Ducks vs. Chickens

garden mermaid mentioned that chickens like to eat sprouts and lettuce...i read in a book recently that if fed a diet of this type they will produce better eggs and be bigger chickens sooner with less fat on them! so interesting!

Happy birthday Nivlac :)

Susan

It would depend what you intend on raising them for - duck is much drier than chicken and there is no white meat on a duck. I grew up on a huge mixed farm on the Canadian prairies, and my grandmother did raise chickens but we always had a couple dozen or so geese, turkeys and ducks. Invariably the ducks would disappear one late summer day - they would just swim away. While a little ethereal (here today and gone tomorrow) ducks have a charm all of their own; and duck eggs are wonderful.

I would lik eto know if you can raise like 4 hens and a duck together?
Thanks,
Jim

If their ages are similar, as in all chicks or all adults, they would probably all get along. Ducks seem more people friendly to me and for sure it would be happier with one more of it's own kind for company. I know the seed and feed store sells different stuff for ducks so I'm not sure if they have real different needs. My ducks and chickens both were happy and healthy free ranging with some cracked corn for supper. I didn't have both at the same time though.

We kept ducks and chickens together. They did well, ate the same feeds, free ranged peacefully, but they did go into separate coops at night. The chickens seemed to think the ducks were rather nerdy.

I don't know if I will get a response because this thread has slowed down considerably but here goes.

I am considering raising either ducks, chickens or guineas. But I have a choc lab that I am concerned about. Not sure how to train him not to mess with the birds. I intend to start with chicks so I'm thinking gradually introducing him to them and making sure he knows they are "pets" might work. Any guidance you can give on training a dog to accept and protect the fowl would be much appreciated. thanks! ~Karen

If your lab has the basic obedience training, you should be able to start with allowing the birds their freedom while you are present to control his interest. Then when comfortable, observe his behavior from a distance or indoors when he is not aware of your presence. Like most, he will respect your wishes.

I know there is an occasional dog that will behave normally and when you least expect it, the damage will be done. I would be more wary of a lab that is under two years old as that puppy stage can kick in. We've had many labs over the years with no problem but took on a golden retriever one time that we could not break from chicken killing. Found him a good chickenless home. Good luck.

Hello All,
I typed in "ducks' for a forum search and was just facinated with the dialog here. I especially wanted to know about the garden aspect because I'm debating on a purchase of Muscovy ducklings, and I'd like to put them in my 1250 sq ft garden as a natural pest control when they are old enough to be out and about. The garden is fenced and our Black Lab has been trained to know he doesn't belong in there under any circumstances.
As for training him to leave birds alone, I am planning to use the same technique I used in getting him to realize my cat isn't a toy. I held Kavyk on my lap and had Rocky in a 'down' about 10' away. Then, when the excitement level dropped, I called him to a 'down' by my feet and had him stay there until boredom set in on his part and the big sigh and roll over to doze occurred. Many, many repetitions, but it works. If he was on his blanket and Kavyk sauntered through, he was reminded to stay put. Praise EACH time the instinct is controlled. Now, two years later, he doesn't even bother to raise his head as the cat meanders by tail-in-air trying to start stuff. I still tell him what a good lad he is to reinforce the idea not to give to temptation. And I'll have a sharp word for the cat as well to knock off growling. It goes both ways!
If your mutt is just as eager to please as my mongrel is, he'll realize that earning a good word and a pet from you is far more desirable that a wap on the butt and a sharp 'NO!'.
Give him a good long walk or perhaps 20 minutes of hard play to wear him out. The for a rest, have him in a 'down' with you in a lawnchair having a lemonade perhaps 15' from the pen. Watching is fine, moving is not. Have him stay there for a while. If he seems OK, pick up chair and glass to try closing the distance by half. Everything good? Give him a rubbing and end the session for the day. Next day to a week or better, repeat the drill untill he's bored with the idea. Next start at the 7' mark, then ask him to lay right next to pen. By now the bitties won't be so facinating, and the birds should be just as accustomed to him. Repeat for as long as needed. When this is old hat, start at the fence in a 'down', then ask him to walk next to you around the pen and down/stay on the other side. Start asking him to lay at differnet points along the fence so the idea that the birds are inviolate from EVERYWHERE, not just in one or two places. I learned this while training Rocky to stay out of my flowerbeds. The whole question on his face was 'I can come in this way, right?'
The scent of your dog hanging around may also keep some predators like coons and feral cats away from the pen at night, and will slowly accustom the peeps to it so they're not frantically running around exciting the chase instinct during the more intense parts of the exercise.
Has anyone else had ducks in their garden with good results? I've read the above posts, and was hoping that by the time the ducks were old enough to be released into the garden, the plants would be big enough to tolerate them. I am growing several varieties of squash, beans, tomatoes and root crops. I can always move things around and make a wall o' squash that they'd not want to travel through, or put all the more vulnerable plants on one area and cordon it off with a low fence. Other ideas? Suggestions?

