There’s one essential component of your ducks’ diet that isn’t food: grit. Grit consists of small rocks or stones. Ducks need grit to help them digest their food. Ducks don’t have teeth, but they do have a muscular stomach called the gizzard, which they periodically fill with small rocks. The …
Free-ranging, as wonderful as it is for your ducks, always carries some level of risk. Free-range ducks can be extremely vulnerable to predators. Whether your ducks can free-range depends on your location, the predators in the area, and other factors you may not be able to control. However, one of …
Freedom. Happiness. In the duck world, nothing exemplifies these ideals like the practice of free-ranging. The idyllic vision of ducks frolicking joyfully in green pastures is irresistible. At the same time, free-ranging can be dangerous, so it’s a controversial topic. Some people are dead set against anyone free-ranging their ducks; …
If you’ve raised ducklings, you likely ended up with an equal ratio of males and females–or, if you were unlucky, more males than females. Unfortunately, in most small, confined flocks, equal ratios just don’t work out. Drakes can fight viciously with each other and can be hard on females, sometimes …
One of the first questions that comes up when people get new ducks is, “What sex are they?” Identifying the sex of ducks, especially ducklings, can be difficult. In this article, I’ll cover two methods for sexing ducklings (plus seven methods that don’t work, are unreliable, or are only small …
Looking for the best possible duck breed for eggs? Here’s a list of the ten duck breeds that lay the most eggs per year, along with a quick overview of their characteristics—what they look like, what color eggs they lay, how large they are, whether they go broody, how popular …
A large part of the fun of raising ducks is the ducklings! Those cute little fuzzballs do take some work, however. Here’s a guide to the basics of incubating and hatching eggs with a broody duck or incubator and raising ducklings.
Since most people keep their ducks for eggs, new duck owners often have questions about duck eggs and duck egglaying habits. Here are the top 20 questions people ask. Can I eat duck eggs? Are duck eggs or chicken eggs better? Can I eat duck eggs if I’m allergic to …
There are many ways to house your ducks and many factors to consider. Ducks don’t like being cooped up, so their preferences are more space and less infrastructure. The more space they can have, especially for foraging, the happier they’ll be. But duck housing also needs to protect them from …
Given a good environment, ducks rarely get sick. Seeing as an ounce of prevention is worth, you know, a pound of cure, or hundreds of dollars of cure, or whatever, here are 25 ways to help prevent duck health issues.
One of the biggest decisions new duck owners have to make is how they’re going to feed their ducks. It’s a complicated subject, but here’s a quick guide to feeding ducks for the backyard/pet duck owner or hobby farmer/homesteader.
First of all, welcome to the world of ducks! If you haven’t had your ducks long or are still in the planning stage, you doubtlessly have questions. Here are answers to 20 of the most common questions beginners have about owning and caring for ducks. Contents: What are ducks good …
This is a basic guide to artificial incubators and how to choose one. Here are the considerations you should take into account when buying an incubator: What to do with the ducklings Capacity Forced-air or still-air Egg turners Material Adding water Ease of observation East of cleaning Digital display Automation …
The Pekin duck. Oh, we’ve all seen the Pekin duck. Many “city people” and other laypeople have hardly seen any duck but the Pekin (and Mallard). They are the duck. The duck of all ducks. Pekins are also called the American Pekin, White Pekin, or Long Island Duck. They’re the …
A proper diet is one of the most important parts of giving your new ducklings a healthy, happy start in life. Fortunately, it’s not rocket science. Here are the four components of a healthy, balanced duckling diet, ten things you shouldn’t feed your ducklings, how much to feed them, how …
When sickness strikes a member of your precious duck flock, it’s like being struck by lightning. You’re sizzled by a high-voltage electric current of terror and pummeled with relentless internal echoes of “I don’t know what to do! I don’t know what to do!” You might not even know what …
The most striking feature of the extremely rare Dutch Hookbill duck is, of course, its curved “Roman-nosed” bill. No other duck breed has a bill like this. They’re a light breed, weighing only 3.5-5 pounds. They’re primarily used for eggs or exhibition. They lay 100-200 white, blue, or green eggs …
