[poppy]

Hi everyone, 

I am ready to get some ducks which are going to live in the garden. It seems there is great demand for young ducks and I keep missing the boat with a couple of breeders nearby. We originally wanted khaki campbell ducks as we are keen on the breed and want a good supply of eggs. A local breeder has some 3 day old ducklings for sale, however, for a novice I think it maybe a bit full on to have duckings to rear inside which are so young. She then offered me some 4 1/2 month old white campbell ducks at £20 each. I haven't seen the white campbells but I'm wondering why they haven't been snapped up by now? Are they too old to be tame domestic pets? We wanted young ducks so they wouldn't be timid, is 4 1/2 months too old to achieve this if they have been living outside in a group?

Are there any down sides to having white campbells as opposed to khaki campbells or is it literally just a colour thing?  And am I right in thinking they don't need their wings clipping as they can't fly anyway?

Lots of questions I know! But if anyone could help me out I'd be very grateful. I am tempted to go for 3 white campbells but just wanted some unbiased advice first.

Look forward to hear from you guys

Poppy

[jameslindsay]

Hi Poppy

The first 2 ducks I bought were about 12/15 weeks old and were timid as hell. However, after a lot of time, effort and perseverence they were as tame as any pet dog. However, if you are going to mix them in with other ducks you may not get the same result. One time when I incubated them and only hatched 1, I was parent to this duck and she was my best pal. As soon as she got with the others she totally forgot me and wanted nothing to do with me. The Kakhi Campbells I have now are lovely girls and do lay well. Raising the ducklings yourself is a fantastic experience and great fun and I love it. Hope this answers some of your queries.

[doganjo]

You can't know the sex at a few days old (presumably you want eggs, but only one KC drake should be kept for up to 10 females) and they can be problematic to rear unless you have the correct facilities.  The older ones will become tame quite easily, keep them penned in for 2 weeks - it will be smelly but worth it in the end.  They will see you as their source of food and water, and become friendly.White Campbells are very similar to Aylesburys and most people would go for those if they want a white duck which is probably why she still has them.  I had a white Campbell and he was lovely!  I gave him to a friend who had just lost his Aylesbury and his females never noticed the difference, I think there is a slight size difference.
hope that helps

[The Relic]

20 quid is a bit steep one thinks. i bought 3 pols (Khaki) for a tenner each. very nervous to start with (found it hard to get them into their house even with food) but after a few weeks they became less nervous (would come over when i was putting their food out). found they were not the sharpest tool in the box

[doganjo]

Sorry, meant to say that too - £20 is far too much.

[poppy]

Thank you for the advice, I'm so glad I came on here before making a spontaneous purchase of 3 over priced white campbells!

I have a gut instinct which is telling me to go for the khaki campbells ducklings.   I realise it will be quite time consuming raising them until they can go outside. I work from home though so I'm here all the time. I gather I will need to create a brooding box with heat lamp, along with a feeder and drinker. I had already bought the starter crumbs and a small drinker in anticipation but then wondered if getting ducklings was the right thing to do.

I have looked at the following website http://www.carolinecrockeroriginals.co.uk/sheldon_pages/handy_hints_for_raising_duckling.htm which makes it seem quite straight forward.

Providing the ducks are sexed I think I will get 3 khaki campbell ducklings rather than the white campbell ducks. Don't really want any drakes at this stage.

Thank you for the responses 

[northfifeduckling]

As Annie said, you will not know what sex you get when they are so young! Other than that, I think it is a good time of the year to raise them, as it is warmer now and they can spend a good deal outside in a secure pen.
I am quite glad that I didn't start with little ones, my ducks were a year old when we got them. But I don't mind that the ducks still have their natural instincts and are cautious. It might give them an advantage if someone or something is trying to catch them. It does have some disadvantages if they are too tame and do consider you as one of their own. One lady was struggling with a drake she had raised herself which was attacking her. Over the last year ours did get used to us though and they do respond if they are lured with food (the tub of slugs and snails works a treat).The Khaki Cs are brilliant layers, we had not a single day without eggs all through the winter months. You will get a lot more out of them than eggs, even if they might not be exactly cuddly pets!

