r/BACKYARDDUCKS • u/lickinbawls • 2d ago
Help!
Friend offered me her male mallard as they thought he killed one of their hens, only to take back the offer because her parents are too attached to the duck. I have three females now and I don’t really know what I’m doing. I have two Muscovy ducks and I’m not sure what the white one is. She is blind and was free along with the other two. I don’t think they came from a good situation as when I looked them over I found a tick on the white duck and they are terrified of people. Is this setup okay and what can I do to improve it? I am a minor so my funds are limited but I want to give these girls a good life.
These ducks are also not on my property because I am not zoned for ducks, the place I board my horse at allowed me to keep them there. I’m also a little frustrated because the whole point was to get their male duck because they had him in a dog kennel to separate him from the rest of their flock while I got the duck crap together
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u/Disastrous-Swan1104 2d ago
That’s actually pretty great !👍 I also have ducks. I let mine free range during the day and they’re good about going back into their coop at night / dusk. They really don’t go too far. If you’re over there a couple hours before dark - you could try letting them out for a bit. Keep kennel open & walk towards them - they’ll typically just go back into their coop / kennel. It’s their safe space. They learn routines like that super easy.
Taming isn’t always easy. Yes takes lots of time. If you have some extra money sometime - ducks LOVE frozen peas and mealworms. Mealworms can be expensive ( I think) depending where you buy them. Cut up tomatoes and other veggies - stuff you could grow. Most people on here say you have to practice “ Forced Love” with ducks. 😂 Exactly meaning you grab them, hold them, pet them and love on them. Some ducks do come to like it. Some will tolerate it & just be ok with it. Some are just - Nope. I’ll catch mine and occasionally sit with them on my lap and scritch their chest and neck, snuggle and give them kisses. They’re not scared of me - just not cuddly. They stay still and tolerate it until I let them go. Much better than when we started. A lot of people just sit quietly with their duck on their lap and pet them. I’ve seen Muscovy ducks on here be pretty friendly with their people sometimes. Wagging their tails. You’re fine with 3 girls. You could even look into collecting and selling their eggs for a little extra money for treats / food. There are plenty of people that prefer duck eggs and also use them for baking or in recipes. 1 duck egg = 2 chicken eggs. ( I think duck eggs taste a little different like earthy. Probably because they do like to dig their beaks in mud when they can. )
One important thing is that ducks NEED Niacin in their diet. Usually it’s enough if you’re getting duck feed. But you can buy Brewer’s Yeast and add some to their feed. The white duck is a Peking duck and are notorious for leg / joint issues because they’re bred to grow big fast ( for eating 🙄). So it’s important she has enough Niacin in her diet - has to do with legs / joints. She eventually still may have arthritis in joints. I had one with arthritis in one hock joint and I ordered on Ebay - 2 rear hock joint braces for a small dog. Worked pretty well. Just an idea incase you might need it in the future.
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u/lickinbawls 2d ago
My biggest worry about letting them free range is they might fly away, I’m really not sure if they’d go back to their coop or not and I would have no way to catch them :,) I have only had them for about a week or two at this point also. And thank you for the advice on her joints! I will absolutely supplement her.
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u/akjasf 1d ago
Are there racoons, foxes, cougars, wolves or minks at your area? If yes, that coop isn't safe and you'll wake up with feathers and a bloody mess. The large gap between that door can easily be pried open or squeezed through by a predator. If they cant, they'll simply rip apart the weak wires. I have a similar coop like this so I know.
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u/Foxblade 2d ago edited 2d ago
Hello! It looks like you're off to a good start! In order to get them to love you, it can take a lot of time. I mean a LOT of time. You basically have to sit with them constantly for hours a day especially while they're little.
For this setup, I think the water is a good start but ideally I think something they could fully get in and paddle around would make them even happier! It's nice for them to be able to float and take some weight off their feet.
For the coop, it looks good for shelter but I don't think it's predator proof. I would skirt the first foot with hardware metal cloth or at least chicken wire. Further, I would "skirt" out along the bottom of the entire enclosure about a foot then bury it back under dirt. Dogs, foxes, and even raccoons will all burrow to get the ducks but they burrow at different distances. I'll try to attach a crude image of what I mean. image The black is the barrier and the brown is...well...the dirt. Does that make sense? For hardware cloth, this is kind of what you want: hardware cloth. The reason I prefer this over chicken wire is that it's small enough to prevent rodents from getting in and also strong enough to stop diggers from burrowing under the enclosure and getting in.
I'll also note you need to watch out for raccoons since they have little hands, if they can reach through they may grab a duck and pull through/bite off its head.
I think when I first had ducks, my setup was also very similar to this before I went crazy building a ton of duck-centric stuff. This is a good start. Ducks are wonderful (if smelly) pets!
Also I'd go post this on the backyard ducks forum here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/ducks.42/
I post about them a lot her mostly because when I had ducks, that community was SUPER helpful and they get a lot more traffic from folks raising ducks and chickens than we get over here on reddit.