Raising Ducks – My Best Tips to Guide You Toward Successfully Raising Ducks
Raising ducks is different than raising chickens, although you can be successful raising ducks and chickens together. Some modifications need to be addressed when raising ducks, and they add a new dimension to your barnyard.
(Raising as many different animals and Poultry as we do, people often ask what is the best way to get started with a particular species. Many times the questions involve raising ducks. I wrote down a few of the best tips I have for raising ducks)
Ducklings arrive in the feed stores and hatcheries later than the chicks usually. I have my own unproven theories about why this is the way it is. Ducklings are cute little fluffy mess makers. Not long after you bring them home, you will realize that with even a small amount of water, ducks will make a big wet mess. Those cute little webbed feet can sure track a lot of water around their brooder. You will need the best tips for raising ducks.
Ducklings grow incredibly fast, and soon are consuming a huge quantity of starter ration. The good news, and more realistic reason that ducklings are available later in the spring is, that is when the ducks lay more eggs for the hatcheries to incubate. Ducks will lay year round, but they lay more eggs during the natural mating season of March through June. Once you bring home a few ducklings you will be glad of two things.
- 1. Ducklings grow very quickly
- 2. Because the ducklings grow quickly they can go outside earlier than chicks. (They will still need time in the brooder with a heat lamp to start off) Being hatched later in spring means the weather is warmer and the ducklings can move outside sooner.
You will be very glad when they are big enough to go outside to their duck pen and coop. If you were housing them in your bathtube in your house, you will be glad to have your bathroom again. If you were keeping them in a toddler swimming pool, it will be nice to not clean it up three times a day. (or more!) This is one of the best pieces of advice concerning raising ducks.
Moving the Ducks to the Great Outdoors
Ducklings are a good addition to your backyard or homestead. Ducks are reliable egg layers, easy to keep, and excellent at foraging for grubs, slugs and snails in addition to other insects and weeds. They are happiest if they can have some free foraging time every day, but can be successfully kept in a large pen as long as you bring them a varied diet of grasses, and insects. Dried meal worms, watermelon, and salad greens are favorite treats that also add valuable protein and nutrition.
Housing
Duck do need secure housing particularly at night, to protect the from predators. Since ducks are extremely cold hardy, our structure has large ventilation spaces at the tops of the walls, covered by hardware cloth. This allows maximum air circulation for preventing odor buildup inside the coop. In the coldest parts of winter, we can cover the “windows” with plastic to keep the coop warmer, if necessary.
Do Ducks Need a Perch?
The coop or duck house is low to the ground although we can fit inside to clean it out. There is no need for perches as ducks do not roost on a bar like chickens. Providing straw for nesting and to keep the floor a little drier helps. I pile more straw in the corners to encourage the hens to lay eggs there. This keeps the eggs out of the traffic lanes and keeps the eggs cleaner.
Surrounding our duck house is a large pen. The ducks can be returned to the pen when we are not watching them or if a predator is in the area. At night they are closed in the duck house.
Water
Water is extremely important to ducks. They need to be able to dip their entire bill into some water. In addition, they love to swim and preen their feathers in the water. You can get away with not having a wading pool or small pond for them to swim in, but they will occasionally need enough water for a bath. When it is too cold for swimming in the pools, our ducks will still stand in the water bowl and splash around. All that being said, I do recommend giving the ducks as much access to a swimming pool or pond as possible. The ducks will love you for it!
Food
Ducks are excellent foragers and can find a good diet on their own. We do supply additional pellets for them, free choice, to supplement what they find when foraging. When the ducks can’t forage due to weather or other reasons, they will, of course, eat more of the pellets. Ducks naturally do very well on a foraging diet. You can read more about feeding ducklings in this post. While ducklings are usually easy keepers and resistant to disease and illness, another possible, yet rare complication is called Limberneck in ducks. This is a form of botulism usually contracted from infected fly larvae or moldy food. Read more about this syndrome in this post.
No Bread!
No matter what age group of ducks you are feeding, restrain yourself from feeding bread to them. The majority of a duck’s diet should be from grasses and plants. Feeding bread doesn’t contribute to their nutritional needs and can cause wing deformity, bone growth issues, and lameness which can lead to a predator being able to catch the duck easier.
In the growing season, you can throw in chickweed, smart weed, grass clippings, plantain leaves and household or garden salad greens, if the ducks can’t forage for their own greens and bugs. Raising ducks is an excellent way to reduce the insect life in your yard or farm and garden.