This is not the Rouen duck. The Rouen Clair is a completely separate breed that has slipped out of the spotlight. It doesn’t lay enough to be mentioned in any “best egg layers” lists, and it isn’t meaty enough to be mentioned in any “best meat birds” lists. Upon hearing …
The Cayuga is almost umistakable, with its solid black bill and feet and its beautiful black feathers that gleam luminescent green in bright light. These unique, stunning ducks have been classified as “Threatened” by the The Livestock Conservancy for many years, but in 2020 were upgraded to the “Watch” classification. …
The Duclair duck is an old French breed of duck that used to be an extremely popular meat bird, but is now difficult to find. Most Duclairs are either black or blue. Both have a white feather on each wing and a white “bib.” Males have an iridescent green head, …
The Buff Orpington duck is the epitome of a dual-purpose duck. For someone looking for one single “do-it-all” breed, this would be one of my first recommendations. They were created in Orpington, Kent, UK by a man named William Cook, who also created the Buff Orpington chicken. Buff was a …
The Blue Swedish (or Swedish Blue) is an attractive dual-purpose duck breed that makes a perfect addition to any homestead, hobby farm, or backyard flock. They’re classified as a heavy breed by the British Standards, and as a medium breed by the American Standard of Perfection. The American Livestock Breeds …
The Bali duck is an endangered, lightweight breed of duck that is something like a cross between a Runner and a Crested duck, having the Runner’s “bowling pin” shape, but with a fuzzy tuft on the back of their head, about the size of a golf ball, like a Crested …
Ducks lay eggs. Except when they don’t.
Why aren’t my ducks laying? Why did my ducks suddenly stop laying? When will my ducks lay? Shouldn’t my ducks be laying more eggs than this? It’s one of the most frustrating issues people have with their ducks, and also one of the most frequent complaints I hear.
The answer is here. Every “my ducks aren’t laying eggs!” case I’ve ever heard of can be attributed to one or more of these fifteen causes:
You’re wondering how you can walk in your yard without Mr. Macho tearing a gash in your leg with his razor-sharp talons and leaving nasty dark bruises with his hard, twisting bite. You don’t want to resort to inviting your beloved drake for dinner. Neither do you want to become …
This is a list of 52 duck health problems, diseases, and sicknesses, with links to resources about each one.
When a Muscovy duckling hatches, you can’t say, “It’s a boy!” or “It’s a girl!” All you can do is look at the cute fluffball and say, “It’s a baby!” Three months later, it’s no longer a baby, but it still hasn’t said what it is. Why did they have …
East Indies are relatively rare ducks and are primarily used as ornamental birds, exhibition birds, or pets. They are shyer and quieter than other bantams, such as the Call. They forage well and are good broody ducks and mothers. Like all bantams, they fly well and will likely need to …
Australian Spotted ducks are critically endangered and underappreciated, despite their beauty, friendliness, and adorable Call-like conformation. Less than 1000 birds exist, and there are only around 500 breeding birds. Australian Spotted ducks are very friendly, one of the hardiest of duck breeds, adventurous, long-lived, and good foragers. They can also …
The Alabio duck is an unusual dual-purpose breed, highly popular in Indonesia, but unheard of elsewhere. A veterinarian named Saleh Puspo named the breed. They originate from Kabupaten Hulu Sungai Utara, Kalimantan Selatan, Indonesia. Locally, in Indonesia, they are called the Itik Alabio. They were developed as a cross between …
The Silver Bantam is an extremely rare ornamental breed of duck. Confusingly, they are often called “Silver Bantam” in the UK and “Miniature Silver Appleyard” in the USA, even though they are a separate breed from the true miniature version of the Silver Appleyard. Silver Bantams are mostly kept as …
The Shetland duck is a small, critically endangered breed of duck, one of the rarest breeds in the world. They are so rare that there is currently no breed club or standard. Misinformation and contradictions about them abound throughout the web, partly because some people assume ducks to be Shetlands …
The other day, I was wandering around the duck yard, looking for two rascals who were late for bed, when I saw this: three lovely white eggs, snug under a wood pile. Many ducks, particularly those who are often inclined to go broody, are notorious nest hiders. They think hiding …
Everybody knows ducks lay one egg a day. If you exclaim excitedly, “My duck laid two eggs today!” you’ll probably get funny looks, if you’re talking to people who know anything whatsoever about ducks. They’ll tell you, no, ducks never lay two eggs in a day.
