You will want to make it conveniently located to your house so you can easily close the coop at night and open it in the morning, and for cleaning, feeding, etc. Domestic ducks spend more of their time on land than wild ducks, so while they will enjoy swimming in the pond, a lot of their days will be on land digging through the grass looking for bugs. If these are just pets, I would recommend just getting all females.
It will cut down on fighting and mating which are two of the times they are loudest. If you free range them I would give them a solid 6 months in a fenced off area first so they really get the idea that this is their home, this is where their food is, their shelter is. Ducks like to find some place secure at night and they are creatures of habit just look at migrating ducks that fly hundreds of miles just to return to the same pond each year.
I would stay away from Mallards or Muscovies as many of them can still fly and are more adventurous than other domesticated breeds. I have been feeding the Millard ducks where I live and now they are attacking the female who has just 7 ducklings but only has 4 left. The mum tries to come over to me for feeding at least 3 times a day with her ducklings and most times the mallard are waiting for her and chase her and then at least 4 to 5 M allards on top of her.
She always manages to get to her babies. Unfortunately, during mating season that is totally normal behavior. The males get a little crazy and will gang up on a female. It can be really distressing to watch, hopefully as the summer comes on they will settle down.
The babies grow really fast and are usually on their own after weeks. I am doing my research and preparing for duck next year. We live on 3. Will that hurt them? It is chlorinated, not saltwater. If you get small call ducks, Mallards or Muscovies they can usually fly though.
Thank you for the VERY prompt reply! I really enjoy your page and have bookmarked for future reference. How do you keep the area by their pool clean? But over by the pool it is poop central.
Any ideas? Ducks poop. A lot. I use a hose to spray out the poop after dumping it I dump it so the water mostly flows out of the the enclosure , then use the hose to just spray the general area. What do you have for ground cover? Sand is nice and absorbent, but gets washed away so you have to keep replacing it. Smooth stones can also provide drainage and are easy to rinse. I have a pond in my back yard and wanted to get some ducks to free range. Can I leave them free during the day and put them safely in a house at night?
Then when you let them out to free range they should come back every night at dusk and you can just go out and lock them in. Hi, My friend just found an abandoned duckling in her yard and named it Otto!
Me and my other friend liked the duckling so much that we want to get our own. Hi Keiran — ducks are very social animals. Hi, I would love to get 2 or 3 ducks and bunnies as pets in a beautiful enclosure in our back garden. Also, there are clients in and out of the front garden as a business is run from the property. So, I was wondering if there is a small breed that is super relaxed and quiet.
Whenever possible I will let them out to explore. Thank you!! From sunny Sputh Africa. You could set up a little pen or aviary that is square feet where they could spend most of their time and then you could let them roam the garden occasionally as well. You could fit a small kiddie pool in there for them to splash about in and a small house for them to shelter in.
Ponds with filters can be tricky because their poop tends to clog up the filter and pump quickly so many duck owners find its easier to have a small pool they can physically dump out. I am not sure what breeds would be available there, but call ducks come in all kinds of colors and patterns and are about half the size of traditional domestic ducks so they could be a great choice for you! I would avoid runner ducks, they tend to be a little nervous and timid.
Cayugas are great foragers. They will make sure there are no slugs, snails, or bugs in the garden which is a good thing. Ducks in general do not rip plants and flowers out or pull plants by the roots with scratching the way chickens do.
But if you leave water standing in a puddle they will turn it into a big mud puddle very quickly which can destroy nearby plants. They also like to nibble things like vegetables and herbs if you have them loose in a veggie garden. I have had two female Cayuga ducks for the past five years. I believe they are between years in age. They were sisters hatched from the same batch of eggs and were never apart.
Both had special needs which is why I took them in five years ago; they were going to be killed. After taking them to the vet, he determined that one has tumors and can no longer lay eggs she gets warm epsom salt in her bath water everyday , the other had chronic sinus infections. Her face would swell up. All this to say my sweet baby girl with the sinus infections was killed a few nights ago in their kennel. A night predator somehow clipped through the materials and pushed a piece of the fencing over.
This is my theory anyway as there was a very, very small gap in the back of their kennel area. Her body and my other female were still inside the kennel when I went to let them out in the morning, and no other signs of a predator. In addition to that, my other female is now alone. With her advanced age and special health condition, though, I do worry about introducing a new duck.
Any insight or suggestions would be appreciated. Awww that is so sad!! These little guys really do make their way into your heart, especially when you are giving them such special care. It is heartbreaking to lose one of them. I am so sorry for your loss. Predators can be super resourceful when they are hungry. Poor girl. Ducks definitely do like to have constant companionship.
