[MontyTom]

anyone on here keep ducks?

Visited a local farm today and saw some Call ducks.  Smashing little things.  Seem to have a really nice temperament.

[muntjac]

call ducks are used to encourage  wild ducks down to flight ponds normally for the purposes of shooting .they are easy kept on a fenced in pond  with a shed of the floor and ramp with door to protect from foxes etc .ducks are a muckier bird to keep than chucks but great for eggs and meat. see other posts on here regarding ducks and geese  .also the books section has a great range of helpful publications  

[mercury]

monty tom, as muntjac says, ducks are far muckier than hens, whatever you do, don't over stock your land with them, i find they dont need a pond to be happy, just a bucket of clean water deep enough to get their heads under, i feed their corn in the bucket of water, this is their natural way to feed. I also find they dont suffer with half as many diseases as hens, but having said all that, although i like ducks and geese, i still prefer my hens.

[MontyTom]

Can ducks walk safely up a gangplank to roost/sleep (and the opposite down again), or do they need to walk directly into their coop/shed?  Is there a maximum, or suggested, height to angle it at?

[muntjac]

your ok having the pen a foot off the floor mate .i had a dam aylesbury that would sleep with the chucks but not the rest his pals ,he played up with noise n such ,mind he was reared by a banty lolo

[muntjac]

oh and dont be thinking of missing out the muscovy duck as an ugly begger they are great as  egg layers or a meat bird .taste blooming lovly

[mercury]

oh and dont be thinking of missing out the muscovy duck as an ugly begger they are great as  egg layers or a meat bird .taste blooming lovly

they're very good sitters too

[madbantamlady]

Hi I'm new to this chat room game so please bear with me. I keep Call Ducks and a remnant Khaki Campbell. The Calls are superb little critters, friendly, tameable and very noisy. They make excellent childrens pets. Although this last year has been full of turmoil. I have a pair plus the female Campbell. The drake AKA Desmond got sliced open by a dog which was very successfully sutured and treated with good old purple spray. Then my gal Delilah suffered a spontaneously dislocating wing that I have learnt to replace myself very simply and this occurs roughly about once every 2 weeks. They are notoriously lousy layers (unless you really are very dedicated) but fun either way. Today Desmond got on board the Khaki Campbell AKA Mathilda (roughly 4 x bigger than him) and had his wicked way rather succesfully. I recommend them to anyone. If anyone has the dislocating wing problem - just shout.