...the lolloping goof...

We have a labradoodle who just turned three, and I've used her to help me corner chickens that got out of their pen. However, this past winter we were going to be spending the day at a friend's, cutting up and packing lamb for the freezer. I didn't want to leave her home all day, but in the past she had been fascinated by the chickens that roamed around our friend's barn, where we would be working, and had gone after them a few times. So the morning of the visit I took her out to our chicken yard on a leash. She was very surprised when I brought her inside the fence. As soon as she made a move toward a chicken I gave the leash a light tug and said, "Don't chase the chickens!" We did this several times, and I praised her each time she backed off. Afterward when we were at our friend's, I just reminded her, "Don't chase the chickens!" and she was fine. Since my friend thinks labradoodles are silly it was very satisfying!

Years ago we were raising ducks in an area that had a lot of slugs. We made a duck run around the garden so that they could pick off the slugs before they attacked our veggies. We never let the ducks in the garden, though. Later, when we had Muscovys, they sometimes got into the garden because they flew, and they would definitely do some damage to the tender shoots and tips of my plants.

Hello All,
In further researching the keeping of ducklings, I've discovered that it's ridiculously hard to locate waterfowl starter crumb and pellets in the U.S. - they're all in the U.K. and I really don't feel like paying overseas shipping dues. Anyone in Wisconsin or surrounding areas got a good supplier?

We've brought all our ducklings up on chick starter - preferably unmedicated - not optimal I know, but they seem to do fine.

Do you give a niacin supplement? Powder or liquid? I read that ducklings have a higher need of it than what is usually provided in crumbs meant for chicks and the lack can cause leg problems. May I ask what brand/supplier you have?
Thank you in advance for all your help!

No supplements, except fresh greens for treats, and we've never had any leg problems. We did have a Muscovey with "angel wing" (repaired by wrapping) and have since moved on to an adult feed earlier with them.

What brand are you feeding? Right now (literally) I'm checking into Purina and Mazuri.

Purina makes only medicated chick starter. Dumor is probably better - not medicated. But I have also fed the medicated Purina without a problem except the overfed Muscoveys.

I did my research last night, and spoke to the local feed mill, and found that the 'Flock Raiser' isn't medicated. Also, on the Back Yard Chickens Forum, there was one person who cut the protein content by cutting the feed with oats on a 5:1 ratio.
Since I'm looking at only a trio of ducks for the table, (and maybe some late eggs if I get a female), if I get a 50# bag of pellets, do the grinding myself for baby crumbs and mix in the oats later, I should be able to keep them healthy without overdoing things. I can get Duck Starter and Grower, but only in 50# bags; 3 ducks won't need that much food, and since the vitamins would deteriorate in storage, it wouldn't be worth overwintering feed.
As for veggies, I grow beans, carrots, red and green leaf lettuces, spinach, tomatoes, ect and the hosta bed should provide plenty of slugs and worms.
I don't suppose in Texas you've an issue with heating the youngsters, and as our nights are barely in the 50's yet, I was thinking of using a 40 gal breeder tank for the first few weeks. I can safely clamp a heat lamp to it, and can line the bottom with corrugated cardboard with one side pulled off to expose the wrinkles for traction. An egg carton feeder and a bowl of water with a rock to prevent impromptu bathing. Just throwing ideas around - am I missing anything?

Sounds good. It may be easier to bed them on shavings or better yet pelleted bedding that you can stir to keep it fresh - ducks are MESSY. They also eat a lot; that 50# sack may not be too much after all.

I've read that very young ducks may eat shavings which is why I came up with the cardboard idea. Plus bitty legs won't have to struggle through it and some of the waste will lay in the grooves, too.
I know I'll be changing the flooring daily or better, but how cheap is cardboard? Free if you shop at Aldi's! And I'll be certain that the tank is completely clean during the first critical weeks. A washable towel can serve as a 'nest'.
Muscovy's feathers start growing in about 2-3 weeks, right? Hopefully by then the nights will be warm enough for them to be permanently housed outside, and duck poo can be raked up and spread in my garden.
Have you ever imprinted a duckling? On purpose or no? Pros and cons? I was thinking it might be useful if there was anything that needed to be done medically, and with a flock of three, there shouldn't be an issue of separation anxiety. It would be kind of neat to have a trail of little waddlers following me through the gardens picking off slugs and ants as we went! Thoughts?

Give it a try! Ducks are very personable anyway and tend to gather around to see what the people are doing. However, if you're planning to eat your three, it might be easier if you don't make them into pets.

