Mutton
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Duck breed recommendationWe weren't going to keep ducks I said. We've got sheep, geese and chickens, don't need another breed to learn the ailments and keeping of.
However, none of our chickens are interested in eating slugs. Eat everything else (including goose muck) but not slugs. So a couple of duck questions.
1. Can they share accommodation with the chickens? (Concrete side shed with nest boxes and perches) Or would the chickens bully them, do droppings on them etc?
2. Any breed recommendations? Our primary concern is a good gardening duck, followed by hardy to bad weather, closely followed by not too noisy. Lays a fair number of eggs would be nice too.
(Please do not recommend guinea fowl - just cannot take the noise they make!)
Oh and a third question on edit
How well do they fly? Would they go over ordinary height stock netting?
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bodger
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Re: Duck breed recommendationDucks aren't subject to nearly as many diseases and ailments as chickens, so thats good news to start with.
Ducks can, if its really necessary share accomodation with chickens. They aren't perching birds, so will roost on the floor and not the perches. They need a good covering of shavings or straw on the floor. They will lay on the floor and will make a nest there to lay their eggs before covering them up. Without an adequate floor covering, they are also likely to develop feet problems.
Any chicken that allows itself to be crapped on by a duck deserves all it gets  With regard to bullying, I've always found that the ducks have been boss rather than the chickens. You shouldn't have any problems in respect of bullying.
When it comes to a suitable breed of duck, I'd go for one of the Campbells every time. They come in lots of colours but the khaki followed by the white variety are the easiest to lay your hands on. They are the breed which lays the most eggs and are also active. I like the Indian Runner duck too. They are a very upright duck and you can meet with problems with them in some strains on occasion. Because some have been bred to an extreme by show people, they can be prone to going off their legs.
If you want ducks that are not too noisy, then I suggest you avoid a breed called the Call Duck like the plague. 
Finally, you'll be pleased to hear that just about all domestic breeds of duck have lost the ability to fly and can be contained behind a wire netting fence of around three foot.
Get some ducks, if kept in the right conditions you'll really enjoy them. They need a largish area to range on or else your neat chicken pen will be turned into a sea of mud and they don't do steps very well. If they are not to injure themselves, then gently sloping ramps need to be installed.
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random
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| Quote: | | a good gardening duck, followed by hardy to bad weather, closely followed by not too noisy |
Looking at your conditions I would suggest muscovies.
They are in my experience not so destructive as other ducks, they live happily here in Southern Sweden where temperatures are regularly -10C in the winter, and they are very quiet. The males make a sibilant hiss, the females a cheeping/peeping noise unlike the other breeds descended from mallards that are noisier than all my chickens put together. Another plus from my point of view is, they don't require lots of water.
and the biggest bonus for you, they LOVE slugs.
They are easy to get hold of, come in a good range of colours, make excellent mothers and I find they have bags of personality and are much more like small geese in many respects. They make good eating too maturing to slaughter weight quite quickly.
They do fly, surprisingly well for such a large bird but mine rarely do, i think they are just lazy. When they do fly it's around and not away.
Mine live with some chickens which they tend to ignore, eat normal layers pellets, i gave up trying to get them to eat waterfowl pellets they just kept eating from the chicken feeders anyway
If chickens have personalities and ducks have a sense of humour then a muscovy is a stand up comedian.
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Helen M
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I have Aylesburys and Call ducks. the Ayelsburys I would recomend by far. they don't fly and have such a good nature. but they are mucky little blighters. try to keep them somewhere where they can nest on the floor so no perches directly above their nesting area. they are possibly a bit too sensible to sit under the chooks but the chooks will still roost above the bedding when they are not on it. Nice big fat eaters, large enough to have nice big eggs. lay regularly. and glean all the slugs as soon as they can. I feed them on normal poultry corn and layers.
As for the calls, I love them to bits but they are very very noisy. and they fly! If you are looking for pets or eaters and are not bothered about eggs then most drakes are substantially quieter than the ducks.
most of all good luck, I love all of my poultry but must confess the ducks are probably my favorite.
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JohnB
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I've often read that Khaki Campbells and Indian Runners are the best for slug control, as you can let them loose in the vegetable garden without them eating the plants. Is this true?
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Ixy
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I've not found that to be true about plants with tender things like lettuce - you might be alright with kale and cabbages etc that are too tough for them to worry into submission...my ducks completely ripped up my lawn piece by piece. They seemed to like dropping beakfuls of grass into their paddling pool? 
My ducks never bother with a house, just tuck up under bushes, and tend to bully everyone, even the geese. One thing to bear in mind is that the drakes get very randy and aggressive in breeding season and as they have penises, if they do rape a hen they can damage her. You may think they wouldn't be able to catch a hen but I've seen three drakes (campbellXrunners) work as a team to corner a hen behind a compost heap!!  (I saved her and te drakes went in the freezer). I think if the hens have somewhere to fly up to and you have plenty of ducks to keep the drakes happy this wouldn't be an issue.
