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Post by mcgrazel on Feb 4, 2005 13:32:30 GMT
Hi there, i'm completely new to ducks (have kept hens before) and i'm wondering where to start! Do ducks like to nest high up or does it vary on the breed? What is the best type of small breed duck to get for starters?
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Post by onymee on Feb 4, 2005 15:29:28 GMT
You might be well advised to get yourself a book on waterfowl from your library before you start thinking about breeds. Ducks don't nest in trees at all. You will need to water for them to bathe in to keep their feathers in good condition but you need to make sure the water can be changed regularly because it can become toxic very quickly, especially in hot weather, and have nasty things like botulism etc in. Ducks flat feet quickly make a mess of your garden and they do lots of large, wet smelly poops, more than chickens. As for breeds, go for something easy like aylesbury's or runners,as they aren't too big, aren't too noisy and cannot fly away. But do lots more research first.
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Post by duckmad on Feb 4, 2005 18:19:30 GMT
hi, it really depends on what type of duck you want and what you want it for, personally i would not recommend runners as they are fairly temperamental and easily stressed although they are good for eggs. Ducks dont need a nest box and will lay in the corner of their house but the litter must be clean, we use shavings but straw or hay will do so long as it isnt dusty. If you want the ducks for looks and small go for one of the bantams or calls although the later can be very expensive, the only down side to small ducks is that they can fly and if they dont like you they will leave, this can be stopped by wing clipping which is not cruel just practical, once the ducks have settled they should not want to fly off. Ducks dont put themselves to bed like chickens they have to be put to bed so take this into consideration, will you or someone be there to lock them up on a night, they dont like torches so its not very easy after dark as they seem to get confused. If you want the ducks for eggs alone the khaki campbell is the one to have as they will lay about 300 eggs per year. If you are worried about flying go for one of the heavier breeds, be careful with aylesbury as there are many commercial producers who sell a white duck and call them aylesbury but the true aylesbury should have a pink beak and a deep keel, dragging the floor almost. There are other heavy breeds which are good layers and these are Blue Swedish, Rouen, Silver Appleyards, Pekins are lovely but a bit thick, and Saxony who look great but are not the best layers. You could try a middle weight breed but again you will need to wing clip, but Welsh Harlequins or Abacot Rangers will lay better than the heavy breeds and are stunning. I hope this helps if you want to know anything else post me a private e mail or ask a question on the forum.
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Post by onymee on Feb 4, 2005 22:10:34 GMT
I have never found my runners to be temperamental. Perhaps they have to have nerves of steel to live with me lol. I deliberately never mentioned calls as a first time duck keeper because of the noise they make and the fact that you have to keep on top of the wing clipping or you wil lose them. I thought hard about what would be easy for the novice keeper. There are dozens of lovely ducks out there, but for someone brand new to ducks, I think they need to be easily available, cheap to buy, not noisy and not fly awayable I used to have calls, but have to admit they were sweet but a right royal pain in the bum as far as noise was concerned and as I like my stuff free range, there was always a time I forgot to clip or never got round to it, and lost some. Cost me a fortune to replace them, so in the end I gave up and got my runners which I love to bits. I call them my 'skittles' lol. When they scuttle around my sebastopol geese, they look like 3 hairdressers trying to get the perm' just right
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Post by duckmad on Feb 5, 2005 8:22:02 GMT
Sorry didnt mean to offend about the runners and i think they are ok if you have lots of space only the well bred ones have a tendency to go off their legs if stressed and this could be distressing for the first time duck keeper. I quite agree with the calls we have had similar experiences oops forgot to wing clip, bye bye calls. They all make a mess but you have to admit are great fun.
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