Why didn't duck people warn me?

[mandelyn]

You need to tell husband the stink issue is a lie. My husband was all like "Don't they stink? No way!" and I was like "No dear, that's a myth"

Well yeah, ducks totally stink. But after husband holds one and watches them swim and play, and he talks to them... he's down there cleaning out the brooder all on his own! Between the two of us cleaning, you'd hardly know we had baby ducks in the house. He picks weeds for the big ducks outside, and added himself a chair next to my chair so we can sit and watch together.

Haha. My husband loves himself some duckies, stink or no stink. He agrees that they're worth all the extra work and so he helps out. I thought he loved those two Red Star hens... but he spends much more time with ducks now. He's really putting forth the effort to get them to like him.

 

[chickensioux]

Duckling are one of the cutest animals EVER! I can sit and watch a bunch of ducklings swim, play, dabble, etc. for hours. Way better than TV and way more relaxing and rewarding. Ducks rock! I need some..................more.

 

[Kaelinstorm]

Umm... I dont know about the stink issue. Mine are in an area that is about 50ft x 40ft With a 3x6 coop in the "pen" and a small 2x3 chicken hutch in there, as well as two of the small kiddie pools for them to swim. I have 3 ducks with one 2 week old baby, two chickens that free roam in and over the gate, and 5 young chickens who normally stay in the area (for now so far) and I dont think I really have a smell problem. But I also have to refill the pools every other day because they do poop in the pools and more than that they love to dig in the mud and dip their beaks in the water. Perhaps the frequent massive water dumping washes some of the stink away? Speaking of digging, thats about the ONLY problem I have is they like to dig holes and I have basically no grass out there because they LOVE new grass shoots. But besides that they are pretty awesome and I kinda think they are more reliable about egg laying than my chickens. At least they dont try to lay eggs in other yards! LOL I love my ducks

 

[tbitt]

What about "Happy Feet"? <-- that is what I call it.

My babies are around 5 weeks old and last week I put the water on a slope and it kept sloshing out onto the freshly dug ground.....WELL....the babies kept splashing... and trying to drill holes....and slpashing...............then all of a sudden, one of the babies started to stomp her feet... I about melted it was soooo adorable...then another one started to get happy feet, then another one....


I laied in bed that night giggling my butt off telling hubby how adorable "happy Feet" was!

I have had many animals in my life, and so far nothing has compared to the enjoyment I get out of these silly ducks!

And I do not find them stinky, I do clean them one a week....and I do have it so the splashing water falls down into a tub and not on the ground.....

 

[whitechicken]

dont know if this will work some of duck pics not quite all tho

 

[FeatheredObsessions]

Ducklings are my favor baby bird for that very reason!

 

[Wifezilla]

There is a certain duckling "funk" that no matter how much you clean is always there

once they lose their down though, that seems to go away. As far as their pen, it is only stinky when we get a lot of rain because their run is not covered. A lot of rain usually isn't an issue in Colorado, but we have been getting a lot lately so now the pen stinks. It IS easy to fix. Scoop up old straw, sprinkle stall dry or swet pdz on the ground and add new straw. BAMMM. All fixed and now you have lots of "nitrogen enriched" straw to put on your garden beds.

 

[heatherindeskies]

Jenn's ducklings: