Ruthie Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 Today I succumbed to the pressure of my two children and the cuteness of two ducklings and now I'm home I'm thinking oh no! We have several hens and they are fine, but I know nothing about ducks and what they need and ponds and.....help. We've got enough space to dig a pond out and I imagine this is a must for birds with webbed feet, but ahhhhhh...any advice greatfully recieved!!!Ruthie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stocky Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 My wife has bread ducks for many years (Ornimental type) they do not need a lot of water unless you wish to breed them. they are happy with grass and drinking water. we have an area with 20 youngsters and they are happy with what I call the cast iron doughnut, one of the animal old feeding rings. just regularly ensure it is refreshed.Hopefully they are not both males otherwise you will not be able to get eggs. The simple way tell them apart is pick them up. If they quack then they are female, if they wimper then they are obviously male. (this is a simpler process than picking them up and inspecting their anatomy.Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patf Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 We bought the largest size of plantpot saucer - about a metre across - and filled it with water. I don't think you should let them go into a proper pond until they have their (waterproof) adult feathers. Having said that, we had a family of wild ducks on our lake last year and the babies were swimming with their mother when quite small. The adult ducks we have now fly down to the lake and walk back up again twice a day. If you don't want them to fly it's easy to clip the flight feathers. Hope you enjoy them. Pat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pucette<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Pucette<FONT><P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">"Qui ne connaît pas la campagne lhiver, ne connaît pas la campagne et ne connaît pas Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 LAST EDITED ON 19-Jul-04 AT 07:31 PM (BST)You don't say what breed they are or where you are but in my part of 24 the only ducklings at market are Muscovies which don't even need water to mate although they appreciate a big bowl full, a tin bath or whatever.Although their down is not waterproof without their mothers to drag them into the water they are not in much danger; mother ducks (not muscovies) tend to take their ducklings swimming when young, they may or not survive... I reckon it's a survival of the fittest thing, someone may know better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moorejw Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 We tried ducks last year and found them much harder work than the hens. They made a lot of mess, fouled their water containers in record time and refused to be locked up at bedtime! We didn't clip their wings and eventually they flew - never to return!!This year we purchased 3 goslings and they are so much easier than the ducks. They are a bit messier than the hens, but very well behaved, very affectionate and they eat all the grass and weeds in their field!Good luck!John and Angie Moore (17) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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