Mrs

[grracee]

One of my friends is thinking about keeping ducks and wants any information she can get about keeping/looking after them and thought this would be the ideal place to ask!

What sort of breed(s) are the best to keep and what housing would you recommend? Also, what do they get fed on? She wants them to be on decent diets not standard ones.

Also, is there anything else she'll need to know about keeping them?

Thanks in advance,

Grace.

[chicken bark]

A good place to start (other than here of course) is looking at Katie Thears Starting with Ducks book.

 

I'm a new duck keeper so have limited experience but here are my answers anyway.

 

What breed? Well this depends on what she wants them for. If it is for eggs then Khaki Campbells are the best.

 

What housing? I like Green Frog Design housing but a converted rabbit hutch could do the job depending on how many and how big they were.

 

Feed? I feed mine normal chicken layers pellets although mine have tried Fancy Fowl Waterfowl pellets.

 

Usually as long as a duck has enough depth of water to submerge their heads they don't need a pond. Mine use a childs paddling pool.

 

They are wonderful animals.

[zoejames]

Hi Grace

 

Have had ducks for many years, hope I can help.

 

Breed: depends on why you are keeping them, how much space and facilities you have, what other animals are in the household and how tolerant your neighbours are!

 

Housing: needs to be raised off the ground (so it is free from damp and rats), draught free, well ventilated and easy to clean and large enough for your ducks, remember in the winter they will be in it for about 15 hours overnight, so it needs to be big enough.

 

Feed: Layers pellets: you can buy them from good country stores. Different age ducks need different amounts of protein, so it is age dependent, if you have females they also need access to oyster shell.

 

Water: all ducks like to bathe so give them access to something that they can AT LEAST paddle in so the can dip their heads under and perform their bathing repertoire. Runners and Muscovies have been noted to not be as keen on swimming sometimes. Water will need changing every day.

 

Good luck feel free to message me if you have any questions! As the previous post said, there are some excellent books that you can buy, which is a must really. Any of the following are useful.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Storeys-Guide-Raising-Ducks-Holderread/dp/158017258X/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1286526897&sr=8-10

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=keeping+ducks&x=0&y=0

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Domestic-Duck-Chris-Ashton/dp/1847970508/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1286526897&sr=8-7

 

Good luck!

zo

x

[grracee]

Thanks for the great advice, very helpful. Will pass it on to my friend