You will likely want to get her another friend. If possible, I would suggest that you get two. Maybe reach out to your local rescue and see if they have any older lady ducks that need a home? Good luck. The article you linked was very helpful, Liz!
Hi Liz, I want to get ducks, but before I do, I just want to find out if ducks will eat dog poop? One concern someone had was about dogs eating duck poop. Second will dogs eat duck poop — more likely.
I have never seen my dogs eat duck or chicken poop, but I heard from lots of farmers that their dogs do. So I suppose that is up to your dog. You can separate out a duck side of the yard with some simple wire fencing. I am trying to convince my mother if i can have some ducks! There are plenty of pros to having ducks! She loves chickens and going out to get eggs so how many ducks and what breeds would be good for beginners?
I would suggest a minimum of 3 for a beginner flock. Pekins are an awesome large duck for beginners! Your email address will not be published.
Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Other Posts You Might Like. Treats your ducks will love! Who here remembers going to the park to feed the ducks when they were a…. Understanding Backyard Duck Behavior Ducks are very intelligent animals with complex social relationships.
Great Backyard Duck Breeds They say that ducks are the "new chickens" - it seems backyard farmers all over the…. Previous Article Feeding Wool Rabbits. You may also like Chickens Ducks Dealing with Death on the Homestead. Ducks Winter Duck Care. Liz says: Posted on September 10, at am. Melissa Keyser says: Posted on September 19, at pm.
Liz says: Posted on September 19, at pm. They are so much fun! Beth Combs says: Posted on March 1, at pm. Liz says: Posted on March 1, at pm.
Kimberly Lyons says: Posted on March 23, at am. Barbara Gillihan says: Posted on April 2, at pm. I have twisted my ankle and my knees are shot from doing this every night for three weeks!
I am not sure how long this has been going on but you do need to herd them from behind If you get in front of them they will run from you. We use a stick or rake to keep them from veering off right or left.
Have you tossed some treats into the coop for them at the end of the day. Ours are so trained now that they put themselves to bed if we are busy doing something! So it is possible to train them. Good luck! I just got two ducks, Phil and Carol. Phil is a blue Swedish and a Carol is a white crested. Any suggestions for getting them to trust us faster? They tend to run away when we come around, even to feed them. Is that normal behavior? I do love them despite their unsureness, and they love our bunnies too.
I breed rabbits on a very small scale, and they were cuddling with one of my mama bunnies : so cute! That sounds exactly right to me. Mine will take food from my hand but they run off with it. No duck cuddles for me unless I chase one down and pick it up.
We really jumped in the deep end this year. We decided to get ducks…. They do grow quick…. Any tips for helping keep our area inside tolerable? We have a 5. Tips, hints, and miracles would be greatly appreciated. We love our little quack-heads but sometimes I think they can see that glint of a broiler in my eye. Oh DEAR! The most I have had inside is 7. They kick up quite a mess.
Then just try to enjoy the ride. Ducklings can go outside earlier than chicks because they grow their feathers and put on fat earlier. God Bless you. Again Wow. Oh no Nick! I think what I would do is section off part of your garage and to the tarp thing with some straw — far less messy and dusty than shavings. Get them outside as much as possible during the day into a sunny spot safe from the wind and from predators.
Mine are only 3 weeks old and outside in the afternoon now for a few hours its in the mids. They really do need heat for about the first 8 weeks give or take, but with so many, they will keep each other warm to a great extent.
I would transition to more time outside to let the garage air out as much as possible! We have a section already partitioned off in the garage.
That section also has a closable door that goes out to a totally fenced in area outside. They are…. Thanks for the advise and suggestions; lesson learned….. Cheers all! It was the only treat I found that they really enjoyed. Great blog post! We have 4 nine week old Rouens. Love them! We think we have 3 females and 1 male. They are such a joy! They are getting friendlier toward us everyday. We found that moving slow around them and giving treats from the hand help build their trust.
We enjoy watching them. I would recommend to anyone thinking of getting ducks to get them. They bring joy and many smiles into your life. I have bathed them three times since I got them, with a mild soap…not sure if thats ok?
I was afraid that they possibly had parasites. I turned them out for the first time today as I have with my 20 chickens for the past several weeks. Just want to have healthy birds…was also wondering if other ducks are messy like mine because i worried maybe I was not as sanitary as I should be, but saw all of the comments here which made me feel better. Michael thanks for stopping by. Birds can get parasites of course but you would probably see broken feathers, ragged feathering, an unkempt appearance in general.
