Hello! You are all so helpful, hope you can help me out again. I have searched the archives and Poultry Connection, can't seem to find answers to a few questions. I had decided to get chickens for my first homestead animals this year, but after watching wild ducks in our 1/4 acre pond, I changed my mind. They were having so much fun and looked very hardy--good for a beginner! The pond is already nutrient rich, not too much algae, but very murky. I have a bazzilion frogs/tadpoles, some fat-head minnows and I had put in Blue Gills which I haven't seen since (snappers-which I will trap this year). I don't want the pond to get out of balance (smelly) so I don't know how many ducks will be ok. Also, there are predators, cats, coons, etc, mainly at night. I saw a red-tailed hawk last week that could have carried me off, if he had wanted to. I assume the ducks will head to the pond if a 4-legged predator comes around during the day, but what about the hawks? Will they go to the pond or to their night-time shelter which will have overhead fencing? (It will determine where I place that). For their home/yard, how much space do they need since they will only be in it at night? Or is too dangerous for them to be out during the day? It would be torture for them to see the pond and not have access to it, I'm sure! Last question, I am getting them for eggs and personality. I had decided on Khaki Campbells, but would have to mail order them. Locally I can get White Pekins, Indian Runners, or Rouens. Would any of those also meet my requirements?

Thank you all for your help! Amy

-- Amy (kimico@aol.com), March 12, 2002

Answers

noon. disregard this post

-- chuck in md (reply@mission4me.com), March 12, 2002.

Ducks will often just hang out on water for the night but I would really try to train them to go into the shelter at night. It will take some work initially but I think it will be better for them. As for breeds I would go for Rouens. I like their coloring and it is closer to the "wild" plumage. Rouens are excellent foragers also. Pekins, being all white, stand out more and they are also louder ducks, which can also attract predators. Indian Runners are interesting looking and are OK but ours have done very poorly free ranging being among the first to get picked off by any predators. Good luck it sounds like you have a great set up.

-- Trisha-MN (coldguinea@netscape.net), March 12, 2002.

I can't answer most of your questions other than we have Rouens and they are very pretty and nice ducks, they seem to be hardy too.

-- Sharon (chessyemailaddy@notreal.com), March 12, 2002.

Rouens are nice ducks, but they are a meat breed. They don't produce a lot of eggs, when compared to Runners or Khaki Campbells. The Rouens we had ate like pigs!! They literally hogged the feed away from the other ducklings. Then when they grew up, the heavy Rouen drakes vastly outweighed the Runners and about drowned them mating all the time. Thus, if you get Rouens, do not mix them with lighter breeds.

We have osprey and bald eagles here, they do not harm our ducks at all, which are free range year round. Racoons have been a problem at times, and so have ravens, which fly in and steal the eggs, but don't seem to hurt the ducks. The ducks fly into the pond at night if they are startled. The only drawback to this is that they drop the eggs right into the pond, if you want to eat the eggs, pen them up overnight.

For your size pond, try six ducks, start with twelve to fifteen ducklings (some die) and eat all the drakes but one, you shoud get about the rigth number that way.

I really like the Runners, they can run faster that the others if they need to, and are so much fun. They lay well, too. Khaki's are nice and give more meat than Runners, and lay a little better. We also have Welsh Harlequins, a rare breed, and ths is what we have had the most trouble with; I think the gene pool must be small and not as vigorous as the other breeds.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), March 12, 2002.

This is what I would do, buy the ducklings and raise them in or very near the house, near a door so they will know people are good things with food.

Teach them to come to a feed call, like a rattle of rocks in a can, is will make it easyer to pen them at night, as they get older they may get picky so save the feed call for food they like alot.

Some ducks have better instincts than others,[even knowing to dive under the water to hide, some just don't have it] even in the same breed, those with darker coloring are safer from preditors than all white, which makes sence, If you are lucky and get even one that will hide when needed and forage well it will teach the others what to do, the dumb ones will, likey get killed off pretty quicky, but if they learn to come in at night, you have a real good chance at letting them free range the pond in the day time and you should still get some eggs if they come in at night too.

I would build a duck house with a yard at a comfortable walk to the water for them, and start with a minimum order, and thin them down to about 6, but thats me, all but one drake would be invited for dinner, and some will be lost too, but that would give me all the eggs I need, some meat, and allow for loss of the dumb ones too and keep the mess down too [too many birds can kill a pond].

and I think the most important thing is to NOT let them out, to free range,[unsupervised] until them are full grown, juveniles just don't have the same chance to make it as adult birds.

p.s if you let hand raised birds go free range, I think it is a good idea to let a dog and/or a cat scare them real good a few times, it can save their lives later.

-- Thumper/inOKC (slrldr@yahoo.com), March 12, 2002.

I can't claim to be an expert, but I would add that if you have a yard adjacent to their night-time coop, and don't let them out until late morning, you'll get almost all the eggs right there. Makes it easier to get them to come in in the evening as well - feed them in the yard morning and evening.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), March 12, 2002.

First of all Amy, beg, borrow or...., well. you know, the great book, "Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks" by Dave Holderread(he and his wife Millie have the Holderread Hatchery and Waterfowl Preservation Center). Secondly, go through it. It lists ducks by weight, egg or meat breed, Bantams etc.. Then, absolutely, plan to lock up your ducks at night no matter what the breed. In most parts of the country ducks can free range during the day, but must be secure at night. Mallard derivitives(all domestic ducks except for Muscovies)do not spend the night on water, they prefer to lay up in tall grasses or other cover at night and will be picked off by predators. Be prepared and then enjoy your ducks. Some breeds can fly, some cannot. That is something to consider also. I have Indian Runners(they make me laugh) and bantams(little dumpling ducks) so enjoy the process of deciding what you want. As for the pond. Does it have constant water flowing in and exiting? This is necessary to keep it clean and fresh unless it's a very big pond and you only have 3 or 4 ducks. Have fun, LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), March 12, 2002.

I raise Muscovy ducks. Mine are great layers and even though I don't eat mine, I have people who buy them from me to butcher. They are very easy to raise and are very hardy. And they aren't noisy because they don't "quack". I have a pond out back about 200 feet from the house and during the day my ducks will go out there and swim. That is unless they catch sight of me. Then they get to the house as soon as possible just in case I might have something for them to eat. They never stay at the pond at night or even when it gets close to dark and I have never penned them up. But I would recommend penning your ducks up at night just to be on the safe side.

-- Jodie in TX (stanchnmotion@yahoo.com), March 13, 2002.

Thank you all for your help. I will close them up at night, that was never in question, I just wasn't sure how safe they would be during the day. I hadn't considered the coloring/camoflage point. And the book is on order, from Half.com. I just had to make a decision NOW if I was going to get them locally because there was an order deadline (from the Farm Bureau). I saw the same 3 varieties I mentioned earlier at TSC last night. TOO CUTE!!! It's a toss-up between the Rouens and Khakis. (In other words, can I walk by those Rouens again without buying them??!! Thanks again! Amy

-- Amy (kimico@aol.com), March 13, 2002.