Ducklings - your experience please.

Hi sunburn

Yes I do let them free range but I like to lock them up at night. With 16 ducks I thought the area of lock up may be too small when the ducklings get bigger. The big ducks seem to go out but the ducklings just hang around in the chook house and straw yard at the moment. I leave the door open for them to leave but maybe they are still a bit timid. The long grass around there may be putting them off.

It is hilarious watching them catch flies and bugs. Some of the ducklings just lay there and wait and then jump up and snapola!!

 

hehe annette .. love watchin them too.. (looking out window at them right now.. lol) .. the seem to really love wandering down the side garden here which is right outside my window
i didnt let mine out til just after they were a week old .. they seem to be doing really well hunting snacks down ..
Today dad is out with them, and he doesnt seem to be after the mum, so all's good.. thinkin i'll see how they go .. and let him back in with them all (so i get my potting bench area back .. LOL)

- Daz

 

Stingray, what about getting rid of the drake and having two ducks instead. Are you allowed to keep the ducklings long enough to kill for dinner? (put em in the freezer) I know its hard to think about but it makes more sense. You should be able to avoid having future lots of little ducklings if you just take the eggs away. Is it your family who says you are not allowed to keep more than two?

Annette, snapola is a nice word. Wow you've got 16. I didn't realise you had that many. The farmer i got mine off had his 10 ducks in an area about 2.5 metres long and at its widest about 2 and at its narrowest about 1metre. So not very big but at night they don't do anything much. They seem fairly comfortable huddled up together at night. I think they feel safer. I notice my five ducks when together huddle in an area about 1 metre square. Though i guess if htey are going to spend the morning in they might need more space. I let mine out pretty early in the mornings at the moment and have taken to leaving them out till dark. The like foraging more in the mornings and later afternoon so it pays to let them do that if possible i reckon.

I'm thinking of only keeping them penned in the chook house during the snake season and during the cooler months, letting them spend more time in the duck yard which i've extended now in case i haven't mentioned it. Its pretty huge and with a good amount of shade now too. Also i am thinking of making them go from the chook house to the duck yard in the mornings (if i can) so they can forage and lay their eggs there instead of in the chook house. I don't know yet but that's what i am thinking about. The problem with the duck yard is that at the moment, there's a lot of weed mat down and its hard to dig up. So that means not much forage is growing there at this point so i liked leaving them there in the mornings. Also it was getting too hot.

 

Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks by Dave HOlderread. I must say i really like this book and i can't absorb it all in two periods of library borrowing so i think i might have to buy a copy.

The thing about niacin that i mentioned was that they can end up with weak or bowed legs, stunted growth and large hocks. That's the severe case. In milder cases only some of the birds will develop these tendencies. They can't get the niacin from plants either but they can get the niacin from insects so if insects are plentiful, should be no problems. You can increase insect supply by burning a light for a few hours in the evenings in the pen. Niacin can be added to drinking water at a rate of 100-150mg per gallon of drinking water until 10 weeks of age. Niacin can be got from the chemist.

 

Hi sunburn
Was planning to roast the drake (LOL).. but I've come to lilke him too much (LOL) .. so dunno now
Council says only allowed 5 "fowl" .. we have 3 chooks that supply us with enough eggs normally, so we dont need to buy eggs often
and yeah . the idea is to sex them and sell the girls and keep the boys .. i plan to keep the boy ducklings til "freezer" age - unless someone complains and council comes out .. hehehe
I have started letting mine free range mornin and arvo .. the drakes now allowed out at same time and today didnt seem to annoy the girl and ducklings .. so he's been allowed back in thier pen during the day
I put them in a lil earlier today than normal.. coz a large kookaburra was sitin on the fence "eyeing them off" .. LOL
- Daz

 

Hi sunburn

You are in the same council area as me, Moreton regional council.. I didn't know we were only allowed to have 5 fowl. Is that just on a suburban block or is that acreage as well? I'm well away from neighbours so hopefully it is ok. eeekkkk fingers crossed

 

yeah .. moreton regional council say 5 fowl on a residential block .. (no roosters) - i figure if your neighbours dont complain then its ok
on acreage .. if you are listed as "rural residential" then its 20 .. and 1 rooster (i think) .. i got the pdf somewhere .. i'll go search for the link for you
- Daz

{Edit}
Pine Rivers Local Law 42 - Animals

the section for poultry states -
• Poultry
The keeping of poultry is prohibited on an allotment less than 600 square metres.
The keeping of roosters is prohibited on an allotment less than 6000 square metres.
The keeping of more than twelve (12) poultry is prohibited on an allotment less than 1200 square
metres.
The keeping of more than twenty (20) poultry is prohibited on an allotment less than 4000 square
metres.
Other than on an allotment greater than two (2) hectares the keeping of more than twenty (20) poultry
is prohibited except where a Permit is held.
----

note: 4000 sq meters = 1 Acre

 

Well actually those limitations are quite sensible as they sound as though that's what the birds need for healthy free ranging. I don't think i would want more than 20 adult birds anyway. I am aiming for 10 chooks and not sure how many ducks. Maybe 10 is an ok number too. Otherwise things could get quite smelly and difficult to manage re the garden.

I think annette meant stingray when she said sunburn. I am in north queensland. I don't know what the limits are here.