As for breeds, I think it's just down to your personal preference really? do you like the slender upright runners or big saggy aylesburys? I have some commercials which are being phased out and they are UGE and aggressive and have some appleyard ducklings whic should be a bit more pretty to look at. I'm also planning on some buff orpington ducks and swedish blues! Muscovies are definately worth a look as they are very good broodies.
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Bebo
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I've got four call ducks. The females are very noisy, but they are very cute. Males are quiet - if you don't want eggs you could go for male calls.
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bodger
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I've kept Buff Orpington ducks and they were beautiful birds.
Ducks will have a nibble at plants but the main thing is that they don't scratch like chickens but if confined, they will puddle the ground and turn it into a putrid swamp.
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lottie
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Muscovies every time---unfortunately they love to hunt and eat frogs as well as worms--mine get on fine with the chickens once the cockrells learn to respect the big drake. The big plus is they reproduce themselves with no effort--the downside is they are beggars to pluck. I had some Cambells--never again--totally neurotic and no meat.
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The.Grange
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| JohnB wrote: | | I've often read that Khaki Campbells and Indian Runners are the best for slug control, as you can let them loose in the vegetable garden without them eating the plants. Is this true? |
We have both breeds and a couple others, the campbell are fairly plump and tidy the garden nicely, the indian runners love to make mud patches on the lawn, so i'd personally not recommend them for the garden. They also seem to be much more noisey than the other ducks we have and egg wise so so.
We have a couple of white cross ducks aylesbury and who knows, they are great egg layers.
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pookie
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I'd go for muscovies if you want meat, but not eggs. Mine have spent more time being broody than laying this year and have barely laid more than a dozen between the pair of them
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Shan
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We have 5 Cayugas and 6 aylesbury/pekin crosses. The a/p's lay quite well. The Cayugas so so.
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Castle Farm
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Silver Appleyards.
Good layers, good mothers,Drakes dress out around 5lb.
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colour it green
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how noisey are the silver appleyards compared to other ducks?
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GSHP
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CIG
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Chez
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I have just bought some pekin duck eggs to go in the incy ... 
I do like the appleyards, though. Do you have any eggs available, CF?
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colour it green
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| GSHP wrote: | | CIG |
theres no harm in askin....
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Helen M
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| Chez wrote: | I have just bought some pekin duck eggs to go in the incy ...
I do like the appleyards, though. Do you have any eggs available, CF? |
do you have brooder room for the weekend? cos i was planning on dropping by castle farm on the way back from you but i could go on the way 
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Chez
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Yes, I could sort something out.
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Helen M
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i LOVE DUCKS X
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Calli
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I love the cayuga's fantastic birds and definately on plan for next season...
We have wild duck visitors to the pond, but the hounds keep putting them up
I was really hoping one pair that nested would stop but no they left us too
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bodillymill
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Ducks which ones? keep any I say you'll not regret it!Here in rainy cornwal  I keep aylesbury's non comercial with blonde beaks.... I also have one appleyard mongrel and two east indian greens... (two drakes and now four ducks) a good number with my space. I ido have a pond. I do believe that a duck needs/likes water and i think that the pond does them good... Mine are kept mainly for eggs and pond cleaning.. slugs in the garden do not last long and snails are dispatched with an element of despairation that is a joy to behold.
Be warned though they do root about in the shallow pond plants so always plant your water pond plants in at least 1ft of water and or rock them down with big stones so captian beaky keeps his beak out. They also shovel the garden beds about abit but a small wire netting about 14inches high keeps them off it easily when they start this (normally spring time) they soon stop after.
My aylesburies are in the heavy Duck breed range so need water to take the weight off their feet occasionally and breed... the indians I believe do not need water other than to drink, however i shall send a picture to anyone who believes a duck out of water is ok?
I have also trained mne so when I shout bed and clap my hands (no joke!!) they come off the pond and go into their run (all together) .... they look like a convoy out of a WWII movie I can say they are ever so easy to look after. Their run is concrete based with a hay/straw bed.
I also have a clear firing area around the pen to point out my displeasure at Charlie the fox when he comes un-invited.
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Ixy
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I like um because they're tough as old boots and easy to contain
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Mutton
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Thanks for all the info everyone.
Further question - there was mention of ducks needing soft flooring.
What if, we built a duck hut, where we had block work walls, several feet down into the ground to keep out the badgers etc, but left the floor as earth. That would be soft. Might need the odd bit of reeds/old hay on top, but it could all quietly mulch down. Works well in the sheep shelters.
