[Debz]

Apart from water for a swim, what do you need to look after ducks that differs from hens.  I am looking at Aylesburys.

[colliebird]

Apart from water for a swim, what do you need to look after ducks that differs from hens.  I am looking at Aylesburys.

A duck house where they can shelter and eventually lay eggs, though I found mine preferred to lay them under the duck house where I had put old tyres with straw in them.
Be careful not to give deep drinking bowls or buckets of water for ducks or geese.  When they have ducklings/goslings, I've known the youngsters to jump in from mums back, into the bucket/bowl, not been able to get out and have drowned.  It only happened to me once and I learned a hard, sad lesson.

Valerie

[Vember]

If your not getting ducklings then buckets are good for water. Helps keeps their eye's clean
Their housing is more basic than chickens, nest boxes at ground level and no perches

I have a couple of plastic sand pit type paddling pools from argos which my birds love but I have also dug out 2 ponds and they have a bath sunk in the ground

Ducks have a 24 hour laying cycle against 25 hours of a hen, so "normally" they lay at the same time everyday and again normally this is before 10 am. Having found the odd egg gone to waste in the bottom of the pond I now keep mine in till 9:30 so that eggs are laid where they should be

Mine eat the same as the hen's although if you do want to breed from them a good breeder ration may help things along in spring Ducklings require a different type of starter crumbs to chicks as the chick crumbs contain medication for coccidiosis which isn't good for ducklings

Kate did this article last year which is a good read

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=20427.0


Sarah