Today I had a lot of pleasure watching the ducklings bathing altogether in the lid of an old worm farm. Its about 2 inches deep so no ones going to drown in there. They are thirsty little beggers too.

As time goes on i am really happy that i've been able to let them grow up on the edge of the forest. I think its a very nice spot for them and so far nothing untoward has occurred. I got some lettuces from my neighbour for the ducklings. They seem to love it.

 

sounds nice sunburn
and yepp @ them making sense.. trying to work out how to sex ours atm so i can sell all the girls and some of the boys, as soon as poss... .. i dont want "20" either .. well.. not til i can find acreage
didnt really plan this too well .. LOL.. was more a case of "awww - let them have a clutch" when we discovered the 2 ducks were a boy and a girl.. LOL

and yeah .. i figured she meant me lol - oh wow.. just re-read what i posted to annette .. here in Caboolture shire its 5 poultry .. in her area seems its 12 .. lukky you (going to go back and recheck my area now .. LOL)

they are great to watch arent they

I never worried about them not floatin.. they had no issues swimming from day one - except from exuberant kids holding/playing with them in the water the other day seemed to "waterlog them but the 2 lil ducklings in question are fine now
Have opted to pretty much let mine free range all day now .. - with them being herded into pen after school so kids can do the stupid run about thing without me worrying they are harassing the ducklings

 

sorry sunburn, got a bit mixed up with names. I don't think I will keep them all for very long. too many. the guy next door is going to help me prepare the ducks when it is time. i will give him a couple of ducks and eggs for payment for killing and preparing them. I am getting attached to them though. I have to stop getting so emotional about it.

 

thanks daz i am rural residential so ok for the moment.

 

Oh no i don't worry that they won't float ha ha ha. Just that they can't get out of the bath and drown from fatigue. Mother duck - Mavis - has a big deep bath. If a curious duckling fell in it it would be lights out for that little one. I want to put something in it in case one does get in out of curiosity so that it could climb out but there's not room and i haven't found the ideal escape tool yet. Its not big enough for a ramp and Mavis both. (not sure if i have already addressed her with another name above yet but i have four names and they are somewhat interchangeable as three of the ducks look alike. )

Hey its been nice having you two to talk about our respective babies with on this thread.

 

LOL annette I am finding the same, it is very hard nto to get attached to the cute lil things
everything i read says 12 weeks best time for my Muscovies getting the "chop" ..
on thursday they will be 3 weeks old .. only 9 to go .. LOL
-Daz

PS: oh and we still have 13 .. so looks like either the measures I am taking are working, or (LOL) they are getting to big for what ever was taking them

 

Hi stingray

glad you didn't lose any more of them. My ducklings are now starting to follow me around, nearly into the house. sheesh. They are 7 weeks old and only another 5 weeks before the chop chop. Mine are pretty big already, however there is a little runt that is just the cutest little thing. May keep her. Do you know how to sex them?

 

sexing is a tricky business. The book i mentioned gave a good description but said you can easily injure the ducks so you shouldn't do it unless you've seen it done firsthand. But your ducks are bigger. The book is storey's raising ducks. Have a look for it or others in the library. Even online it will probably describe it. YOu need to see pictures so i won't try to do it. I noticed with the chickens we were able to tell their sex at about 8 weeks. The roosters comb was red while the chickens were yellow still. I expect there will be some indicator on the drakes in this part of their physiology also so keep an eye on that. My dad was the one that noticed first (because I didn't know what to look for) and it came to pass that he was correct.

 

no, i dont know how to sex them (yet) ... am waiting til they get a lil bigger ... and yeah .. we have a lil runt .. and same .. so cute .. cant see him/her getting big enough for *chop* .. LOL.. so add one to the menagerie that we have .. LOL
i think i read that at about 6-8 weeks the drakes start to get noticeably bigger than the girls ....
mine are now being left to free range almost all day (if i have to go out for any longer than an hour i'll put em back in whilst gone) ..
and today have started putting the chooks in their pen to start turning the mulch/dirt over..
wishin i was on a larger rural block to do all i need

 

Think I may give the try at sexing them a big miss. They are getting the chop in 5 weeks anyway but I don't won't to hurt them. Gee ducks are messy aren't they? I fill up the water bowls and within minutes they are dirty.

I have taken to leaving them out all day till I get home from work. They tend to gather around the pen around dusk.

 

They tend to gather round the pen at dusk. .... Yes i think they like being in a pen at night. It must feel safer. Even when i forget to shut the door as per last night, all the chickens and ducks stay in till morning.

My little runt just loves to dunk and dunk and dunk his head in water. He/she doesn't jump in to swim as much as the others but just dunks and dunks. They seem to be doing that slushing things that ducks do in the mud. Must be instinctual.

No one seemed to care much for the new hay i put in the pen last night. No eggs today.

 

Hey folks - I don't mean to be insensitive or anything, but you do realise the long-term ramifications for your flock of keeping the "cute little things", i.e. runts? In the mean and nasty 'real' world, they are the first to get the chop, leaving the gene pool stronger.

 

One can avoid letting them sit on their eggs. I am starting to wonder if my little one has something wrong with it. It seems to drink constantly. I gave them all some fresh lettuces this afternoon. Everyone else made a beeline for the lettuces but the runt (i'll have to name it soon) went straight back to the water. I've taken my book back to the library so i can't look this situation up. I guess I will just wait and see who she goes.