Sandy soil is best, but not absolutely necessary, for the
duck yard. What is necessary is that the soil drain very
well. To this end, duck yards are usually located on
sloping land. Ducks are quite sloppy and noisy fowl, so
don't crowd them. Commercial breeding farms run the birds
at five to eight thousand an acre, but this creates immense
sanitation problems. Twentyfive to a hundred ducks is
plenty for the average farm. That number can be kept
comfortable and clean in a 150-by-300- foot yard.
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Show ducks on your pond should not be allowed to grow to a
flock of more than ten or twenty. If they do, they will
trample the banks, destroy your watercress, and generally
make a nuisance of themselves. Besides, they'll be
competing with the pond fish for nutrients. A few ducks, on
the other hand, will give good balance to the pond and
increase some of the nutrients.
HOUSING
Housing for ducks is about the same as that for chickens
... minus roosts, which they don't use. The two cannot be
kept together, however. Mature ducks are cold-hardier than
chickens, so their building doesn't have to be as tightly
constructed. On the other hand, with warmer quarters than
they need, they will develop less protective fat and
consume less food, both of which are to your advantage.
Provide the house with simple nests set about four to six
inches off the floor and comfortably bedded.
The house for young ducklings must have all the litter
changed frequently, preferably every two or three days.
Because of their drinking habits, ducks throw around a lot
of water. Even adding a fresh layer of litter every day, as
you must, does not suffice to keep it dry. And wet litter
makes for dead or blind ducks: ammonia from the droppings
gets in their eyes.
THE FLOCK
Your first time around, buying day-old ducklings is your
best bet, particularly if you have already raised a flock
of chickens. Brooding and rearing for both are pretty much
the same, and you can use the same kind of equipment.
For a duck brood, the room temperature the first week
should be 70 0 F. and the temperature under the hover 90 0
F. Reduce the latter slowly to 80 0 F to 85 0 F. the second
week, and 75 0 to 80 0 F. the third. The fourth through
sixth weeks a 70 0 to 75 0 F. temperature is fine.
The same encircling guard system as for baby chicks is used
to prevent crowding and to keep young ducklings close to
the hover. Total brooder area for a hundred ducklings
should be around twenty-five square feet for the first two
or three days and expanded gradually to one hundred and
fifty to two hundred square feet.
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