We wanted some egg layers, but I just don't like chickens all that much and I liked the idea of ducks so much better. Here are some of my reasons:
1) if we decide we want to be able to replace our ducks the natural way (rather than going back to the store every time we need more ducks/chicks) we have to have at least one male. A drake seems much less annoying than a rooster.
2) I had read that ducks don't wreak as much havoc on the plants in your yard as chickens do. I liked that idea.
3) I just like ducks more. They are cute and soft and nice.
It was spring, and IFA, CAL ranch and Tractor Supply were all selling cheap ducklings, so we decided to pull the trigger.
LESSON 1! Where you buy your duck matters
Your local country store is not a great place to buy ducks. They did not know the sex or even the breed of the ducks they sold us. Then when I asked them what other supplies I needed to care for my ducks, they shrugged and said "food and bedding?" So, yes, they were not helpful AT ALL. So unless you don't care what breed you get or what sex you get...don't buy them from the country stores. You can easily buy ducklings from a local small farm with ducks and at least know what breed you are getting, even if you don't know the sex. The local duck owners will also be able to give you much more information and help about caring for the ducks. Another option is mailing in ducklings from a hatchery. Mail order hatcheries come with their own risks of problems, but they will be much more helpful with information about caring for you ducks than the local country store.
We ended up getting a heating lamp (a must for new ducklings!), some bedding, and one of these types of feeders. We bought them some food, but later found out that it was insufficient for new ducklings nutritional needs. If anyone tells you that you can just give them chicken food, or all flock food, or even adult duck food, do not listen.
LESSON 2! Be careful what feed you give them
Ducklings need very specific duckling food. it has to have enough protein and enough niacin or you will end up with either dead ducks or deformed ducks to the point that may lead you to have to do some mercy killings. Not a pleasant thing.
MannaPro or Nutrena have good duckling options. You can also supplement niacin with brewers yeast, if you find it needed.
LESSON 3! Water is dangerous, use the right waterer
We did not buy the watering can that is similar to the feeder that we bought. I had read that ducks need to be able to submerge their whole beak into the water to clean up because they are such messy eaters (all very true), and I did not think that type of waterer would meet the ducks needs (not true). I gave them a bowl of water that they could easily submerge their beaks into. It also meant that they could get into it and they did so frequently. Ducks are messy and they are clumsy and they will make a mess of any food and/or water that they are able to. Their bedding would get soaked quickly and they gummed up their food getting it wet too, which them made the dispenser action not work properly. Within a few days the ducks had grown so much (ducks grow FAST!) and were using so much water that even when I refilled their water right before bed they ended up out of water before morning. I decided to give them a bigger water bowl. I thought that if I gave them one that was tall enough that they could not get into it, that would be a good thing. WRONG! If there is water, ducks WILL FIND A WAY to get into it! Unfortunately, after getting in, our duckling was not able to get back out and drowned, during the night. Take my advice, buy one of the conventional waterers. They actually work great for ducklings.
Once it was warm enough outside and the ducks had their adult feathers, we moved them outside with a small play house as their "pen" and a kiddie swimming pool to drink and bath in. They make a total mess of their water almost instantly and we would have to replace the water in the pool every day or two. They also poop--A LOT--and it's very watery and messy: not something you can easily clean up. We had them inside a chicken wire movable run and we would move it from spot to spot in our yard every 2-3 days and then use a thatcher on our grass to try to clean up the poopy duck mess from where they had just been. It was a lot of work, but we sure loved our ducks.
After a few weeks of watching them, we decided that what we must have had were Pekin Ducks. Later on, they got so massive, I decided they must have been Jumbo Pekins. They were huge. Everywhere I read said that we would be able to tell if they were boys or girls because between ages 8-12 weeks the boys would develop a curly tail feather. This was not the case for us. Their tail feathers did not turn curly until 14-18 weeks old. And at that point we found that ALL our ducks were male! How is that even possible??? Since we don't have the space to keep a whole flock of fighting/territorial males, and the whole purpose was for them to give us eggs, we had to get rid of our beloved ducks. It was a very sad day and the kids are still scarred from the experience. Just more evidence that you should NOT get ducks from a local country store.
Overall it was a very good learning and growing experience, but I wish we had started out the right way from the get go. Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes! Metzer Farms has a great blog with really good info for taking care of ducks.
Best of luck!
