The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: pinkvisla1 on July 06, 2014, 07:45:47 pm
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Hi There,
Quite new to this forum and always found really good help/info for my sheep.
I have now 2 Aylesbury Ducks!
I would like to give them a varied diet and have purchased Duck/Goose pellets and daily chop up Lettuce, cucumber tomatoe anything really carrot, fruit which they seem to love.
Change their water daily and they have a lovely wooden house which we lock them away at night? Should they have water in the shed at night? Just thought they might knock it over and leave a horrible wet mess or can they manage all night without?
Male is a bit randy and keeps pecking the female her head has lost quite a few feathers, have been told to get another female?? He gets very aggressive with her!!
Have noticed female loosing feathers under her wing?
can i apply anything to stop mites and do ducks suffer from flystrike??
Can i add anything to their water like vitamins to keep them healthy?
Many Thanks
i have namd them Daphnie & Derrick I know I'm mad!!!
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You'll need more females than just two! He will eventually kill therm with his attentions, my lad has four girlfriends . :innocent:
If they have a varied diet they won't need vitamins - mine get layers pellets and are free range on a grass and shrub paddock with a wee burn running through it.
Do you have a bath for them (or a pond or stream) - they need to dip their heads in water to oil themselves as well as for drinking.
Mine don't get water at night - they make a big enough mess in their shed with theri watery poop as it is. I have plastic sheeting on the floor so I can just pull it out, hose it down, leave to dry and replace.
I've never noticed my ducks getting any beasties. I think you'd know - they'd scratch a lot.
Have fun - ducks are fantastic, and so are the eggs!
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I got my first ducks nearly a year ago and haven't looked back ,they are awesome !
They are totally minging, mine don't have water at night otherwise their house would be a wet soggy mess. They don't need much feed, just lots of water to dip their heads into. Mine lay the most fantastic eggs ever. I hatched out some of them a few weeks back and now have 10 white Campbell ducklings wondering around my back garden, totally cute!
I've got 2 ducks and an unrelated drake at the moment and he is very good with them, he likes to keep an eye and always follows them into the house at night. In a bit of a quandary what to do with him when I can sex the ducklings as he will be related, might be time to move him on :-[