[karlooben]

if i was to be allowed to keep ducks on my first allotment plot what size run would be ok for them , i would be looking at maybe 4 metres by 3 metres  if that seemed to small for ducks would it be ok for silkies .

[Vember]

Hi Looby

Just had a look through my books recommends 6 m square for small breeds and double that for larger breeds.
It states that that area can take up to 5 birds - but it does stress that is the minimum requirement

I'm hopeless with space & what they should have etc... Robs better at these things


Sarah

[karlooben]

what small breeds are there although this really all depends if the council say i can build another run and it wont happen tell the spring anyway , if i didnt keep more birds then i would use it as a quarantine pen. been to see my other sick girl today at the farm an god shes in a bad way her face is gross but shes now on stronger antiboitics , but shes eating an drinking an seems happy in her self considering . :?

[Vember]

Hi Looby

Sorry your hen's still not great but if she's happy eating etc... it sounds promising

As for the ducks the smallest are Call's (noisey), Black East Indian & miniature Silver Appleyards. They are classed as Bantams.

I've got 4 Calls and they are really nice birds only lay about 80-100 eggs per year though

Silver Calls :


Apricot "ish" Calls:



Sarah

[karlooben]

omg they are pretty   . are they very noisy as that will be my main concern especially with some of the neighbours   . dont their feet ever get frozen , i was watching the ducks on my local pond an the poor sods have had to put up with it being frozen for well over a week now and it puzzles me that they dont get frozen feet.

[Vember]

No they never bother about frozen toes

I think Rob mentioned somewhere it's to do with their temp in their feet :?
My lot love going for a swim & piggyback rides in the frozen water

There's a clip here of me letting them out in the morning - at about 14 seconds in you can hear the female quak quack quack quack quack

Duck Video

Normally the female only does it when she has lost her man

Sarah

[karlooben]

wow they are so cool to watch , your so lucky to  have land like that  :cry:  me sad i want the same      maybe oneday .

i got to keep everything crossed for when i speak to the council .

[poultrygeist]

Hi looby. Not sure about area for ducks. Vember knows better. I always felt that the ducks are more free range types and wouldn't be so happy in a run (our babies were but that was temporary and they were wild(ish) ).

I would have said maybe 3 small ducks with a bit of a pond might be ok in a 4x3 run but they do need a lot more cleaning because they make more mess. The water needs changing a fair bit in the summer so you'd need a hose nearby and their bedding gets wet and muddy.

Rob

[poultrygeist]

There's some decent advice from teh RSPCA HERE.

And their legs have a form of 'counter-current' circulation where the blood to their legs is warmed by the blood in their abdomens or something similar.
I found an article about it. Evolution is a wonderful thing !

[karlooben]

u guys certainly know so much , sounds like they need a fair amount of room an it really would not be worth getting just 3 , so maybe i can do a new home for the babies that al going well i will be doing in spring .

[poultrygeist]

I've jsut foudn the DEFRA page for ducks. You have to scroll down a bit to find it, but there's a couple of tables showing stocking densities.
On a grass run, 2500 ducks/hectare.

1 hectare=10,000 sq metres.

I make that 4 sq metres per duck. So 4x3=12 sq metres.

So 3 ducks.  

Unless I've done it wrong  :oops:  :roll:

[karlooben]

no i would of worked it out wrong      beleive me , well its seems that it could be either 3 ducks or umm i dont know , what else could i keep :?:

[Foxy]

Gorgeous video Vember! How happy your ducks look  I am very interested in how you manage to keep some grass around the paddling pool? At the moment mine have a huge run -and only a small but deep tray, all the grass around the tray has gone and very muddy -although the run is OK. the mud has now turned to ice and the poor things were skating on it :shock:

[Molly Hen]

Can I ask a really, really, really silly question? :oops:
Do ducks eat fish?  I know, stupid question.  But I have a fairly large fish pond, and we talked about getting some ducks, but could not decide if they would eat the fish.  The local heron takes much delight in eating the fish and wondered if ducks would eat them as well. :oops:  :oops:

[poultrygeist]

I think they do but don't know what size or under what circumstances.

Hope someone knows.

Rob