Fencing
Many of the domestic duck breeds can not fly well at all. They can fly low across the ground level but rarely take off to any height. Fencing does not need to be high to keep ducks in. The only reason to have a high, covered fenced run would be so you can stand up in the covered fenced run.
In order to protect your ducks from predators, consider higher fencing and covering the duck run with more wire fencing.
(Here’s an image to save to your pinterest boards for later reading.)
Eggs
Ducks will lay anywhere from 100 to 300 eggs per year depending on the breed of duck. The eggs are edible, and can be used for your breakfast or cooked in any dish calling for eggs. Many people prefer the slightly stronger flavor of duck eggs. Duck eggs are excellent for baking because they have a slightly higher fat content and richness.
I love raising ducks and enjoy the joyful fun they add to our farm. Share you duck raising stories in the comments! We love to hear how you are raising your poultry, too.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider saving it to your Pin board on Pinterest. Here’s an image I made for this purpose.
Read my new children’s book. A storybook about two of our ducks here on the farm.
Additional Reading
I rescued a pair of ducklings a week ago that some folks had gotten for just a couple of weeks and then they thot that they could turn them loose. So wrong! I wasn’t really prepared for ducklings, but they are forgiving, and I do have a large wire dog kennel that they can be outside in during the day to make all of the mess that they want to. Because they don’t have many feathers, I am bringing them in at night – they scream like crazy if I forget to come and get them. And last night, it was stormy, so they were hollering at me before 7 pm to bring them in. Thank you for the info on making them comfortable and keeping them safe. We love our ducks..
Patricia that was really kind of you to step in and keep the babies. It is a real shame that people think they can just turn them out to fend for themselves. I think they have already stolen your heart and I hope you enjoy raising them. Please feel free to contact us if you have questions as you go along. – Janet
Janet, I live on oahu, Hi. We have rescuedecided a Muscovy duck. Penelope, she is amazing and gets along with our dog and 4 cats. We have a fenced in yard, she has a pool, and nests under a hibiscus bush. She flys away every morning making her rounds around the neighborhood. Many of our neighbors know her and love her. She will be a year old in september, should we have her wings clipped so she can’t fly, is something you do to ducks? I don’t want to but she has been spotted on the street, and I worry for obvious reasons. I’d appreciate any advice. Thank you. Gretchen.
If you have a fence and she is actually flying over the fence to leave the yard, then a clip should help stop the behavior. We have clipped wings on both ducks and chickens that fly over the fencing to go exploring. Now if she is just wandering off because you don’t have a fenced yard, then clipping her wings will lesson her chances of getting away from a predator, so be aware of that. Good luck, I hope you figure out the best way to keep her at home!
I just got two female peeking ducks older. I free range in an acre in kcmo, ducks are way different then my chickens. I’ve noticed the ducks don’t eat the food or water I put in there house should I worry? And I hear let there pond get gross before cleaning because they love the bugs that grow?
You seem to know more then me about ducklings it was 82 outside today can i leave them out over night they are a month an a half
Scott I am not sure what you mean by leave them out at night? They are too young to be left out unprotected at night. In my opinion. If you are keeping them in a coop and you see they are mostly feathered out then they should do just fine
I just rescued a duckling. The poor little guy lost his mom and siblings. Needless to say I love it so much!
sweet. I hope he does well being raised by you. You might want to read this article too
https://timbercreekfarmer.com/3-tips-for-feeding-ducklings/
good luck with your new pet
I had never raised ducks either before last year when a boyfriend thought they would make a great Easter gift.
What a life! A duck life that is… Spoiled & Rotten are their names. They moved 600 miles back to VA with me. Now they live in an enclosed 1 acre yard complete with their own 2 foot pool, and a coop at night.
They’re hilarious antics and daily games with their black lab, 6 chickens, and indoor cats are being turned into children’s books.
My life changed for the better when these two ducklings waddled into my life! ????
Children’s books?? Oh please send me more information! I love children’s books and if the subject is chickens and ducks even better! – Janet
Loved the article. I just purchased 4 ducklings. I love them!
Thank you! good luck with your new babies. Take lots of pictures!
