Permit for ducks in Florida?

[atomic]

Honestly, ducks have been pretty easy. They do require regular upkeep, but its not a big deal. They only use their kiddie pool while they are in the pen which is at night and briefly in the am before I let them out, I refill it every other day with buckets from the stream. Fresh straw. I refill their feed buckets also in the am. The hardest part was predator proofing the pens and building the duck house, a day project. Once it's done it's done! As far as raising ducklings, make sure to regularly allow them time to swim in the bathtub daily and introduce chopped greens. My Pekins were given to me after they were a few months old, and were never fed greens and therefore shun them. My brother also got four Pekins that he never ran tubs for and they are now scared to go into their pool outside.

Weather allowing, i also had small pen to put them out into to be outside get some sunshine and learn how to forage and explore.

They had so much fun learning how to swim and splash around, a much deserved respite from being in their brooder. My dog also loved being supervisor.

 

[atomic]

And... most importantly, any question or concern you may have, this site is an invaluable source!!

 

[cajun41887]

Thank you! We've had our muscovy ducks for a couple of weeks now so we've gotten our feet wet so to speak with ducks. We've not had ducklings yet, but I'm planning to order some in the next day or two.

 

[auce99]

What if you move from another state and already own other breeds??

 

[cajun41887]

What if you move from another state and already own other breeds??

you have to have a permit is my understanding for every breed that isnt a pekin. It's totally insane and the permits are a joke.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

View attachment 1396039

And... most importantly, any question or concern you may have, this site is an invaluable source!!

This is so cute!

 

[atomic]

They were very safe ducklings...!

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

They were very safe ducklings...!

View attachment 1397539

I was always worried my dogs would think the ducklings were a snack so I never let them this close. Very safe ducks you have!

 

[Duck~Diva]

There is a permit required. I asked (because I already have them) I too thought it wasn’t needed from the way the website is worded. It’s a different permit, but I didn’t ask specially because I didn’t want to draw suspicion. I’m wondering if my loophole to get the Harlequins is to just order fertile eggs and hatch my own? I’m all for having the proper permits etc, but these laws make no damn sense and if there’s a chance I could lose my Muscovies, I’m not having someone come inspect my property. I’m a veterinary technician by profession and the housing requirements are insane. I don’t want to be subject to rules and regulations written by someone who doesn’t know what they are talking about. For instance they ask on one permit: what would this animal eat in the wild and what food do you have available to mimic the natural diet? Well, Harlequin are a DOMESTIC breed and have never been in the wild so I guess in the wild they would eat nothing as they don’t exist and they would be looking for their commercial bird food and human handouts. It’s absurd to me that the same exact duck depending on which permit one decides to apply for is subject to different rules. As a game permit, they don’t care about food or vet care, but you better have cages that are huge and they have to have 7.5 sq ft of water surface area for 4 birds and increase that by 25% for each additional animal. So 11.25 sq ft of water surface area for 6 ducks in addition to the 112.5 sq ft of floor space for those 6 ducks in their enclosure. So the 8x12 enclosure with the 3ft kiddie pool isn’t enough even though they will free range during the day and have access to an additional pool of about the same surface area, but deeper. I can’t tell fish and wildlife they will be free ranging and even if I fence off an area which is larger, the enclosure has to meet the minimum requirements, even if they are only in it overnight to protect from predators. So basically I have to have a duckhouse which is 8x14 and has 11.25 sq ft of water access for them at all times. My 8x12 hoop coop and 3 foot kiddy pool isn’t enough even just for overnight confinement of 6 Harlequins.

That's absolutely insane.