Pekin Duck Club!

[MainelyChicken]

Hi, i raise chickens, but i added 2 new girls to my little farm. I have 2 Emery Penciled Runner Ducklings. Cute as can be, but other than reading i dont have any knowledge about raising and caring for them Any suggestions? Do they need a house/coop?? Special foods??? What about space?

 

[countrygirl74]

Thanks I will look into adding more niacin. The chick starter/grower is specifically meant for chicks ducks and geese.
http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/dumorreg;-chick-starter-grower-20%-feed-50-lb It says additional vitamins and minerals are not needed.

I didn't see niacin listed in the ingredients, although I'm sure there's some in there somewhere - probably not really enough for ducks though so I think it's a good idea to add more.

Hi there fellow duck owners My name is Michelle and I live in Ontario, Canada. My family and I are new to the feathered pet world as of this year and though we are LOVING it, I am having some anxiety about surviving the winter! We have 19 chickens, and 2 ducks; 1 pekin, Napoleon (though we are not 100% sure he is in fact a he), and 1 Rouen, Josephine (she is a girl!). I am wondering if anyone can give me a coles notes version of what they do to survive the winter in regards to ducks and their water! We have a lovely pool for them right now that they spend their days in, but once the snow flies, this won't be possible (unless we move them inside, which by the looks of it some of you pull off quite nicely!). To be truthful, if it would be less work we would consider bringing them inside, they get along quite well with our dog. Any insight would be great!

Thanks!

Hello & welcome! I don't know how bad your winters get where you are at. At the very lowest around here where we live, it might reach zero. I have a covered run/pen with a little dog-house-type shelter for my 4 ducks. Silly things - even when it was in the single-digits outside, they preferred to sleep outside. They only use their house for laying or when it is raining/snowing and they want to get out of it for a bit. As for the pool - you could check into getting a stock tank heater/de-icer. At the very least, you will need to dump out frozen bowls and refill with lukewarm water every morning - if it stays freezing all day and their water keeps freezing up, maybe use the heated dog water bowls. Ducks are definitely a lot more cold-hardy than chickens - there are a lot of people on here who have posted photos of their ducks quite happily playing in their pools as its snowing. However, if you are talking about negative temps up there in Canada, having a closed house filled with straw or pine shavings where you can close them up into might be a good idea. I personally think the temperature change from being outside all day and then coming into a warm house isn't very good for them, but if it's not too much of a difference, it can work. Duck diapers are available and we have brought ours in just for fun before. Hope all this info helps and I'm sure some others will chime in on their experience with cold winters...

Hi, i raise chickens, but i added 2 new girls to my little farm. I have 2 Emery Penciled Runner Ducklings. Cute as can be, but other than reading i dont have any knowledge about raising and caring for them Any suggestions? Do they need a house/coop?? Special foods??? What about space?

Congrats on your new ducklings! They just need the same protection you already give your chickens except housing isn't as complicated. Providing them with just a "dog-house" shelter is usually plenty. We have ours in a covered run with a "dog house". We leave it up to them as to whether they use the shelter or not - they usually prefer sleeping out in the open run but they do use the house for laying and to get out of the elements. It's filled with pine shavings. Until my ducks were older though, I used a "pine crumble" as they would consume too much of the shavings.
I would definitely provide them with extra niacin. 100-125 mg per gallon of water for the first 10-12 weeks. It's vital to their general health and leg strength & growth. Make sure you use plain niacin and NOT anything that says "no flush", "flush-free", or "time-release".
You can feed them an unmedicated chick starter and then switch to a grower. My chickens and ducks all eat the same grower/flock raiser. I never feed layer as I prefer for them to intake as much calcium as they think they need. The calcium levels in layer feed is too hard on the organs of males and also not good for silkies - I have both. I provide oyster shell on the side for everyone and they eat it as needed. You can also wet down the chick starter and grower as ducks love sloppy food - lol.
Water is very important for ducks' health as well. When they are ducklings, just make sure they have water deep enough to dunk their heads into - they need to be able to wash their nares (nostrils) and eyes. You can provide supervised swim time while they are little but wait until they have their feathers before leaving them unsupervised in deep water pools, etc. They can get waterlogged and drown. You can give them treats as ducklings, just don't overdo it so they are eating their nutrient feed - small bits of greens such as arugula, kale, and romaine are very healthy and they love frozen, thawed peas. These greens will also give them some extra niacin. Mealworms are also a great treat and when they get a little older, you can throw some feeder fish into their pool.
That's all I can think of for now as far as the basics! Have fun with those cuties!