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bodger
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I'd look at having solid floors, wood probably but with heaps of bedding.
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Mutton
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Duck price
Off to the market soon - we're going to start with Muscovies. What sort of price should we be looking to pay? Especially in the Autumn!
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Chez
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Which auction? I have no idea about prices - but I have just looked at the catalogue for Bridgewater on Saturday and there are a *lot* of muscovies ...
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Tavascarow
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I don't know their breeding but a friend has two French hybrid ducks that have grown like weeds.
They are only about 12 weeks old & already bigger than a good Aylesbury.
All white with a black spot on their head.
I'm well impressed.
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Greeny
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We have a pair of runners and get at least one egg a day - they are not kept in with our chickens but do get on very well with them in the garden. very easy to keep - they seem happy on a hard floor (with some bedding changed regularly). Duck houses can get messy and wet.
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Mutton
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Not a single Muscovy at our market!
Khaki Campbells for sale - but they went above our budget and still didn't meet the reserve.
Silver Appleyards - over £20 the pair - so above our budget
Lots of call ducks, several sets of crested ducks, something we thought was an odd looking duck and turned out to be Egyptian geese.
Came home with two Aylesbury ducks and no drake for £6 plus auctioneers fee. They settled in quickly once we allowed them into the main field to hang out with the geese. Allowed is an exaggeration - they squeezed through the stocknetting and took themselves off to the geese. Just persuaded them into the old chicken shed that we mended this afternoon. Two goes around the field gently waving garden bamboo at their eye level to steer them. Bedded down on some old hay.
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Mutton
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This morning, the ducks won't come out. When I opened the shed, one of them had just been at the water bowl and it was all mucky. The other was hiding under the nest boxes and bolder one scuttled off to join her.
We've left the door wide open so they can see the other poultry out in the field, but they are not coming out right now, thank you very much.
Mind you, given the gale that is blowing, I don't blame them.
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Ixy
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Quite a different story here - the duck and geese are about the only things out today! They are wandering about from puddle to puddle...
My duck recently lost his last friend - he was dying so I carried him to the house so he could die somewhere quiet and sheltered....he waddled straight back out again and copped it under a bush.
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Mutton
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The geese are out. About half the chickens were out and the other half are staying under cover until it stopped raining, then they all came out.
Just going to peer over the gate again and see if the ducks have got their courage up enough to come out into the field that they enjoyed yesterday!
This is just like taking on rescue cats and the first time they go out of doors.
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Mutton
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Sorry to hear about your duck Ixy.
Our two still won't come out. Not even as far as the door with the door shut to eat, so I've pushed the food and water a lot closer to them.
Totally weird. Yesterday when we brought them home and let them out they had a lovely day pottering around the field and dabbling their beaks in the grass for grubblies. They can see the field out of their open door. The sun came out hours ago. Yes it is a windy, but the geese and chickens are all out.
They just like their corner to hide in.
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Millymollymandy
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It took my ducks about 3 weeks before I could get them as far as the pond - and that was with food encouragement! Just give them time to adjust to their new environment.
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Mutton
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They came out today when I wasn't looking and spent the whole day out and about including in the rain. Had a lovely puddly time.
Needed only a little bit of steering (to extract them from behind a heap of palettes) and they basically went back to the hut almost by themselves.
Coaxing with food doesn't work - we are big and scary and not to be trusted. The only birds or animals we have who run away from us not towards us 
Well, one of these days will probably be posting a thread to complain about how are ducks are nice and tame and come to peck us for food...........
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Millymollymandy
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OK the food encouragement bit will take time too.... But yours seem to be getting the hang of the routine. Good luck!
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Mutton
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They laid their first egg yesterday!
Do ducks make you think of wind up toys in the way they toddle along?
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Millymollymandy
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Woohoo  I had to wait several months before my first egg - in fact that wasn't why I got them and had never even thought about eggs!
Wind up toys - yes they are a bit do yours all go in single file too? What breed have you got? Are they noisy?
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Millymollymandy
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Oops just looked back, yes big white ducks like mine although I imagine mine are some sort of cross as they came from a French market, but who knows!
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Mutton
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They're actually medium sized white ducks. There were other Aylesbury for sale at the market, labelled "large strain" and they were double the size of the two we bought.
Incidentally second egg this morning.
Also, they put themselves into the hut last night, without prompting, and even thought the door was mostly shut on the hook and eye (just big enough gap for them to go through). Up to now the door had to be wide open. (With the rain lashing in and making the hut wet...)
They go around together, but not always single file. Neighbour down the road adores roast duck so breeds lots every year - 30 or so I think. They chug around in an incredibly loud quacking column. Not single file, more two to three abreast. Having experienced that I said "no ducks, ever". So we are going to try again to buy Muscovy and won't expand much on the Aylesbury side.
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