Just got ducks the spring have raise chickens ducks are a whole Nother ballgame. Not quite sure what I’m doing yet but I’m trying. How big of space outside do they need to be in I have an old shipping crates and I’m turning into a coupe for them.and in the winter time I do I just keep the water warm as I do my chickens. Please help I want to make sure I’m a good mother
Sounds like you are on the right track! Yes shelter is important and warm water is appreciated. They can be fine drinking cold water but it has to remain unfrozen of course so they can have access to water. – Janet
I have raised ducks for quite some time. They’re easy to raise and will fill their craw with bugs of a morning and at night. Only problem is with water here in Missouri in the winter when it’s freezing. Just have to make sure water pans are full of in frozen during the day.
I’m in kc mo. I’m getting two adult ducks in a couple weeks, gonna put them with my chickens. Building them an add on below the chickens with a heat lamp n hey . Worried about the rooster, he’s a jerk, N the cold . Any advice?
Jack you didn’t say what area you live in, but mostly chickens are well equipped to handle the cold with proper housing and draft free enclosure. make sure there is proper ventilation. Also, there is not need to add a heat lamp for ducks Ducks are very cold hardy and the heat lamp near the ground with dry hay is a recipe for a disastrous fire. As for your mean rooster, he may need a time out. But if you can get them all to go to roost peacefully, they usually don’t wake up until dawn. Good luck
I have Pekin ducks. One of our males is extremely “over sexed”. He continually goes after the same hen, and never any of the others. The poor thing is always bloody and missing feathers. We keep her in the house until she heals. It seems as soon as we get her well enough to be back with the flock, he has done this to her again. Is there anyway to stop him from being aggressive towards just this one, or should we just get rid of him?
Is he still in his first year? My drakes have been terrible as young males. The following years it is more subdued. But you may need to separate them most of the time if he is hurting her that badly.
I feel so much more at ease after reading all y’alls words. I have raised chickens for a long time. I was in the middle of tearing my kitchen floor out because of water damage and my grown son comes driving up with 2 ducklings that his kids bought at Tractor Supply. Needless to say I have had them or 3 weeks. I have never witnessed something that has grown so fast. They throw water all over the place. I haven’t figured out what they do at night when I sleep. It’s like a tidal wave has went threw their run. Water every where, Food every where and poo every where. Ha I hope I enjoy these critters. When can I let them outside. I see no feathers. My chicks I got several days after I got these are feathering. These are yellow fuzz balls. They have the best personality and seemed to like to snuggle. Is it ok to snuggle with a duck. They will be 4 weeks old tomorrow. Thanks for any advice.
They sound very normal but I am surprised you aren’t seeing feather development because that should have started by now. There should be some down left and some feathers by now because a lot of times ducklings can go outside around 4 -6 weeks of age because they are more advanced in feathering than the chicks. And the mess, yeah, I hear ya on that. It is amazing how much mess they can make with a little bit of water. I would love to see a photo of the ducklings if you have one to share – janet
What should the temp and humidity level be in an incubator for duck eggs?
28 days or longer?
Thank you so much!
I know the time is at least 28 days. It has been a couple years since I had duck eggs in the incubator so I need to look it up. A quick google search seems to be 55% humidity for most of the incubating and bumping up to 75% for hatch in most responses from my search.
I have been considering ducks for several years now. I have raised chickens for years and thoroughly enjoy them. I hesitate to get started with ducks because we are in a drought area in Northern Arizona, and I think it would be a huge injustice to ducks if they don’t have a pond to play in! Thanks for your wonderful article! It is encouraging to know they could get by with a small amount of water. …..maybe next year!
I hope you can get the ducks one year. They are a great addition
I made the mistake of saying I have wanted ducks my entire life, and hoped to have some before I died.. Well, my son took that literally and he and his girlfriend got me two little tiny ducks. They are precious..but they are the messiest little monsters. I have them in my bedroom due to no garage to keep them in. They are in a huge rabbit cage and now that they are over 2 weeks old, they drag their beaks across the bars of their enclosure to let me know they are hungry… One loves to be held, the other not so much. They are a bonded pair and I have no idea if I have a male or female. I need advice on what type of outdoor enclosure and how big? I see chicken coops at our local feed store, but nothing that really says “ducks”…any advice would be helpful. My “Lucy and Ricky” would appreciate it…or my Lucy and Ethel or Ricky and Fred…who knows what I have..:)
Sherry, that’s a fun story! Be careful what you ask for! I would suggest a low to the ground structure. It doesn’t have to be large if they will be able to get out to run around. They don’t need a roost bar as they nest on the floor. If your yard isn’t fenced, I recommend a fence around they coop so they stay where you want them. Otherwise you may find them wandering the neighborhood!
