- Oct 3, 2010
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I got my 2 ducks and 2 chicks as a result of a trade - I gave a couple a door (we had gotten for free) to use on their duck house and I got these 4 birds. They were all cute and stuff when they were little. I chuckled at the poster who said ducks are quieter than chickens. Granted, my roo starts at about 5:30am. The neighbors hear the roo but not the ducks, but the ducks are very noisy creatures! When I call for my cats, it's the ducks that answer. The roo just looks at them like - she's calling the CATS. When I walk outside, it is the ducks that speak up first. They have ALOT to say.
They aren't exactly friendly - they've always been hard to handle. One has just gotten so big that it just makes it even harder to hold it. The kids still love all the birds, though. The 4 birds snuggle together at bedtime. Cracks me up. I'm not sure if the ducks act more like chickens or the chickens more like ducks. I have seen the roo walk along the edge of the kiddie pool and he actually slipped in a little. I think that was the last time he tried that.
When the ducks get fresh water in the pool, they go bonkers. The chickens stand there ... everytime ... with a look of "Really? THAT excites you?" The smaller duck seems to be the bully about being the first into the fresh water.
True, they are messy. The ducks are the ones responsible for messing the drinking water. We put in a waterer nipple system and the chickens just aren't getting it. They aren't using it.
Not sure how to get any of the birds to use it.
We're hoping to hook the ducks up with a floating duck house to move them away from the chickens. I'll be curious to see if the ducks return to where the chickens are or if they are ready to move out of the chicken coop/pen. Right now, they are in an 8x8 area in the backyard. We're mid-construction on a 6x6 coop + 16x16 run on our farm.
They aren't exactly friendly - they've always been hard to handle. One has just gotten so big that it just makes it even harder to hold it. The kids still love all the birds, though. The 4 birds snuggle together at bedtime. Cracks me up. I'm not sure if the ducks act more like chickens or the chickens more like ducks. I have seen the roo walk along the edge of the kiddie pool and he actually slipped in a little. I think that was the last time he tried that.
When the ducks get fresh water in the pool, they go bonkers. The chickens stand there ... everytime ... with a look of "Really? THAT excites you?" The smaller duck seems to be the bully about being the first into the fresh water.
True, they are messy. The ducks are the ones responsible for messing the drinking water. We put in a waterer nipple system and the chickens just aren't getting it. They aren't using it.
We're hoping to hook the ducks up with a floating duck house to move them away from the chickens. I'll be curious to see if the ducks return to where the chickens are or if they are ready to move out of the chicken coop/pen. Right now, they are in an 8x8 area in the backyard. We're mid-construction on a 6x6 coop + 16x16 run on our farm.