Yes, I know, and my husband has the same concerns, but you'll agree that it's far less stressful for all concerned to treat a wound when the animal trusts you. We have many Spruce trees around so a needle in a foot or nostril is always possible.
My horse tore the backside of her ear open in a two inch-long gash, and her previous handling allowed for much easier cleaning and salving. She was only 2, but still a good 850 lbs - that's a BIG 'I don't wanna!'
And I would feel better that when they're at liberty I can watch them; especially when under 5 lbs. We live in enough in the country that there are all manner of diurnal hunting birds, and if the ducklings feel threatened they'll come to 'mom' instead of scattering everywhere. That's the theory, anyway.
Reading up on the subject I found that it occurs within the first two days, so it will depend on how old they are when I go to look at them. I plan to possibly buy the ducklings tomorrow. (kind of excited, here!)
Have you raised any of your own? I'd be interested to know what color the brown and yellow fluff will be in feathers. I'm assuming black and white, respectively. If I do purchase tomorrow, I plan on choosing different patterns so I can tell them apart.

These are the only Muscoveys I've raised. Three ended up solid white - the spots on their heads vanished. The third was a mix of black, white and green with a "tweed" neck.

They're adorable! Thank you for the pic and the before-and-after description. I think then that I will see if I can get ones with the most dark colouring - better camouflage!
Have you seen what's called a 'ripple' pattern? It's really striking in chocolates - it looks like beaten copper (but darker) under water on the breast feathers. Cottage_Rose has great pics on the Poultry Forum under the subject 'Self-Blue & Chocolate Ripple Muscovies'.
Wish me luck on bringing home bitties!

I bought some 2 week old 'Muscovy' ducklings from the auction last October, 3 were yellow with brown markings and one was a chocolate with creamy bib. I didn't think the listing was right, nor did other bidders, I certainly didn't need to have to raise any more ducklings and I'd already bought the ducks I'd gone to buy. However, I didn't like one of the men bidding on the ducklings, he was knowledgeable but he spoke about them as though they were 'things' and not sentient creatures.

Anyway I was going to pay practically anything to keep him from buying them, fortunately I got them fairly cheaply and took them home. The chocolate duckling turned out to look like a wild strain Muscovy and is a very handsome and personable chap. The other 3, equally handsome birds, are mules and rather large, this 3 all have the ripple pattern, they are a lavender/bronzy colour but the ripple doesn't last longer than their first year to my knowledge and their feathers are changing right now and the ripple effect is going.

May I ask, what are 'bitties'?

Do you have pictures?

The images of when they were younger are on another computer so I went out and grabbed some images today. The ripple is almost gone but you can see vestiges of the pattern on some of the older feathers. At one point their bellies were covered in the ripple. Considering these are not a year old until September time, it didn't stay long.

The newer feathers are laced.


This message was edited Jun 22, 2010 1:06 PM

This is the wild strain type, having a drink, he's quite difficult to photograph as he's ether showing you the inside of his bill or facing away because you haven't popped some lettuce in there.

This is the visit to the dentist view

And this last but not least is a Muscovy hybrid drake, he's feeling the heat somewhat today poor chap, him being in his first moult as well. You can see he's definitely turning to the laced pattern previously his belly and chest was mostly rippled.

This message was edited Jun 22, 2010 1:23 PM

I had one Muscovy that had what I think you call the ripple pattern. It was only on his chest and only occurred during the first molt. I thought it was really pretty. I called it tweed.

I always think of it as barring myself. I agree it's a very pretty patterning.

Do any of them ever keep it into adulthood?

I don't rightly know, I've never seen any older Muscovys with a ripple but that doesn't mean there can't be. :D

What became of the law to stop folks from breeding muscovies? I have 1 ancona hen and would love to find a drake to pair her with. She is a very good layer.

HI all,
@ Baa - I call anything tiny a 'bitty' - as in 'itty-bitty'. Love the dentist pic!

Thanks Temafilly.

Just a quick update re. ripple effect feathering, the hybrid drake in my image above has almost completed his moult into adult feathers. His body is mainly laced but his head is rippled! One of his clutch mates also has rippling on his face and head but not so pronounced.

If I can catch a pic of him I will post it but it's been raining for a few days.

I wonder how difficult it would be to start a new country, one where like minded people who care more about being independent than being "rich" could co-exist.

Where are you going to put you new country? If it's somewhere warm, I'm in!

Where are you going to put your new country? If it's somewhere warm, I'm in!

Ooops! I guess I sound really enthusiastic now.

This message was edited Dec 6, 2010 3:45 PM

My guess is that we will need to buy an island or find one not yet inhabited !