We are brand new to the duck scene ,but I find myself pulling up a chair and watching our 2 Pekin going crazy in the baby pool.
We sit and watch ours just about every evening. Great entertainment!
We got two Rouen ducks last spring. One ended up being a male and the two became inseparable. Unfortunately something got the male this winter. The female, Harriet, was heartbroken. Since then she has become attached to me. She runs to my car quaking when I get home and will lay down so I can pet her. She follows me ever where. She tries to hang with our two chickens, but we knew she needed some ducky friends. We just got two Golden 300 ducklings and when we let them out in the yard Harriet is so happy and the babies follow her around. I love my ducks!!
Wonderful Happy Ending! thank you for sharing that story.
I rescued a pekin female duck from the middle of a five lane highway….have no idea how old she is…she seemed lonely so after no one claimed her (I put up signs and ads on Craigslist and on petfinder, I decided to get her a boyfriend, who is three.. They love each other. However, no matter how many sites I go to, no one gives any pointers for how to round them up in the yard to get into their “pen” at night. I have to beg a neighbor and even though i have cut down brush and have installed flexible fencing (so they don’t get hurt) it takes 45 minutes to an hour to catch them to go inside. They love my “playhouse” duckie coop…some days they don’t leave it…..but I just can’t keep doing this hour ritual every night..I have twisted my ankle and my knees are shot from doing this every night for three weeks! Help!
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. We got them at about 2 months old, so it’s taking them time to trust us. 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…. not just a few…. but 20 of them right at the start of April. Started out well enough, but being in Northern WI, we still aren’t able to get them outside (we don’t have an insulated area and it still gets around freezing). They do grow quick…. but not quick enough. Not sure how many ducks you’ve had to raise up in your house but quick is not quick enough. Any tips for helping keep our area inside tolerable? We have a 5.5ft x 6.5ft area blocked off with a shower curtain liner and a tarp under that. We use wood shavings as bedding but they soak through in a matter of hours (they’re record is 3). It’s too cold on average to let them play in the kiddy-pool outside…. and the idea of 20 ducklings in our tub makes me shiver at the thought of cleaning after they bathe. 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! yes you have your hands full. The most I have had inside is 7. They kick up quite a mess. My advice is to move everything that can’t be cleaned easily out of the room so it doesn’t get ruined. 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! The most I’ve ever had inside is 5 and that’s a mess! I can’t imagine 20. 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 mid-60s). 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! Good luck!
Lisa
Duck Eggs Daily on Facebook
It’s starting to warm up some (mid 60’s for highs), but the lows are still around freezing for the rest of the week. 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. I’m hoping to make it one more week (they should have most of their first feathers I’m hoping) then they will be out for the long haul…. one week is a long time at this point in time though. They are…. peculiar looking, with the fuzz disappearing and small feathers poking through. The weather is supposed to be warm enough coming up in about a week (lows in the mid to upper 50’s). Thanks for the advise and suggestions; lesson learned….. no more getting 20 ducks at a time until we have a brooder house built (maybe not even then). Cheers all!
The saxony ducks I had LOVED a can of the jellied cranberry sauce. 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 outside in a pen with a pool and also are let out into our backyard that’s fenced in. 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. They’re our entertainment. I would recommend to anyone thinking of getting ducks to get them. They bring joy and many smiles into your life. Vicky
Thanks for sharing your story! I do love the ducks! Sounds like you are having a blast!
I actually found your thread by googling why my rouens and khaki campbells seem to be spotty with their fur/ feathers. 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. My German Shepherd “Cimarron” keeps them all close to home.
Michael thanks for stopping by. I don’t recommend the washing unless something is wrong like an open wound that needs to be washed or an injury of some sort. 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. – janet
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. I’m just wondering if anyone has some advice on anything I could try, I thought maybe some time in the water may help but so far it hasn’t. 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.
Hi Kimberly,
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. You would never know she had this problem, as she’s pretty much able to keep right up with our male duck. 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. She’s 3 years old now.
Carla thank you for adding this to the conversation Glad you had such a resilient duck!
hi I rescued a baby duckling left behind in our swimming pool. 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? ( she is a girl) can we get her a baby duckling will she raise it as her own? Help! 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. – Janet
Thanks so much, not Kich typo sorry!
I just found this blog. Love it already.
