article actually says "It is proven beyond doubt that worm loads in birds that are kept in free range systems are far higher than birds kept in confined spaces".

Sorry, I edited my link to a USA link from a vet after you quoted me. I still agree with that statement, free range birds do have a higher probability for parasites because they are eating earthworms and other insects that have parasites. However, ALL animals can end up with parasites and most animals (including humans) have small levels of parasites in our systems. It is when they are overcrowded or living in their own feces or generally unhealthy (under weight, sick with infection, etc) that the parasite load can become unmanageable.

My *personal* feelings are that free range birds are healthier than birds that are constantly confined simply by reason of: varied diet, sunshine, exercise, mental health, etc.

I would rather treat my birds for parasites when necessary rather than confine them at all times in the hopes of preventing parasites, that they might still get.

I want to clarify my definition of free range. My ducks do not run entirely free; they are contained within my LARGE fenced, grassed garden/yard and that is separated into sections so I can control which section of the yard they are in if I need to. If one area gets a bit too over used I can keep them out until it has a chance to recover. They are cooped at night and let out early in the morning. We raised all our chickens and ducks like this on the farm I grew up on and we always had healthy birds so I feel comfortable continuing to do this.

My definition of confined is birds always kept inside a coop or small pen.

As always, this is just IMHO so take what you want from it and leave what you don't. These 4 ducks are new to me, as is keeping ducks in a semi-urban environment but I grew up with many ducks, geese and chickens on the farm. I don't profess to be any sort of expert or have any knowledge beyond my own personal experience which is why I like hearing what works for other people. I'll try anything to keep my animals as healthy as possible, as long as the cure is not worse than the disease.

 

[mzmolly65]

Do khaki campbells and rouens generally get along together? I am planning on keeping them together in 1 coop, but should I plan on housing them separate? Will be starting to build pen this next week, so it would be helpful to know before I get started, there will be 8 hens and 1drake of each....thank you in advance for any insight on this.

No reason why they shouldn't get along. Drakes sometimes squabble over ducks but the ratio of males to females you have should prevent arguments.

 

[KJ6485]

I put my rooster in with the ducks this morning to get them aquainted. My rooster is very docile and the ducks seemed very relaxed with him around. In fact the split up and went about their business instead of staying in their usual huddle of 3, so that is promising My rooster has great foraging instinct and has taught my hens well. I am sure the ducks will forage by instinct but at least he will get them to go around the yard and get them introduced to the layout. He stays way away from the road so the ducks should be safe with him around and he is a heck of watcher.

My ducks are fenced in under the chicken coop which is half wired and half solid bottom in the chicken pens. I have not built them a night box yet (do I need one?) as they have shelter from rain and there are trees all around the hutch so not much wind at all. I have them a large cardboard box in there if they need protection and I do see feathers in it but have never seen them inside it.

I am going to spread some sand on the ground to help with the mud and start letting them out with the chickens. I want to give them a good try and chance before I go back to all chickens. My original plan was to have the ducks for eggs and cornish chickens for meat.

It's most important that they have predator protection, which it sounds like they have, other than that I have heard alot of people say that their ducks PREFER to not be cooped up. It sounds like your setup is perfectly fine, since the solid sided area should protect them from the majority of the elements. Once you start leaving them out with the chickens on a daily basis, I would take food and water out of their caged in area, and only leave it outside, this will allow you to move it around to prevent mud in one particular area, if you are penning them up only in the evening and overnight, they are fine to have no food and water while they are in there.

 

[CntryBoy777]

No reason why they shouldn't get along.  Drakes sometimes squabble over ducks but the ratio of males to females you have should prevent arguments.

Thank you mzmolly65 for the info....was hoping they would, but have read a few threads where the rouen drake was rough with some khaki hens...so, before I built the quarters was wanting some experienced advice....Thanks again!!

 

[nchvac]

It's most important that they have predator protection, which it sounds like they have, other than that I have heard alot of people say that their ducks PREFER to not be cooped up. It sounds like your setup is perfectly fine, since the solid sided area should protect them from the majority of the elements. Once you start leaving them out with the chickens on a daily basis, I would take food and water out of their caged in area, and only leave it outside, this will allow you to move it around to prevent mud in one particular area, if you are penning them up only in the evening and overnight, they are fine to have no food and water while they are in there.

Let me clarify my hutch setup. It is an adapted rabbit hutch with the underneath wired with hardware cloth wire- no siding. Is that ok?

 

[nchvac]

I went ahead and turned them out anyway after I had to get in there and straighten out the box that the rooster destroyed. I was worried the chicken would bother the ducks but when I put some corn into their feedbowl for the rooster, well they let him eat a while and then one went in behind him and pushed straight into his tail feathers/butt and politely pushed him away from the feed bowl. I couldn't tell if it was the yellow beak one due to overcast today, but I think the one with the yellow beak is male but not sure. If not I may have 2 drakes.

 

[dgibson0604]

I went ahead and turned them out anyway after I had to get in there and straighten out the box that the rooster destroyed. I was worried the chicken would bother the ducks but when I put some corn into their feedbowl for the rooster, well they let him eat a while and then one went in behind him and pushed straight into his tail feathers/butt and politely pushed him away from the feed bowl. I couldn't tell if it was the yellow beak one due to overcast today, but I think the one with the yellow beak is male but not sure. If not I may have 2 drakes.

i have 5 kc's and 2 of them have the olive colored bills but they all have the dark black marking on the wings like a drake does
what do you think