The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Millwood on March 04, 2015, 02:19:38 pm
-
Hello :wave: ,
We're looking in to ramping up our duck egg production, at the moment we have only two khaki campbells and will probably go for more of the same breed.
I can't seem to find anywhere online recommendations for stocking density, they will be free range of course, but we need to have an idea on number of ducks per meter square, is it similar to chickens?
Any advice greatly appreciated! :&>
-
I think the answer to this depends entirely on how much you like mud! ;D
-
We have pigs, we like mud! :pig: ;D
-
Depends whether you can rotate them too. They will be healthier on grass. If you've got them in one place and want to keep the grass, I'd have thought you would need at least 20m2 per bird. But that's a gut instinct - all I know is that I had about ten ducks in a 160m2 run with a similar number of chickens and as soon as winter came on, they rapidly turned most of it into a mudbath. Normally mine have over 50m2 per bird and the grass grows faster than they can keep up with!
-
Khaki Campbells like a lot of space, despite their small size, as they are constantly on the go. It really depends on weather conditions, as they can wreck a pen very quickly in wet weather. if you had 5 or 6 I would have a pen of around 160m2 for winter and half that for summer. I would rotate it as they turn over wet areas, especially round their water but if you are careful, it's semi decent ground, and you don't mind a few messy areas then that size should suffice all year round
-
TYPO - meant to say 120m2 not 160m2 - written late last night!!!