[argylepete]

Hi
im thinking of getting a couple of ducks to go in with my 4 girls, I have no clue where to start so any advice would be welcome
Pete

[Kate and her Ducks]

I love my ducks and would recommend them to almost anyone. A little more information would be helpful.

I'm guessing the 4 girls you have are chickens. What do you want the ducks for? Eggs, meat, the sheer joy of having them about? What is your set up and facilities?  This all makes a difference to advice and recommendations.

A brilliant book is the Storey Guide to raising Ducks by Dave Holleread which is my bible.

[Trillium]

Here's a fellow who I follow on youtube and he got quite a few ducks - some for meat, some for eggs, some for breeding. It would make sense if you start numerically on his adventures because he certainly had a learning curve despite reading a lot of books on ducks. From what I've gathered, you either love ducks or you hate them. 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO5AjtysOlhqxaYlFZZjXYQ

[argylepete]

I love my ducks and would recommend them to almost anyone. A little more information would be helpful.

I'm guessing the 4 girls you have are chickens. What do you want the ducks for? Eggs, meat, the sheer joy of having them about? What is your set up and facilities?  This all makes a difference to advice and recommendations.

A brilliant book is the Storey Guide to raising Ducks by Dave Holleread which is my bible.

Hi Kate
thanks for the reply. Mt set up is very basic I think a run of about 3 meters by 2, and a large coop, the chickens seem happy with this and I did used to have 8 all quite happy in there.
pete

[Sassy]

If you were going to get a drake they do not usually get on with the chooks due to their male tendencies!!!!

If you were thinking of keeping ducks with your chooks using the same housing you need to consider their sleeping and pooing arrangements. Ducks do not perch and will probably therefore get pooed on by your chooks.

Ducks are very messy and due to their requirement for water will trash the area you are considering very quickly. In an ideal world they DO need somewhere to swim.

I have kept both and both are very rewarding in their own way. Ducks are easier but messier!

[argylepete]

Thanks for all help so far.
What about flying away ? Do I clip wings? What ones are best for eggs ?
pete

[Kate and her Ducks]

As has been said, ducks can be quite messy and their need for water does tend to turn the ground to a bit of a swamp as they love splashing it everywhere. If they are sharing with chickens the chickens can get pretty miserable in those conditions and to be honest the ducks don't like it that much!

3m x 2m is not a lot of space and in all honesty I think you would struggle to keep a more than a couple of ducks happily in that, even without the chickens as they do need more then the usually quoted 1m2 for chickens. In a limited space they will rapidly destroy it although if they have a bit of space to free range or the run can be moved every few days you can obviously manage better.

Flying is not much of a problem with most of the domesticated breeds although some of the smaller ones like call ducks can fly and would need wing clipping. Campbells are generally regarded as the best layers but others such as Welsh Harlequins which I think are beautiful and runners which have the entertainment factor, also lay well.