Terrie Welcome! Hope you will come back often – Janet
i love my ducks and i want more!
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. Good luck!
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. They weren’t cramped, but bare dirt with no forage available. 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. It’s just like species of any animal, dog, chicken, cattle. 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
HI.
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. They really don’t need to swim at night no matter what they try to tell you! Joking! 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. I pull weeds and throw them in the duck pen when mine can’t be out foraging. 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.
Hello,
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.
http://www.westpets.com.au/chicken-coop/12-chicken-coop-wp006.html
We will let them roam free in our garden when we are there, but we will have to put them in the coupe when we aren’t as we don’t want predators getting to 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.. The. Muscovy girls are very quiet but the Pekins seem to be constantly gabbling away.. Lots of fun…
So very true! pekins are very wordy. Always chatting about some drama or another
Hi I was wondering about the mating of ducks? I have 3, D-Peetree-&-Quakers, I dont know what breed or sex they are i think 2 r males &-1-(quakers )female. 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?
Also i go around my yard gather & pickup feathers do u have any suggestions on determining if feather is good? N-e DIY projects i can do with my 5 & 8 year old daughters?
Thank you so much for your time.
Kari
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?
Well you certainly can get a second duck or more but if you are raising it with the chickens it won’t know any different. If you are keeping it in a separate coop (?) then I would have more than one. As for pools, I use the childs plastic pools. If you don’t have room for a pool they really don’t need a pool as long as they have a water container such as a bucket, that the duck can stick it’s whole head into.
Hi… We have a mommy duck that laid her eggs in our pool area and so far, 4 of 6 have hatched. Mommy has taken them to swim in the pool but they’re having a hard time getting out of the pool so we have been helping them out. I’m not quite sure what to do with them at night. We have neighborhood cats and this is Arizona so it’s quite pleasant in the evening. Would moving them to a covered dog run be ok and what about mommy duck, I don’t want to alienate her but the dog run is on the west side of the house and the pool on the east side, both gated from the other. Any help or advice would be great! The internet really hasn’t been much help!
Hi Marcy. Not really sure what to tell you. Are these mallards? It might be hard to coral the babies and the momma. Can you put out a big box and line it with straw or hay and tuck it somewhere near the pool? She might take shelter there for the night
Hi. I have 2 Pekin ducks. Both have leg issues . Fletcher has badly splayed legs. The female, Phyllis, has one gimpy leg . My question is, how do I give them as normal a life as possible? I just love them and they love to be held and played with but what adaptations will they need?
Jennifer I am sorry that the ducklings aren’t growing normally. I don’t really know what to suggest. Sometimes too high a protein level can cause abnormal bone growth but its not possible for me to diagnose this. Maybe you have a avian vet that can consult on this?
Supplement their diet with niacin. 🙂 It’s an important supplement for ducks. You can buy it in capsules at the drug store, and then you just put it in their water. It should mostly reverse the issues.
Niacin is an important supplement. It is readily available in the brewers yeast too. thank you for taking the time to comment!
I’m raising three Pekin ducks that my parents bought me (I’ve said I’ve wanted ducks my entire life and well… xD). We only planned on two but my first duck, Sonic’s, duckmate died from what we think was heart failure (the bigger he got, the sleepier he got), so we bought two more — Pinky and The Brain. Pinky has a pigment issue with his beak — it’s… bright pink? It’s faded to a muted pink the older he’s gotten (They’re about a month old, Sonic is 2 months old). Should I be worried if his beak doesn’t turn orange? He seems healthy — they all do.
Ivy, sometimes the bills are light colored. I have a Pekin with a very pale bill. I wouldn’t worry if this is the only factor
My male Pekin duck loves to play with me but can be ruff at times with that beak of his. Any suggestions , short of wearing Armour , that will protect ?
Do you wear gloves? I don’t think I can be much help because I never encourage an animal to be aggressive. How old is your drake? Is he set in this way or can you discourage the habit?
I’m thinking of getting ducks next spring. My question is this, we don’t have a lot of grass, but we do have a large backyard. Mostly dirt and oak leaves. Will this hurt their feet? Thank you for any advice.