Ducks do get wet and dirty but usually by the morning when I let them out, they are all cleaned up and pretty again.
They use the oils from the preening gland to clean and fix up their feathers. I recently brought home a duckling from a feed store that I noticed was not walking. I was worried that it would starve to death if it were to stay there.
The duck seems to be very healthy except that it has no use of its kegs from the knee down. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Sounds like you have quite a task ahead of you. This is quite a complicated question, and not seeing the problem makes it hard to have an opinion.
How old is the duckling, how long was it doing this before you got it, is it eating now, can it stand at all, I would probably take it to a vet as sometimes, simple things such as vitamins and minerals can be the problem. But I have no idea what is causing this issue. We actually had a duck break its leg when it was a baby by jumping out of the tub. We took it to the vet and it had to be splinted 3 different times it would keep pulling off the tape, keeping the splint on. After two weeks I think we were able to take it off, and the vet showed us how to do physical therapy on it a few times a day.
Our duck had complete nerve damage in her foot too, so her foot is actually turned backwards and coiled up, and she walked on the knee part. It sounds awful, but she gets around wonderfully. I would definitely take it to the vet. It could be saved… it may not be… Out vet at first was going to amputate it, but after realizing the nerves were gone and she was walking okay anyway, we made the decision to leave her as is.
We have raised her in first a brooder, then a play pen but now let her run freely in the backyard. She has a pen and dog house attached to the coop. She would rather run free during the day, she swims and plays with our small dautchshaund.
At night she comes in to sleep, I transformed a console cabinet as her sleeping quarters. She has stayed outside in the pool all night, just would not come in when I called her. She swam all night and came to the screen door and quacked to come in. She will be three months old July 22, my question is to keep her outside full time do I need to get her a companion duck?
If so a male or female? I worry she will be lonley at night outside. Thanks so kich. Hmmm Lets see. First of all, how is your yard set up. My first concern would be a predator getting her during the night. A fox or raccoon can be around even in an urban setting. That is your decision to make. Lots of people free range their ducks all the time.
I prefer to keep mine safely locked in the duck house at night. She would probably like having a companion. I would not think she would accept a baby as her own and might harm one. A full grown or partially grown up duck would be my choice. Male or female would be fine. Of course if you get a young male duck drake you will be having fertilized duck eggs that could be hatched out at some point if she goes broody.
In our area there are usually quite a few people who have extra male ducks they are willing to get rid of. Good luck with this. Please come back any time and let me know if I can help further. They are such good layers How can i get my ducks to sit on their eggs? I leave the eggs in the duck house when one of the hens is acting like she wants to set.
Not sure what else to suggest. We decided to get some ducks,Here is the problem. We got 3 full grown females and 2 half grown females. They came from a farm that had too many in an enclosure. We had them with a pool in a pen till we fenced in a pond for them. My question is will they ever trust me? I sat outside their small pen for hours at a time at first. I then sat inside with them tossing treats to them.
They are afraid of me so I try not to stress them. Now that they are on a large pond they are happy foragers but they swim to the far end when I come to feed them, We just added a Call drake to the group. The girls are a mixed group of Pekings and Mallards, will they breed with the drake?
In my experience, not very many ducks are trusting. Mine will let me walk by them without getting up and running but none like to be held. They will eat lettuce from my outstretched hand but very quickly and just as quickly step back.
Also, in my experience, they certainly do inter breed. Now whether or not the Call drake is big enough to actually mate the hens is another story. My bantam roosters try to mate the huge brahma hens all the time. I doubt they are fertilizing any eggs through. We have a small amount of land. Just almost half of an acre and most of that is the front yard. We started with chickens and when we wanted to try out ducks for their eggs and entertainment we just built their bed under our chicken coop.
The coop and run are completely protected from preditors. We are working on the quirks of the pond on a budget but have it down pretty well. What we are noticing is they dont want to go into bed at night now. They want to be on or in the pond. We keep the run closed until we get up in the morning and close it up before bed at night. The run is not large enough for an extra pond so now I wonder what the best thing for them to do is.
It would be a bit strange to enclose the whole backyard over their pond though. Do you have any suggestions? Well Teasha it might take some training and persevering through but I would insist that the ducks return to coop and run. If the y are out of grass to eat in the run, I would just bring them greens and grass clippings in addition to a good quality duck pellet ration.
Hope this was helpful to you. Then onto diet. We feed them feed and kitchen scraps but really there is no more grass.
All of the birds have eaten it up. We let them out in the front yard on days where we are home for a few hours but that is also where our garden is.