 

[Dunaways61811]

What size kiddie pool is a good size for 2 pekin ducks? And my ducklings are almost 3 wks old also and shy! But if you put peas in your hand they go nuts over them.

 

[BarredRockGirls]

Girls are all big now! 18 weeks ducks and 7 weeks geese

 

[mendocinobirds]

The Pekin Duck Sweet was hurt somehow in a melee in which a raccon tried to attack them but the dog got the coon and the ducks who were on the pond at night, went into a panic over the big fight. Anyway something happened to the Pekin Duck and he/she cant seem to walk very well. He swims very well but gets tired and gets out and sleeps. The other Pekin, Sour is growing more. They are about 14 weeks old. They eat flock raiser feed, which is NOT medicated chick feed but both can eat it. They eat lots of watermelon and lettuce and whatever they are gobbling in the pond.
Yesterday, Sweet wasnt preening and seemed cold. But he preened today, but there is still something wrong with him. thanks for offer to help

 

[Islandducklady]

As a "veteran" of 90 days duck raising, I can only contribute what I have learned. I started with 4 babies - that is the problem. When they have each other, they don't "need" the human for company or interaction. They have their brothers or sisters for comfort. I have done everything to get them to "warm up" to me - even hand feeding them. They wake up the next day and we start all over again with me trying to get close enough to touch them - without them running like mad

in the other direction. From my reading, a single duck will bond with the human and form a good relationship, but multiples just rely on each other.

 

[Islandducklady]

I taught mine to swim in a paint roller pan. That was their first intro to FREE WATER. Next, I moved up into a plastic construction concrete mixing pan. They grow so fast, but are uncomfortable with too much water. I would think that a kiddie swimming pool would be just great - something you can dump and wash out. I dump mine twice a day so they have plenty of fresh water to drink, bathe and swim in (however, the water is not deep enough for them to really swim). You can look at my photos and see the size progression and pan upgrades.

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[Islandducklady]

 

[JustAChickenLittle&More]

Wow i didn't know that the crestes breeds have week legs. I was gonnaget more than I have. ?

 

[The Howards]

Wow i didn't know that the crestes breeds have week legs. I was gonnaget more than I have. ?

Not all do. There is a whole thread on here about crested ducks. From what I understood...their skulls are vaulted or have a hole in it and the feathers grow out of a fatty deposit in the hole around their brains....now don't quote me on it, it's been a while since I read it. Crested should not be mated to crested I do remember that. I think some of ducks have been bred to have poofs and through selective breeding have few issues. In others a good number of crested ducks end up with issues... weak legs/bones, seizures, and other disorders. Some obviously don't make it to maturity. We didn't know anything about it until after we got her. Even knowing it I would still have gotten our little girl. She is such a sweet little thing (and she is much smaller than the others). It is kinda catch 22 situation. Crested are sold because they are so cute and people want the cute duck and if no one wanted them then breeders wouldn't produce them. At the same time I am not someone who could walk past that little duckling sitting there if it is the last one and not take a chance on giving it a good life, for as long as it might be.
Like I said not all have problems. I remember seeing crested Pekins on Meyer Hatchery's page and thinking about them. I would not think a hatchery would sell any knowing that there would be issues. So they have to be ones that are selectively bred. Ours (a Rouen) came from our local feed store, not sure where they get theirs from as they do buy from local breeders as well as a large hatchery.
This is our weeble wobble...Jennifer. She is a voracious eater and a little lover girl. You can get a glimpse of Butter our Pekin behind her.