But they’d be wrong.
Once in a while, a duck owner will get one more egg than the amount of female ducks they have.
Can a duck really lay two eggs in one day?
Surprisingly, yes.
Ducks generally lay their eggs at early morning, around sunrise.
However, it varies a lot. Some ducks lay around 4:30 AM. Most lay around 6 AM. Others lay around 9 AM. And occasionally, a duck will lay in the afternoon, or even evening.
The Saxony duck is a heavy duck breed, one of the best dual-purpose breeds there is. Their status is listed as threatened by The Livestock Conservancy, meaning there are less than 1000 known breeding birds in the United States and likely less than 5000 worldwide. In 2013, Germany recorded 1173 …
Does a male duck need a female companion? Does a female duck need a male companion? The answer is no: ducks do not need a companion of the opposite sex to be happy.
Abacot Rangers are extremely rare, beautiful, dual-purpose light ducks. They’re wonderful egg-layers, good for meat, good foragers, long-lived, friendly, hardy, and absolutely gorgeous. They’re also known as the Hooded Ranger in America, the Streicherente or Streicher in Germany, and the La Canard Streicher in France. Abacot Rangers are active foragers, …
The Aylesbury is a large meat breed of duck developed in the town of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England in the 18th century. Their status is critical. Aylesburies are all white with a pale pink bill, orange feet, and white skin. You will often see ducks labeled as Aylesburies that have …
Ducks often lay for far longer than chickens. The average length is 7-9 years. The exact age when they stop laying, however, varies, depending on the breed and how hard you have pushed them to lay.
The Ancona duck is a large dual-purpose duck breed that’s beautiful, friendly, excellent at foraging, and has recently been experiencing a surge of popularity. For a long time, they were listed by the American Livestock Breed Conservancy (ALBC) as “critically endangered.” However, a census taken by the ALBC in 2015 …
Advantages of Artificial Incubation An incubator is handy to have around in case of an emergency, such as if the mother dies or suddenly abandons her eggs. If you are raising a breed such as Runners, which will rarely set on their eggs, an incubator is necessary to hatch eggs, …
I was walking around, looking at the duck flock, when suddenly I noticed one duck, Kiwi, running off with something in her mouth – something big and slimy.
Ducks are hardy animals and, if kept well, are not susceptible to disease. However, almost any flock raiser is bound to encounter a problem eventually, whether it is a disease, injury, nutritional deficiency, infection, or some other form of health problem.
Your tiny, fluffy ducklings have somehow transformed into ducks. They quack all the time, poop everywhere, and somehow, all ground within a 12-foot radius of any source of water is a mudhole. They’re fun, but you’re wondering when you’ll get the rewards of all the work and money you’ve put …
Some ducks will fly. That’s sometimes fine, but sometimes they will fly away, and you may never see them again. The solution? Clip their wings. Here’s how you do it.
I’m not a fan of prefabricated coops for ducks. For one thing, most are designed for chickens and are unsuitable for ducks. They’re difficult to customize. Most are also too small, flimsy, not predator-proof, more expensive than DIY coops, and don’t last long. Building your own coop is generally a …
Finding information about ducks can be difficult. Some of us like wading through the sticky, murky swamp that is Google only to find a dozen contradictions rather than an answer; others of us prefer a good old book. Here are some good old books to guide you in your duck …
If you read Planning the Flock and heeded the advice by preparing everything for your ducks, congratulations! You’re off to a great start! So now you need to figure out what age you want your new ducks to be. Then find someone selling ducks, examine your prospects, and buy them! …
What should you feed your ducks? This is an important decision and a highly debatable topic where there are many options. First, here is an overview of the main types of food for ducks. Commercial Feed Commercial feed is a perfectly computed mix of grains, chemicals, minerals, and vitamins. There …