I know it would be nice for them to eat the bugs in the garden but I really want to be the one to eat the veggies on it. My husband and I got 2 little ducklings at the weekend. Very new to this however my husband has wanted ducks for some time so we took the plunge. We have an Indian Runner 2 weeks old and a Khaki Campbell 4 days old We have them in the laundry room at the moment until they are old enough to go outside in their coop.
I guess my worry is, is the coop we have bought going to be sufficient in size for them. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated! We have Muscovy and pekin ducks, they are so entertaining, we have had several lots of ducklings, some were hatched by a broody hen.
They sure have personalities.. Muscovy girls are very quiet but the Pekins seem to be constantly gabbling away.. Lots of fun…. Hi I was wondering about the mating of ducks? They have free range with cats and dogs in fenced yard just recently D has had an attitude with me he picks at me so i was wondering if this is sigh quakers is in season? Thank you so much for your time.
Hello, I just ordered some chickens and an Ancona duck. They will be here early next month an I have my husband and father working on the coops and runs, However I am wonder A should i get a second duck,it will be kept in the same run as my chickens but separate coop.
B what kind of pool should i use? I was thinking about either a kids plastic pool or the deeper plastic things they use for small outdoor ponds and trying to bury it. Ideas, feedback? If you are keeping it in a separate coop? As for pools, I use the childs plastic pools. Hi… We have a mommy duck that laid her eggs in our pool area and so far, 4 of 6 have hatched.
Any help or advice would be great! If you are planning to buy mature ducks, start with ducks , one of which should be male if you want fertile eggs. A flock of ducks will give you enough ducks so that the drake does not bother the hens too much and you have a bit of a cushion, numbers wise, if one of your ducks would die or get hurt.
Of course, these would just be eating eggs, since they are not fertile. If at all possible, get more than 2 ducks. This is stressful for the surviving duck and for you.
If you start with 3 ducks, you are not between a rock and a hard place when something happens to one of them. If you know you want to have a bit bigger flock than the ducks, I would plan to start with ducks or grow to that number. This gives you more room to move, as far as selecting from the ducks you have for the traits that you want and increases the likelihood that your ducks will be productive for the year.
One rough night with a predator getting ahold of some of your ducks and you are duckless, if you only had to start with. If you start with or grow to in your flock, you have a cushion against the disappointments that happen occasionally, like predation. Another reason to up your numbers from to is that when you have a bigger flock you will also have replacement birds. What happens to the small flock duck raiser when they go out for chores in the morning and find your only drake hurt or worse yet, dead?
We have a marked breed, the Saxony, and keeping up with the correct patterns is tough, especially in the males. We used to have a small flock of Blue Swedish and the white bib on the chest is a marking that you have to keep an eye on.
If you find the bib is not developing as it should in your ducklings, you need to pair different parents. If you are raising a rare breed of duck, get two pairs or even better, two trios. A trio is one male and two females. If you get two breeding pairs, you have the ability to continue your breeding plan if one of the ducks in either pair does not meet breed standards.
If you get more duck pairs or trios to start with you give yourself more options from the beginning. Part of your obligation as a rare breed breeder is to keep up the standards of the breed, which frequently means culling out the non performers. If you only have one male and one female, you drastically limit your ability to contribute to the health, longevity and usefulness of your chosen breed.
These numbers will give you an idea of how much space your ducks need in a sheltered area. Any outside space would be in addition to these figures. This means that if you have the space available, go for the bigger area and make your life as a duck keeper a bit easier! Metzer Farms has a great article on space needed for ducks and geese.
The ducks do need to be raised with other ducks for companionship, but not necessarily as a breeding pair. If you are wanting to use the ducks for breeding, the ratio of males to females is more like 1 male per females. For example: for our Saxony ducks, we would need a ratio of 1 male per 3 females, these are a heavier duck. For something lighter like Runners or Khaki Campbell, you could go with a 1 male to 5 female plan, since these types of ducks are much more active. The reason you do not want to have more drakes than suggested is that the drakes will start harassing the females and will fight amongst themselves.
Keep the ratio of males to females at the right level or only have a flock of all drakes or all duck hens. If you were to start with just 5 hens, more like a hobby flock, you could easily use all of the eggs yourself!
Of course, starting an egg business is all done after you have researched the demand in your area and customer willingness to pay well for duck eggs, right? If you are wanting to have your ducks be more of a small business, start with a larger number of ducks or ducklings, more like If 30 ducks sounds like way too many ducks to you, consider this: how do you increase your production of duck eggs?
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