[doganjo]

even if they might not be exactly cuddly pets

One of my girls is cuddly - she jumps up on the wall beside me when I sit down for a cuppa.  Mind you Jamie is cuddly too now.  I think he sees me as his protector after his contretemps with them Britbags!

[catomell]

Thought I'd add something with regards wing clipping - don't be under any illusions that KC's can't fly - they can, and will. I had seven (one drake, six ducks) and when they reached about 7 months old, they all took off, never to return. I have not had the same problems with my Aylesbury's (too heavy), Appleyards (same), Runner Ducks (can't be bothered to fly, just run everywhere), or Geese (Just can't be bothered to fly!!!). I wing-clip all my chickens (apart from the Brahmas, who can't be bothered), and don't worry about my ducks now - hindsight is wonderful. If I had KC's again, I would definitely clip them........
Hope this helps.
Good Luck.

[Hilarysmum]

Like Catomell I was going to say KCs can fly.  I dont clip wings, but have paid the price with 4 of my female kcs disappearing onto the larger lake down the road an expensive error.  The remaining ones have bred and bred so numbers are well up.

Is it true that there are some strains of Kcs who are better egg layers than others?  Mine seem to lay 6 days out of 7.

[catomell]

Don't know about the KC's, but my Runner Ducks - one lays daily, the other every other day, unless she's laying daily and hiding them realllllllly well.....
Also, having now had a couple of hatches, I am happy to say that both my RD drake and girls must be very fertile - from setting to hatching, have had a 92% hatch - I am frankly gobsmacked, as have never had that sort of result before. I can also safely say that I had a 100% hatch under my broody pekin, who is now freaking out when her week and a half old ducklings jump on their mini pond every morning.....

[northfifeduckling]

The Indian Runner and the Call duck took a few months break in laying through November - February or so. The call duck is laying outside now almost every day, however long I'm keeping them inside! And she is really good at doing the disappearing act and hiding them!! the Indian Runner had a phase of a week or so where she was determined to breed and she hid her egg behind an old bath tub in the garden, but as she is bigger she was easier to watch and I could see where she was going - not so skilled in the secrecy game. The boys also followed her croaking loudly. Catomell, have you incubated or had natural hatches?

[poppy]

Hello again,

I have taken the plunge and got 3 female khaki campbell ducklings which are all just over a week old. They are guaranteed female as the Domestic Fowl Trust were I got them from had bought them in from a large hatchery (if that's the right description). I don't know much about that aspect so fingers crossed they will be girls!

I have used my dogs crate as their brooding box and lined the lower section with cardboard. The base is a plastic tray with straw on, then I have used a shallow box with a grill on to put the food and water on as they seem to be messy eaters and drinkers!



They are in the house at the moment but I am considering putting them in the garage on the large table which is in there, there is good natural light and no nasty smells or vermin. I have a heater lamp fixed in the crate with 150w bulb which isn't too hot. I haven't put it on in the day, just last night (their first night with us). It may not even be necessary while they are in the house?

I am feeding them Baby Chick Crumbs from Small Holder Range. Is this correct? Is there anything else I can feed them in addition?

 

Any further advice would be greatly received. I have a duck house and run in the garden for them but I guess it will be a few weeks until they are ready. Will introduce them to water over the next few days.

Bye for now 

[dixie]

Oooh They are lovely!!  chick crumbs are perfect, just begin to add pellets in a couple of weeks, when you introduce water keep it shallow at first with a step in and out, a brick or such will suffice! I have a large shallow bucket prob about 3' round with a small block inside and one outside as steps! I'd kepp the lamp on them over night and perhaps during the day too as the temp here has plummeted today (Essex)!

[northfifeduckling]

They are so lovely! You are very organized, poppy!
I am not quite convinced re the gender identification - it took me several months to be absolutely sure (I only believed my luck when we had an extra egg, lol), but she was our first duckling.... But one week, how do they guarantee that, I wonder?