Keeping Ducks
We are currently offering focusing on one species of domestic ducks both as ducklings and fertile eggs. Both are available in Spring when fertility is at its peak. Cayuga!
Tell me more!
We get a few main questions, if you can not find the answer here, please contact us and we would love to answer it.
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Do they need a pond?
The quick answer is no, although they do need easy access to enough clean water to dunk their head to clean their bill, nostrils and ears. Ducks can survive happily with a bucket of water kept close enough to their food. Although we recommend a kiddies paddling pool ($15 from Bunnnings) so they can play and swim as they are still ducks. If you have a pond or dam, you will have very happy and spoilt ducks!
Do they fly?
No. Our domestic duck breeds are not capable of flying. A 80cm high fence will keep them in, although something more secure is recommended to keep out foxes and the likes.
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Do they smell?
This is a case of how you keep them. CAN they smell? Absolutely, so can your dog. If you keep their area clean and access to a small pond, they clean themselves and do not smell. The easiest way to clean up duck droppings in your yard is to hose them into your grass, they are not as solid as chicken droppings and can easily be absorbed into the grass (fantastic organic fertiliser). We recommend providing straw or equivalent in their night coop to help absorb any droppings. This will need to be replaced when needed (depending on how big your enclosure is and how many ducks you have).
What and how much do they eat?
You can feed ducks most chicken feeds, most produce stores (and even some pet shops) have chicken/duck food. You can access a specific duck/goose feed or even a good quality game bird feed is fine. We use and recommend "ShowBird Breeder" from Laucke Mills. Ducklings need to start out on unmedicated chicken mash or chick starter pellet (which is much smaller than regular pellet) or a game bird starter. Once they are older and can eat larger pellets, we do recommend moving them to a 15-18% protein pellet, grain or mash. Remember that ducks need to break down their food with water so keep water easily accessible at all times. Also provide access to shell grit as it is great for building calcium (essential for egg production) and also helps them break down their food.
The best thing about the medium sized ducks is that they eat less in the way of grain and pellet supplement than big table ducks (muscovy). Of course, they should be given calcium and protein-rich food, especially during the extensive laying season.
Cayuga Ducks
Raising Ducklings
Incubating duck eggs