
Things to Consider When Raising Ducks in Your Backyard

Comments
Hi, I had an injured pekin duck arrive in my backyard possibly hit by a car. Over the past 4 weeks I have set up a old rabbit hutch and fenced a large area for him to run with a small 30 gal pond. My question is I want to get him a companion female but not really for any ducklings. Is there a good way to get him company without having broods of ducklings. Thanks for any help because I am new to this.
Happily raising both ducks and chickens. Ducks happily sleep in a run in all weather while the chickens put themselves to bed in the coop. I keep a waterer above the coop that the chickens can get to because the ducks will 'duck up' any water they can reach in 0 seconds. I've experimented with the head hole bucket solutions, which is better than open access, but because ducks 'sluice' water with their food, if you want the chickens to have clear water, they need a source that the ducks can't reach. That being said, I still see the chickens happily drinking from the common water as well. All low maintenance, though, and so beautiful and fun to watch in the yard.
Ducks can be LOUD. Really loud. Drakes make no real sounds but hens talk a lot. Muscovies are the quietest females. And good layers. They should be separate from chickens because their water is messy. And they need water to wash down food or they can choke. I have had ducks since 2002. Mine pretty much stop laying for the winter. They are great pets and I love having them. But they are not low maintenance. We use heated bowls in the winter and a safe birdbath heater in the pool in the winter along with flat bowls with hot water outside. They poop A LOT. And it’s messy. Be sure you are ready for the work. If you are, ducks are so much fun and amusement. And they are so beautiful. But they need proper care and attention.
Hi Lisa, I enjoyed your article. I have raised one or more kinds of poultry most of my life and my experiences with ducks and chickens has been much the same as yours. Both are great, both are easy to raise, but like you said both have their unique requirements and idiosyncrasies. If you want a sustainable meat bird, IMHO you can't beat a duck. Unless you get broilers (which are hybrids, won't breed true even if they could breed), I've found that even large breeds of chickens like Brahmas and Orpingtons are, well, "chicken-chested". More bone than meat, especially the breast. You get much more bang for your buck with a medium to large duck breed like a Muscovy, Rouen or Blue Swede. I mention those three because I've raised them.
I'm a first time duck and chicken raiser. Ducklings are so cute for about the first day. After that, you're cleaning their plastic enclosure at least 3 times a day. I put a baking pan of water in their bin so they'd have plenty of water. What I didn't know, was that they got in the water and splashed it and food and poop all over their bin. Well they're babies so you can't have them in wet bedding. So change all the time. Finally they got big enough to go out in the pen with the chickens. Chickens have an upstairs coop so the ducks don't go in there. They have not 1 but 2 enclosures. One is like a dog house, the other one is big enough for me to stand in. I read that that would need a big house for the winter. Not. They like being outside. They're in a covered pen but it's open wire. Totally happy. The windy sides have plastic sheeting on them, because the ducks and chickens don't like the wind much. Works fine. So I have Buttercup, now white, Matilda, now a Matt, and Cocoa, also male. I get one duck egg a day and that does not get given to anyone. Best tasting eggs ever. Big yolks. I have 9 chickens and 2 roosters, so I get a lot of eggs daily. I keep waiting for the chickens to stop laying for the winter, like everyone says. Hasn't happened yet. Learning to make egg casseroles. I freeze individual portions and they come out fine. I searched for more female ducks, but couldn't find any adults in my area. No more ducklings for me thanks. Yes the adults make a mess of their water daily. I have a heated dog waterer for their daily water. It's a mess instantly, but I change it once a day. Their preferred drinking water is a mud puddle. So I don't worry about whether it's clean all day long. By the way, the chickens are fine with the water. They don't need clear water as they prefer mud puddles also. Still cute though.