I am interested in getting some ducks to add to my pond as pets, in the state of Virginia. When I moved to my house 1 year ago, we had a a winter storm, and my pond froze over, and a fox ate my two white ducks in which the previous owner had left.

I really don't know anything about ducks and would appreciate any information you could share. I was go to order the variety package of ducks at www.mcmurrayhatchery.com which has a minimum order of 15. I have a st bernard who use to chase the white ducks, but they could always out swim him! They just couldn't outrun the fox.

Some general questions:

Do all types of ducks fly away?

Do all ducks lay eggs? How often? Can they be eaten?

What should I feed the ducks? The previous owner, who left the ducks, fed them goat food.

As young ducklings, do I have to do anything special to fence them in? or can they just hang out on the pond? Any problems with ducks and dogs being together?

Any information would be great. Thanks Michelle

-- Michelle (mjkstar@aol.com), June 18, 2000

Answers

I have some wonderful rouen ducks. They do not fly and are wonderfully friendly!! I got them from Metzer farms ( I think the web site is metzerfarms.com) They are very easy (so far at least) to care for. I feed them 20% protien game bird grain. They like the goats milk that gets wasted when our goat kicks the bucket. This is my first year to have ducks, but this kind is supposed to be a moderate layer and good for eating. I don't know if I can bring myself to eat them, they are so cute, each its own personality. :-) My golden retriever thinks she is mom to them all, though I have never let her in the pen with them. She keeps the crows away which we learned is a problem until they are large as the crows. We also kept ours in the house until they were 4 wks old and it was warm outside. They seem to need a night light (at least mine do) so I leave the porch light on outside, inside I had to leave the bathroom light on. We put ours in water too soon and lost one. I wouldn't do it again until they were at least 6 wks old. They get too cold since they don't have the oil from their mothers to keep them from getting too wet. A blow dryer saved the rest of them. The one we lost also got a lung full of the water. It was at room temp, but still too cool for them. We fed them poultry mash at first , until they were 6 wks old, then they seemed frustrated because it was harder for them to pick up. Then we went to a startena crumble and mixed it with mash for a week or so. I got most of my feeding info at the feed store. They were very helpful and we even found a sales person that was raising ducks at the time! :-) Good luck !! We have enjoyed every minute so far of our ducks. Oh! Since we have so many cats running amuck out here, I made the fence 8 ft high. The cats have tried to climb in , but none have made it to the top. It is landscape timbers (nice and cheap!) and chicken wire fencing. The cats can't get a good grip on the smooth wood and the chicken wire is too flimsy. We buried the chicken wire in the ground since our poodle thought that the ducks were sqeacky toys. :-( We lost two guineas (also in with the ducks) that way. Out ducks have never tried to get out of the pen and seem happy to have the food brought to them. The only trouble I have had was with the duck pond, it gets messy really fast! I have decided that since I am having some goat troubles, that I would limit my ducks to a swim a couple times a week instead of everyday. I need to work with the goats right now...sigh...I think I bit off a bit more then I was ready for with that one! Good luck!

Cindy

-- Cindy Cluck (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), June 18, 2000.

I think I remember reading in one of the previous threads on ducks that its not a good idea to let the ducklings swim untill they get their adult feathers. Their mother is not around to oil them which keeps their feathers dry.

-- john leake (natlivent@pcpros.net), June 18, 2000.

I have Mascovies and they are real easy keepers. Hatch out at least twice a year. A large pond is about 100 yards away, but they mostly hang around the yard. When they hatch out a nest the ducklings do OK while up around the house, but as soon as momma takes them to the pond they start to disappear fast. Am told large bass and turtles are the culprits. I have taken away some day-old ducklings and raised them. Just used wild bird seed to start them off. On the adults, I scratter whole shelled corn and they forage for the rest of what they need. When they start laying eggs they find a place in my workshop. All three lay in the same place until enough accumulate for one to brood. Then they start another one. When I get too many I entice them into the workshop, close the doors and have a duck rodeo with a fishing net. The largest, which I assume are males, go to a friend who further fattens them and then processes them. He says they are the best of any ducks he has eaten. Very large breasts.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), June 19, 2000.

1. No, very few can fly.

2. a.Yes, the females anyway.
b.Depends on the breed. ie Saxony are for meat and are not very prolific layers, Swedish are dual purpose and have a good carcass and lay a respectable number of eggs, Cayuga are tiny and not worth butchering but lay like crazy.
c.Yes, they are better than chicken eggs.

