Ducks

[ukgeckos]

Ive been interested in getting ducks for some time and I now have the space and have started planning for some but are they really as messy as people say? I use the garden a lot for BBQ's, housing torts and general relaxation but Im a bit concerned that there will be duck mess everywhere
Im only planing on 2 ducks and the garden is about 15metres square at the back

[Pimperella]

First bit of rain and you'll have no lawn! Yes they really are messy! lol

We had our rearing ducks last year, 15 in 150ft garden. now half of those were in pens, the other 7 large breed left to roam. We had grass, once. The ducks saw paid to that and I now have a mudscape! It's great fun sliding down the garden in duck mess and mud
Cleanest way you could keep ducks would be a concrete pen and a concrete pond that you had empty out and refill.


They take all the grass out at the root, and nothing will grow back as long as they are there lol

We have a trio of muscovies, a stanbridge white drake and a Aylesbury Drake.
Hoping on lots of baby Muscovies this year.

[Amalthea]

Yup... I agree with Laura completely. When we had our two, we had absolutely no lawn what-so-ever and there was duck poo everywhere!! Our two were silly tame (we hatched and raised them ourselves) and actually came in the house... Well, we had to follow them around everywhere with toilet paper

[feorag]

Totally agree. We had 2 that we got as day old hatchlings and kept in a viv for a week under a heat lamp until they could go outside. They made a mess of our lawn, dug up all the new plants I put in the garden and crapped everywhere!!

Great pets, my children loved them, but boy they'd made some mess!

[pigglywiggly]

they are really stinky and attract lots of flies,

ok if you have acres for free range, or a conrete yard you can hose down, and have a kiddies-half-shell-sand pit you can empty out regularly for a pond.

but tbh, they dont need a pond, as long as they have a deep bucket so they can wash them selves.
mine had a big washing-up bowl, we just had to occasionally get wedged in geese out, lol

[feorag]

I used a big plastic baby bath! The problem is that they have to dibble when they eat, so they take a mouthful of food and then stick their beaks in water and sluice it all around so half gets eaten and the other half ends up in the water, so the water has to be changed every day.

Ideally you need a lot of space and running water like a stream through your garden - that would be perfect, otherwise it's a lot of work and a lot of mess.

[pigglywiggly]

true, and it dosnt go down a bundle with the neighbours, especially if you`ve got calls!

[bosshogg]

agree with everything everyone has already said there wonderful but very very messy I have Muscovy's, Silver appleyards an Campbell's, luckily none are kept at home but at a friends Livery Yard!

[iiisecondcreep]

We had ducks when I was much younger, they lived in a pen which was all lovely and grazzy when they first went in, not long before it became a complete mud pie and no grass left at all. They had a corner bath dug into the ground as a pond. That was DISGUSTING to clean out!
They are nice to have though, especially when they start laying!
All ours were handled from when they were babies, yet we still ended up with an aggressive one, and you'd be surprised how much a duck bite can hurt!