It won’t hurt them a bit. They will enjoy and benefit from green grass, leaves and weeds, but you can gather them elsewhere (make sure the greens haven’t been sprayed with pesticide) and brought into the run or fenced in area. The ducks might eat some of the falling leaves. The leaves shouldn’t be any harm though. Good luck. I am sure the ducks will enjoy your place
Can you crush up the duck eggs & feed them back to the ducks for more calcium?
you can but ducks don’t need the same extra calcium as chickens so they probably won’t eat the shells
I meant to say egg crush up the egg shell
I have 6 pekin ducks, just moved them into the shed with the rabbits. of course the rabbits have their own hutches above. The shed is wood floor what works well for bedding for the ducks? also I give them water and food at nite they make a wet mess should I still leave it in or take it out at nite
I use straw in our duck house and like it best for drainage and insulation. If you get up early then the ducks can be fine without food and water in the coop. Good luck with your ducks Sounds like they have a nice place to sleep
I’m considering adding ducks to my chicken flock. I live on a Island farm with a small river ( all year ), running through it. Would I still need a pool for them, or could they use the river. There are other flocks of ducks, geese, swans, and chickens around us.
Hi Gretchen Many people use natural bodies of water for their ducks enjoyment. Not knowing the actual layout of your land I can’t say how hard it will be to keep them safe from predators if they are free range ducks. Guess that is something we all have to weigh for ourselves. The other risk is the wild fowl using the river. Ducks don’t get many diseases but that would be a risk of having them intermingle with wild flocks. good luck and I hope you will enjoy your ducks antics as much as we do. – Janet
Do i need a male duck for them to lay eggs?
No Female ducks (hens) will lay eggs whether there is a drake (male) in the flock or not
My ducks roost on the bar with the chickens. Surprised me too. I’m wondering since they’re getting bigger if I should build them their own house especially with summer coming on.
Could you experience explain more about the fencing? What size is it? Do they have to be in a run? Most of my fields were already fenced for goats. I’m wondering if that’s enough for ducks during the day.
We are using an poultry netting fence. We don’t have it electrified. the ducks respect it and stay in the designated area. I don’t know if your ducks can easily fit through the goat fencing. I would think they would stay within the fence
We purchase 10 ducks~~Yes 10!! I had to have 2 of each color that our Tractor Supply store had that was 8, then there was one with just one eye and I had to take him home, and got one more to even out the numbers!! (I really wasn’t sure our one eyed duck~~Sandy~~ would make it but she/he is thriving well. She gets a little disoriented sometimes but they other ducks surround her and help her!) My whole family and all our friends love them!! We raised them in our garage until we had them for 4 weeks. We held them, hand fed them and spent lots of time with them. We fenced in a large area of our one acre lot for them and my husband has built them a cedar house that they go in a night!! They have a kiddie pool right now but soon they will have a small pond we are making them.
I love coming home from work and going down to their area. They all come running to me to greet me and of course to get special treats. I love our ducks!! And yes all 10 are named~Coffee, Espresso, Cream, Sugar, Sandy, PK, Sir Reginal Fluffybutt, Aflac, Midnight, and Drake. This is what happens when you have 6 people naming ducks. lol
Sounds like your ducks found the perfect home!
What are your thoughts on imprinting? Is it necessary for keeping ducks so they don’t fly away?
The heavier domestic duck breeds like Pekin, Rouen, Khaki Campbell etc. won’t fly away. They can’t fly very high off the ground and need a pen or some kind of protection from predators especially at night. The wild ducks like mallards might stick around for food but they are somewhat migratory. I really don’t know how to answer your question on imprinting. We do not do anything special like that with our ducks and they are quite happy here on the farm
We had 2 ducks visit our home, it was like they came up to the fence talked to our silky terrier & left. My husband was mowing the lawn & went to empty the grass catcher. As he went to open the fence he saw a egg. They laid a egg and left! We’ve been here close to 25 yrs & never ever have seen any ducks.
So we got a incubator & read all up on it and 35 days later on Mother’s Day ” Quackers” was born! It has been an amazing journey, however when he was born his tail feathers were curved, but now they are straight & his head is turning black. We are still trying to figure Girl or boy? He is now almost 1 month old & my husband is building him a home outside, how can we tell if he is a boy or girl?
You have a sweet new pet. Great story. There are three ways to check. You can try to get the corkscrew penis to emerge. As he matures if it is in fact a boy duck, the tail feather will have a distinctive curl to it. and the feet and bill will remain darker orange. the females lose some of the dark bill and feet color as they approach laying age as the pigment shifts to the yolk. Hope that helps you.
