[Steven]

Dear All,

My wife and I would like to have some ducks. They look great, the eggs taste good and they could be a great family pet. With this in mind, we are nervous about the potential need for a pond. Specifically, we have a toddler and would not want a pond even with fencing.

Having read around there is mixed messages. Some authors state that a pond is essential. Others suggest that drinking water alone is acceptable.

Does anyone have experience of this? Could anyone suggest an appropriate breed of duck if one is available?

If it meant compromising animal welfare then we would do without the duck but this would be a shame.

Hope that someone can help.

Thanks,

Steven

[Big Light]

You can do it with a basin or large bucket / trug ( dug in) as long as they can get in it and get there heads under to throw water over there back to preen. You can then take it away / pour it out if the kids out

You can get ducks like the Indian runner that are actually better kept of the water as they are more upright types

As you say children and open water don't mix well!

[mojocafa]

I have a pond
           4 call ducks
           A 3 & 4 year old

The ducks dont go in the pond preferring instead to go into deep puddles and we have had plenty of those this year!  Also one of the children left an ikea toy storage box outside which filled up with rain water and the ducks love going into this to get a good dook in order to preen. If you have a tot I'm sure you will have a baby's bath, that would be sufficient too.

Mojo

[doganjo]

Agree with Mojo.  My ducks had a burn running through the garden but they rarely went in it preferring instead to use the hard plastic children's paddling pool.  That said a child can drown in a saucer of water so the best plan all round is vigilance.

[goosepimple]

Depends on the ducks you buy.  We have large Muscovy ducks and they LOVE their pond.  We previously had runners and campbells (before they were eaten by otter) and they made do with the suggestions above but loved the pond when we brought them here (its a big pond). 
 
Agree with either runners if you want larger type ducks or wee call ducks (very pretty) if you want small ones but they fly and if you clip their wings they are likely to get taken, same with runners -they don't fly - just expect anything that doesn't fly to get taken in the end, even if you lock them in every night they are likely to get taken in the day at some point.
 
We have kids too and they were 8 and 5 when we came here, so old enough to understand not to go near the water but toddlers hmm .... as previous post said even a wee bit of water ..... personally I'd wait until they are older or put the water container behind a perspex screen so the kids can see them bathe but they can't fall in it. 

[HesterF]

I've recently got Silver Appleyards which are big ducks. I've also got three kids aged 7,5 & 3. We do happen to have a seasonal pond I.e. more of a lake at the moment but ironically the ducks are nowhere near it ( I do walk the geese over to it occasionally). While it was drier I had a big dog bath dug into the poultry run which did brilliantly since it was big enough for them to get in and splash around (even the geese could turn over in it) but small enough to be able to drain and scrub out once a week (Sunday morning is bath time). I also have smaller trugs so they have fresh water each day to clean their heads in and avoid eye infections. Main problem now is that the ground is so saturated, the water just doesn't ever drain away. So at the moment they just have the smaller trugs which are still creating a lot of mud with the help of the waterfowl digging but not enough to swim in. It would still be enough to worry about with a toddler but they're all in a fox proof run which my youngest can't reach the catch on and can't climb into easily by herself either. Since the gander has started to become a bit more 'confident', I don't think ny of my kids would want o be there by tmselves anyway but that's probably not your answer.

The other consideration with a pond is that you need to be able to drain it if it's not flowing water so it's often not the easiest solution anyway....but the ducks are fab and my husband's complete favourite so don't let lack of pond deter you,

H

[Steven]

Thanks everyone,

Really useful. I think that we will keep to the chickens for now and save the ducks for a few years down the line.

I suppose the meaning is in their title. i.e waterfowl.

Yours,

Steven