# Keeping Ducks



## PhilK (Sep 16, 2008)

Has anybody kept ducklings before? I saw some at the produce store and fell in love but need to know a rough keeping requirement. What are they like to keep? How difficult etc?


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## No-two (Sep 16, 2008)

I have two ducklings at the moment  Plus an adult duck. Not difficult to keep at all, I've found they handle colder temperatures better than chicks, A LOT better. But keeping a heat lamp over them wouldn't hurt  We keep our ducklings in a large tub in the bathroom, they smell and make a big mess and need to be cleaned out frequently. Just chuck in a water bowl and poultry crumbles and that's it really.


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## PhilK (Sep 16, 2008)

How much water do they need to swim around in? What about their mess/smell compared to chicks? Best food?


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## No-two (Sep 16, 2008)

We put ours in the bath every now and then to swim around, I don't think it's a requirement to have an area of water for ducklings to swim in, they do enjoy a swim every now and then though. But too much time in the bath and they start to whinge to get out  Mine also start to panic if the water is too deep to be able to touch the ground in. Our adult duck likes to swim every now and then, and, obviously the bigger the body of water the better, but if you can get a hold of those kiddy clams that you can fill up with water that'd suffice. As far as food goes, I do know the ducklings are being fed "chick crumble" at the moment, not too sure when to start them on the next size up of food, the owner of the ducks takes care of all that around here.


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## Emzie (Sep 16, 2008)

i use to have a duck was such a good pet would follow my mum around the front yard while she did the gardening. We used those plastic pool shell shaped thing (the ones you get from target) 
She would come inside every morning to wake me up lol and would peck at the door if no one let her in.
Unfortunately the dog next door got into our yard and attacked her


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## Tatelina (Sep 16, 2008)

PhilK said:


> How much water do they need to swim around in? What about their mess/smell compared to chicks? Best food?



Messy. Messy. Messy!!

Do you have a big chicken coop to put them in when they are adults?

Ducklings are absolutely gorgeous!! All of the ones that we got (several different times) were always very friendly and would follow us around the backyard. But messy when they get older!

We would always try and give them a big tub of water to swim around in (which they loved) but they crap in their water so it would get very dirty, very quickly. 

But as to growing up ducklings....layer pellets smashed up with a bit of water are perfect. Heat on them until they grow their feathers and can thermoregulate and viola! A chirping, squeeking poo maker! (Or snake food.  )


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## PhilK (Sep 16, 2008)

Do they lay eggs at all? I know I should know that but I don't haha sue me.


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## Tatelina (Sep 16, 2008)

PhilK said:


> Do they lay eggs at all? I know I should know that but I don't haha sue me.



Females (as apposed to males - DUH!  ) do...they're really good for baking cakes! Taste a little different to chicken eggs but are very good for you.

I forgot to say as well...when you let ducklings swim..it's best to dry them off afterwards (so don't ever leave water big enough for them to swim in) so they don't get cold and die of pneumonia. When they are with mum she secrets chemicals to help them deal with water as well as keeping them warm with her bodyheat.


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## benson (Sep 16, 2008)

Hi, well our little Duckie died, just a few months ago. We got her as a day old duckling, and we had her put down, she was 15 years and just a couple of days old!!!
She was a GREAT pet, and had the run of our back yard.
She had kiddies pools to swim in, and loved bread, and pellets.
She is sadly missed, but we know she had a LONG and happy life!!!
Cheers


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## gonff (Sep 16, 2008)

they are really really really messy


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## christo (Sep 16, 2008)

gonff said:


> they are really really really messy




I second (third?) that. Great animals though. Muscovy Ducks (yeah, I know, not really a duck) are fantastic pets. Great eggs too. 

One word of warning though - drakes and roosters can be a bad mix. My drake took exception to my rooster trying to root the ducks and drowned the bugger.


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## Tatelina (Sep 16, 2008)

Just make sure you have somewhere to put them when they are adults because parks are full of dumped unwanted pet ducks which isn't good!


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## PhilK (Sep 16, 2008)

I probably don't have the facilities to ensure they are really really happy, but it's OK as my girlfriends parents have a duck pond with no ducks in it!! Win win.


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## Lewy (Sep 16, 2008)

gonff said:


> they are really really really messy


 

Definately messy!

Haven't had them since I was a kid. They were pretty cool. We never had any space issues though living on 10 acres. They had the run of the place during the day (not that they went far). 

Used to catch tadpoles and put them in their little plastic pond for them to catch - they loved that. That was back when it rained and the creeks had water in them!

Sue


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## sweetangel (Sep 16, 2008)

Messy and teritorial!!
we had muscovy ducks (not sure of spelling), beautiful little yellow things when they are young.... then horrible ugly mungrels when they are older. one good this is that they are mute, so nice and quiet.

my friend apparently toilet trained hers to live inside.....

dont need much to take care of them.... mum used to cut up some greens and then duck food (pellet stuff).
an old sandpit as a pond and an old dog kennel for shelter. 
kept them in a big 3m x 3m wire mesh enclosure, fully sealed.

stank... duck poo is smelly, the male duck tried to rape my leg every time we let them out.... and raped the female any chance he got, so we had to separate them. had some babies... we just let mum duck take care of them and incubate them herself. she did a great job. but had to keep daddy duck out and he would step on the eggs and break them. 

babies needed greens cut up smaller and a smaller pond to swim in.

but all in all they were pretty cool just needed constant cleaning... we did poo pick every few days and cleaned out the big pond ever few aswell... they also loooooved snails


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## Kirby (Sep 16, 2008)

ducklings shouldnt be allowed to swim untill they have adult plumage.. 

they dont have a mother, to give them their natural oils. thus dont have 'waterproof feathers' yet.


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## pete12 (Sep 16, 2008)

i used to have two ducklings bill and bong they were soooooo cool i had a inflatable pool and they loved it till one day they pecked a hole in it lol .


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## DanTheMan (Sep 16, 2008)

I use to have a few ducklings, they used to swim in their drinking water lol
But I would take them out occasionally to swim in a bigger tub, and they would clean themselves, dive under and swim in circles etc, was cute.
(These were Mallards)
Was amazing teaching 1 to fly, I know it comes naturally, but we used to sit her at teh top of my drive way (I was about 10-11) and run down flapping my arms and quaking lol, and one day I turned around and she nearly crashed into me, 1st time shed flown, was awesome.

And she used to fly off for the day down to this farm sort of thing, and come back at night, eventually it got longer, till she never came back, but then one day after no sighting for a few months, she turned up with a boy friend!
(we got her from the wild which is why we were kinda sweet with her flying off, was a rescue duckling)


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## bronsoneggbeater (Sep 18, 2008)

dont feed them bread cause the yeast is toxic for them.... so i have been told


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