The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: miccon63 on August 10, 2011, 02:03:57 pm
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are they really noisy and what are they like to care for. eg easy or hard ,the same as hens
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No, not noisy, different from hens. Need a simple (no nest box) house but quite tall obviously. When you see how happy they are on a decent pond, you would never keep them without access to one.
Mine don't come around fussing me but do their own thing. I love watching them tootle about in a line, up quite steep slopes sometimes and play in the pond in the beck :) They always make me smile :)
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Ducks are great full stop, but i do like my indian runner, they are different to hens, my big ducks do there own thing they dont really socialise with me like the call ducks do, they are less flighty,
They are very entertaining, Indian runners have a presence about them :wave:
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They are messy and stink, their "mess" gets everywhere ::)
Out of the few i have the runner is the noisiest of the lot compared to the others, though that might simple because she can't take not getting her own way and becomes very stroppy.
I find them easier to care for, though they need access to water, and them splash it everywhere thus making a muddy mess. they also need (in my opinion) more space then hens - mine walk for miles and hate being penned in
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Hi Cameron - is that the news then ;D - one of them turned out to be a half-runner? what are the others? Boys or girls? do you have a recent picture?
sorry to hijack your post, miccon ;)
my runner is not noisy at all compared to the call and the Campbells. I'm going to get a second one soon as my daughter loves them. Messy, yes, but you will get used to that. Mine have a paddling pool as they would ruin the wildlife in the pond within minutes and they are happy with it. They eat the same things as the hens. :&>
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That's my experience, compared with calls the runners are quiet :D
All waterfowl are messy, but they make up for it by funniness ;D
A paddling pool sounds like a great alternative if you want actual beasties in your pond - we have a wildlife one elsewhere that the ducks don't go to fortunately. I'm guessing you have some sort of ladder in and out?
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it's just a small one ;D - a former sandpit ;D but it's amazing how high they can hop if they want to have a swim (all but the call, her legs are too short ;D) :&>
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Quick question: What do you feed yours on? We raised our runners on poultry growers pellets, and I hope they'll be coming into lay any time now. So what should I feed them on from now on? For example, are unmedicated chicken layers pellets ok, or do I need anything more fancy?
Cheers!
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They're just as easy as hens, the only difference I find is that they don't go to bed as willingly as chickens and have to be shoo-ed into their house at bed time. Mine eat mixed corn, but spend their days blissfully foraging so don't eat much. They're infinitely more fun to watch than chooks, IR's are great characters and a lot less noisy than a hen who has laid an egg!
Love the duckies. :)
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I feed mine GM free Layers Pellets and wheat. I might throw in the occasional bag of mixed corn but the ducks leave everything other than the wheat behind. Newborns had unmedicated chick crumbs as duck crumbs were not available anywhere near. All else is worms and insects, veg scraps from the garden if they get a chance against the incredibly fast and greedy hens ::) :&>
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Hi Cameron - is that the news then - one of them turned out to be a half-runner? what are the others? Boys or girls? do you have a recent picture?
will get a pic as soon as this bloomin rain stops, i think i have 2 girls an a boy, fingers crossed i have a home for the wee man,
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do they feed out off the usual plastic chicken feeder or just a wee drop on the ground ??????
any other hints or tips would be great
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They like to get their beaks in to 'shovel' so I put their feed just into a large dog bowl (I've made a feeder it goes into with a lid and upright bars but that's only to keep sheep and goats out!)
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they feed pellets from a larger chicken feeder here and grain soaked in water from a small washing up bowl. I also have an eglu feeder hens and ducks use. Ducks like to drink and clean their bills after eating so water needs to be close. The don't really like to pick grains off the ground like hens :&>