General duck questions

Sue

Sue

New member
Joined
Jan 11, 2011
Messages
789
Reaction score
0
Location
South West
I am considering getting some ducks, but don't have a lot of room left as the hens take up most of it!! What I would like to know is how much room do ducks need and do they need grass?

I'm assuming smaller ducks would need less space, but is this true?

I don't have a pond (only a wildlife pond, off limits to ducks and hens!) but would provide water in the form of some sort of container e.g. plastic paddling pool etc.

Could the ducks mix with the hens? Not actually living with them, but using part of the same run or would the hens attack them?

Are ducks susceptible to the same diseases such as Myco and IB? Are ducks vaccinated against anything?

Sorry to ask so many questions, but I have searched the net for answers to these questions, but can't seem to find any!

Thanks
 
last year i hatched some Call ducks, it was amazing, they are so sweet. The problem i found is that they need alot of water.they dabble in it most of the day and make a huge mess even as chicks. when they were big enough to go outside i gave them a kids paddling pool, which they loved, but they were so messy that the water got soiled within minutes. i used to tip it out on the garden and refill, then it just started to smell yucky, specially in this hot weather we are having. I wouldnt recommend keeping ducks if you have a small area, but i would definatly recommend hatching them for the experience if you can rehome them.
 
Agree with the above - they make a terrible mess even in a large area - they dabble their way through anything, especially grass and soil, and turn the ground to soup in no time at all, even the small ones! I clean out my ducks large water tub, was a cow water drinker, once a day as they swim and poop at the same time!, they also like to moisten their food so take a beakfull of grub and wash it about in the water tub so half ends up in the water, so it gets icky very quickly!! :roll:
My 5 little runner ducks can turn half my orchard into soup in the winter and that's nearly an acre, which in turn means all the chooks as well as the ducks then trail it into the chicken house so I get through bedding far faster, I think if it's going to be as wet this winter I'm going to stable mine until spring!, so if you're short on space even if it was grass I wouldn't recommend ducks really.
The only ones I've had which didn't dabble quite so much, they do make a mess but not as bad, were wood ducks - madrin and carolinas - but they can be very flighty and need to be either pinioned or have their wings clipped regularly. Ducks do mix fairly well with chooks - they tend to ignore each other really, mine live in the same house at night too so it is do-able, although if you do have a very dominant hen they can pick on them when food is concerned and they need space to be able to get away from each other if needs be. As a rough idea I'd say minimum space for a pair of little mandrins/call ducks sized birds would be at least 20ft x 10ft and I'd put either gravel or wood chips down as the floor and concrete round their swimming area as it would be soup v. fast - ducks are very busy active little birds!
 
Hi Sue,
I've got both hens and ducks and they co exist happily infact they dont take much notice of each other at all. I've had hens for about 4 years and ducks for nearly a year. The differences between them are huge in my experiance.The ducks are very entertaining (I've 4 runners), they will trash the grass when it is wet, although strictly speaking they don't need a pond they do love to splash about and I love to watch them. I have an old belfast type sink for them which needs cleaning out daily.Mine have their own duck house which I feel is preferable because they are so messy-their poo is liquid. I've got 2 drakes and 2 ducks and have problems with the drakes attacking me-pecking my feet-it can really hurt at times.
Unlike hens they dont always go to bed automatically at night and with the nights being so light at the moment I am often wandering round the garden at 11pm or later trying to round them up!
My ducks aren't vaccinated, I hatched them in an inci.
They are harder work than hens Sue but for me have been more fun(apart from the pecking) and the girls lay consistently well. They even play with the dogs-climbing on and running round with them!
 
Can more than one male live together happily then, or do they fight? If I had an area say 30 feed by 10 feet with half concrete and half gravel, would that be suitable or is that too small?
 
My 2 drakes don't fight they are really good mates, they go everywhere together. I'm not too sure about space, mine have about quarter of an acre.It would depend on how many you were planning to get. A couple of batchelors may be an idea as one drake to one female may mean he hassles her constantly.There are often adverts for drakes needing homes.
 
Can anyone give me any advice on how many I could keep in this size area if I was having Call Ducks or some other small breed. Would they be happy on the gravel? It's quite big, but round stones. Would they be happy to walk on this?

I would put a pool in there for them of course.

Do all ducks fly or are there any small breeds that don't?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top