Go Organic : Before you get your first ducks, here are 10 things you should know.

It's a fantastic experience to raise ducks! They're adorable and provide a lot of fun in the yard.

Ducks are also simpler to rear than chickens because of their hardiness, despite their appeal as a backyard pet. Although they are similar in some respects, there are significant distinctions that you should be aware of as a potential duck keeper. Before beginning to raise ducks, it is necessary to have a basic understanding of ducks and their demands.

1. Breeds to Consider

Pekin ducks are consistently the most popular backyard duck breed. They're fantastic for a variety of reasons. First, at 10 pounds per bird, they're deemed huge enough that they can't fly, so you can let them roam freely in your yard without fear of their trying to migrate south for the winter.

Second, Pekin ducks are excellent foragers as well as being extremely personable. If you don't want to micromanage your ducks, these are great qualities to have.

Third, due to their size, Pekin ducks make outstanding meat producers as well as good layers of huge white eggs. Pekin hens can lay anything from 150 to 200 eggs per year.

Another duck breed that comes highly recommended is the Khaki Campbell. They are smaller (typically weighing around 3 pounds) but still have limited flight capabilities, which is significant because keeping them at home would be challenging.

Khaki Campbell ducks lay more eggs (280-300 eggs per year) than Pekin ducks, but they produce less meat. So, if you prefer eggs over meat, Khaki Campbells would be a good choice, and vice versa.

Khaki Campbell’s, like Pekin ducks, are good foragers and amicable to other ducks and humans. They can get a little rowdy at times, so make sure you have enough room for them.

Don't rule out the possibility of additional breeds just yet. Other duck breeds are just as good, if not better, in producing eggs and meat. Find out more about other popular breeds by clicking here.

2. Adequate Protection

Ducks are preyed upon in large numbers, though not as much as chickens. If you have a dog, you may need to keep the ducks away from it unless it's one of the slower-running dog breeds or an elderly dog who just doesn't have the stamina to pursue one down.

If you have cats, you must exercise extra caution because it is difficult to train cats not to chase birds.

The following is a list of some of the most common predators of ducks:

Cats

Dogs

Skunks

Coyotes

Raccoons

Owls

Hawks

Snakes

Fencing ducks is a good way to keep them safe from most predators.

Install a taller fence if you have a hawk problem. Because they can't soar up and down vertically like a helicopter, birds like hawks have a hard time dragging an animal away from a tall enclosed area.

If you have problems with animals digging their way in, make sure your flooring is made of a firm substance.

3. Ducks' House

A gorgeous housing is neither necessary nor desirable for ducks. In fact, the more dilapidated the house is, the happy they appear to be. Ducks enjoy being wet, and their feathers are waterproof. It appears that providing them with a place where they can preserve some wetness (but not too much) and have enough of airflow keeps them happy. Comfortable bedding made of straws or pine shavings is the most crucial thing to have in your duck coop.

Because your ducks may chose to make their own nesting location inside or outside the coop, nesting boxes are not required.

Make sure their house is raised off the ground to keep it dry, but still low enough for a duck to get in through a small ramp. The ducks will be afraid to step on the duck house if you build it too high.

4. Ducks' Laying Habits

When it comes to laying behaviors, ducks are not like chickens.

When the days become shorter, chickens stop lying, but they still lay on occasion. Ducks, however, do not. Every year during the winter, they take a complete break.

They usually break up in the middle to late fall and reassemble in the spring. Ducks do not lay all year and lay less frequently than most chicken breeds, but they lay significantly larger eggs and are much tougher birds than chickens. An article regarding the features of duck eggs and how they compare to those of other poultry can be found here.

Ducks get up earlier than chickens. She'll have laid an egg before your feet have even touched the ground during their laying period. If you're a morning person, you'll like your ducks.

5. Ducks adore water (albeit they don't require an entire dam)

People who have never reared ducks may believe that they require a body of water to do so. This isn't the case at all.

Aside from drinking water, ducks do not require it.

All you have to do is fill a 5-gallon bucket with freshwater once a day, and they'll be extremely pleased.

Swimming isn't required, although they do enjoy being near water. If you don't have access to a swimming pool, a kiddie pool is a terrific way to keep your children entertained.

Ducks will only swim in clear water; if the pool water becomes too coloured, they will not swim. If you have a tiny kiddie pool, you should replace it every day, and if you have a larger kiddie pool, you should change it every 4-7 days.

6. Duck Food

It is not difficult to feed ducks.

Waterfowl starters with a protein level of 18-22 percent are required for ducklings. Duck feed containing at least 15% protein is required for juvenile ducks (2 months old). Duck feed with 16-17% protein is required for adult laying ducks. Duck feed with a minimum protein level of 20% is required for broiler ducks.

It's more crucial to consider how you'll feed them.

Separate their food and water at all times. They enjoy playing in the water as well as eating. So, of course, they'll try to combine the two.

The full-feeding strategy is the greatest way to feed ducks. Simply fill a feeder with food and leave it out for them all day. They'll eat when they're hungry.

Ducks forage, which means they'll eat weeds, plants, and bugs, which means they'll eat less feed from the feeder if you let them roam free. This is a fantastic method to save money.

Growing fodder is another option to save money on duck feed.

7. Ducks make excellent garden guards.

A gardener's best friend is a duck. They’re even better than chickens in removing bugs from your garden plants without harming the plants themselves. Plus, their faeces produce excellent fertilizer. Only one word of caution: don't let your ducks into your garden until the plants have progressed past the seedling stage. Ducks have a habit of stepping on and killing tiny plants.

8. Ducks for Meat Production

Ducks, particularly Pekin ducks, make excellent meat. In about 3-4 months, they can reach a weight of 10 pounds or more. If you're seeking for a viable meat source, ducks are a good choice.

However, you should be aware that it will almost certainly not save you money when compared to purchasing duck flesh from the supermarket. Raising ducks for meat can actually be more expensive if you don't have commercial-level management and don't plan to sell part of the surplus flesh. But that doesn't make it any less worthwhile. Raising ducks for meat necessitates the presence of a high-quality food source in your yard. You can become more self-sufficient by relying less on grocery retailers. In addition, you can learn a lot from the procedure if you ever wish to sell the meat.

9. The Gender Difference

In a small flock, having two males is ineffective. It's crucial to understand the differences in duck features so you don't end up with more than one male.

Female ducks in most breeds look a lot like male ducks, thus you don't sex them like you would most other animals. Her quack, on the other hand, sounds more like a honk. She is, without a doubt, the louder of the two.

Male ducks have a little tail feather that curls at the tip of their tail, which is inconspicuous. He is usually the quieter of the two and will trail behind her. When he wants to lead her, he will bob his head up and down and softly quack at her to get her to go where he wants her to go. If you approach his hen and her eggs too closely, the male duck will defend her. He's not a roost, so don't expect him to flog. Instead, he'll begin by bobbing his head (as if nudge you) to encourage you to back away from her.If you ignore the hint, he will become enraged. You'll hear a hiss from the female, and she'll tell you to back off.

10. Keeping Ducks and Chickens Together

Some individuals are in favor of raising ducks alongside hens, while others are against it. Ducks and hens get along swimmingly. A drake can get along with even the meanest of roosters. Raising chickens and ducks together has only one drawback: a rooster will want to mate with a duck hen, and a drake will try to mate with a chicken hen.

It's not a huge issue if a rooster mates with a duck hen. When a drake tries to mate with a chicken hen, though, things get a bit more complex.

A rooster, unlike a drake, does not have a protruding appendage from his body during mating. This is a problem since chicken hens are not suited to deal with such situations.They may suffer major injuries or possibly perish.

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