3. Duck food or any non-arsenic generic poultry feed with >16% protien.

4. a.You dont need to fence them in because they wont wander far even as adults. You might consider fencing to keep other critters out though.
b.My St Bernards dont have a problem with poultry. One avoids them and the other only approaches when it is time for him to help me heard them in for the night(he taught himself). I guess it depends on the personality and training of your dog.

Youre welcome.

-- William in WI (thetoebes@webtv.net), June 19, 2000.

I bought mallards at a swap meet last summer. Yes, they can fly, but no, they haven't flown away, not even tempted by the wild mallards around here. That may be because for the first year I kept them confined with the chickens. Now they roam free and still hang around the yard. I wish sometimes they would fly away. If you want them to stay around the pond, flying is an asset in getting away from predators.

-- R. (thor610@yahoo.com), June 19, 2000.

We have muscvies. They usually hatch out 2, sometimes 3 times a year. It's not uncommon to start out with 6 females and 1 male in the spring and end up with 50-100 in the fall! The meat is wonderfull and any recipe using hen eggs is lighter and fluffier with duck eggs. The females can fly without any problems. The males are bottem heavy! We have been raising muscovies for 20 years now. Snapping turtles are our major problem to the little ones. We start off the babies with boiled eggs, then a meat builder feed. (not chicken feed because of the urea.) Make sure you ask at the feed store for feed specifically for baby ducks. I have lots of recipes for duck. (Of cource all ducks don't taste the same.)

-- deborah carmichael (brownswiss99@yahoo.com), June 22, 2000.

We have been the happiest with our runners and khaki campbells for laying, the Rouens didn't lay much but were very fast growing and meaty. The runners and khakis aren't very meaty. Eat the drakes, leave just one for breeding, or they will gang rape the females and even kill them from overuse. Khaki campbells lay as many as 365 eggs a year if you use lights and have the best production bred birds. We ordered from Holderread's, and have been very pleased with the quality of their stock. The other nice thing about them is that you can order just one duck of each breed if you want to, you don't have to order 15 all of the same breed, they even have various assortments, and they carry rare breeds which are hard to find anywhere else.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@transport.com), June 23, 2000.

We've had ducks for a year now. The first batch were Rouens & Blue Swedes. Then someone gave us some Black Cayugas. All the books said butcher them at 7-9weeks (up to 14 for Rouens). But I thought, poor little guys, they've hardly lived!, and I put it off as long as I could, also because my husband is a tenderheart and I have to do the deed. Eventually I did start to butcher them, but by this time they were mutton...tough old birds. Between the coyotes and the axe, we've gone from 15 to 3. And that's right about the drakes gang-raping -- one drake is plenty. Since we've gotten down to the one, both the ducks are laying an egg a day, one white, one green. A month ago we got in a new batch of pekins and chocolate runners, pekins for eatins, and runners for eggs. And slug control. The 3 allumni are not enough to keep the slugs at bay, I think 6 will be better. And I'm going to do the pekins in on time. I don't know if I will keep up the butchering. I mean, I want to be a responsible meat-eater, but the killing is hard. But you should get ducks for sure. They're so hardy, self-sufficient and funny. And the eggs are great.

-- snoozy (allen@oz.net), June 23, 2000.

I realize that I didn't answer any of your questions...What everybody says above is correct. My Cayugas were just as big as the Rouens, and the remaining Cayuga duck is the most prolific layer I have popping out a large egg a day. I have two dogs, and if they see you raise them from babies, they understand that these are part of the homestead, therefore something to be protected. At least that is my experience. But I wouldn't vouch for retrievers!... There is a book, available through the countryside bookstore, Raising the Home Duck Flock, I think, which is excellent. I also read up everything in the public library. Don't feed them medicated feed, whatever you do, because they aren't subject to the same diseases as chickens, and I guess they consume more feed per pound of duckling and so ingest too much medication. At darkness, our guys walk themselves into their own little strawbale house and we shut them up so the coyotes won't nab them. Before dark, it is a chore to get them in. Sometimes we've neglected to shut the door, but they were okay. They wander all over during the day. Easy!

-- snoozy (allen@oz.net), June 23, 2000.