I just got Pekin ducks this year and they have started laying now. I want them to hatch their eggs but I hear they are not good hatchers. I have 4 females and 1 male. Any tips on keeping up with the eggs? Who’s eggs are who’s? Etc? Any tips for them to hatch, how many before they sit and so on. Thank you!
Hi! I got two crowned American Pekin Ducks this past summer and I love them! They used to love me and would follow me around. Not so much anymore. Is there a way for me to get them used to me again? Right now it is too nasty for me to let them out of their coop but once summer hits, I want to let them out to go swimming and walk around in the yard some. I’m afraid that I will not be able to get them back inside though. Any thoughts?
I have found this with my own ducks. After the duckling stage they only come near me when I have tasty treats. But we do let ours out and they are happy to return to their duck house and pen too. We herd them up with a long pole sometimes if they are reluctant. Once we get them all heading in the direction of the coop, they all follow
i `ve really enjoyed your posts, I started keeping them recently and am so excited, learning and looking forward to them visiting me at my homestead.
Thank you I am glad to hear you like what is here
I love ducks. Have raised many different breeds over the years. I just have chickens now. For duck “newbies”, I can’t stress predator protection enough. A secure pen with a top is a must in most areas because of hawks. Domestic ducks are the most helpless poultry when it comes to predators. A good fence around a yard will keep out 4 legged predators, and you can even add electric fencing to it to keep out climbers, but only a pen with a top will keep out aerial predators like hawks and owls. It needs to be big enough to comfortably hold all your flock. Since ducks are messy, they need more space than chickens.
Hi
I have been considering getting two ducks and my biggest question is what genders to get. Such as is it better for two females, a male and female or two males to be together. I am assuming two males could not go together, but I also don’t want anymore ducklings.
Thank you
I have not had any problem with male ducks not getting along. My main concern is having enough female ducks so that the males do not over mate the females
If you are getting just two ducks, I would not be worried about that.
Dear Janet:
This weekend I got my first pair of what I think are Pekins. I LOVE THEM! They are super friendly already and call for me when I walk away from them! I live in Southwestern Wyoming and its cool here even in the summer. 80 tops in the summer during the day and with wind chill in the winter gets to -40. Any tips for wintering them? Do I still need to use a heat lamp?
I have not raised ducks in temperatures that low. What I have learned is that they do well in cold temperatures if the duck house is draft free, snug, and heavily bedded with dry straw.
Thanks for the blog post. Do ducks damage grass lawns? Thanks
If the ducks are confined to a small space, they will eat all the grass in a short amount of time. When they free range there isn’t as much damage, but of course, you have to watch for predators
I got 4 ducks in the spring of 2017 and was delighted to have 3 girls and 1 drake. They are fun to watch. My girls are laying an egg a day but won?t sit on them. In fact if there are more than 3 in the nest 1 always disappears. I also have 7 hens that are laying but no rooster and 2 of my hens are brooding so I gave each one 2 ducks eggs and surprise, surprise they are hatching. I?m so excited. Can?t wait til the others hatch so the first one is not lonely.
I need help, my mother thought getting me ducklings for Christmas would be a great idea. However they are 3 weeks and so big! I’m not sure how to move them outside anytime soonwhen it’s dipping to the 30’s at night. They’re in a larg plastic tub but are almost out grown! Would love any input!
I have two Pekin ducks and would really like to know the gender, how long do I need to wait before they lay eggs or in this case, don’t lay eggs?
Ducks lay much later in life than chickens, more like 8 to 9 months for duck eggs. the drakes will develop the classic tail curl and coloring before you see eggs from the hens
Just wanted to say raising ducks is a joy and your in for the long haul. I’m 64 ,when I was 6 my grandfather bought me and my sister ducklings. They followed us like we were their parents,they knew their names and came when called,they swam in a small child’s pool,every day was a new adventure.Anyway they lived for 17 years because we locked them in a cage at night.Good luck and lock them up!
I remember when raising my first ducklings being so surprised at how much faster they develop than baby chicks. Those first little quacks are so cute!
Thank You for all your information. I have 1 Pekin female and 1 Cayuga male. They have started laying eggs. 1per day. 4 eggs so far. The mother duck does not lay on the eggs. We picked up 2 of the eggs that were laid out in the mud and put them into their hay bedded house. Will the mother duck take care of them and hatch the eggs or do I have to remove the eggs to hatch in an incubator? It is mid January and still in the 40 degrees at night. We want to hatch the eggs, not eat them.