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 Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
 
| Ok so yesterday I was out in the back holding pen looking at how much of a roundbale was left and kept noticing the horses acting snorty and spooking at something.. I walked over to see what the fuss was about and I saw a huge white duck just kinda hiding by the back fence. It's big! This is really strange because we live kinda out in the middle of nowhere and there aren't any nearby ponds or lakes etc... this guy can't fly at least not very far or high off the ground. My girls managed to corner him and surprisingly he allowed them to scoop him up and carry him back towards my house. We put it in our stock trailer and I put in a bucket of water he drank for a long time. Was talking to a neighbor he knows everyone that's remotely close by and said none of them had a pond or any ducks. So I have no idea where this guy came from. Out here he would be coyote bait easily. I'm not sure what to do with it. Of course my kids want to keep it and named it. We cleared out a large covered dog pen and put his water in there. At least in there I know nothing can get at him. I bought a kiddie pool today and put it in there and filled it with water. Bought some duck food at tsc. My hubby told me we should get some companion for it. But they only have ducklings at tsc and the guy told me I'd have to keep them separate from the adult a while. I have big dogs but they are in their own pen and can't get to him. I feel kinda sorry for the duck being in a pen... can you keep ducks penned up ?? I know nothing about them at all. This poor fella somehow found his way to my back holding pen which backs up to 2600 acres of just pasture. |
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  That's White "Man" to You
Posts: 5515
 
| There was an article about a couple thousand snow geese and a swan that died in Idaho because of some type of bacteria that is being spread around with birds right now. I wonder it that has anything to do with your new friend. |
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9992
Location: Kansas | it's best to let him roam around, feeding him will keep him around. You can find him a friend on craigslist....that is where I'd start. |
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 I'm Cooler Offline
Posts: 6387
Location: Pacific Northwest | If it's that big and seems like it can't fly very well it's probably some type of domestic breed and it somehow got away from home or was dumped. Domestic breeds of ducks are generally too large to fly, that's why they don't go anywhere. Ours live in the chicken pen with our chickens haha. It's a big enclosure, they have a kiddie pool too (that we put cinder blocks around the rim off for if a chicken somehow falls in...but we've had it up for several years and no chickens have drowned yet). Our ducks and chickens have to be in a fenced in area otherwise the dogs will eat them. But like I said, it's a really big area. Like you could keep a horse in it.
Maybe check craiglist and see if anyone else is wanting to get rid of some ducks? We started out with six, as ducklings, and 5 of them ended up being male and they beat the poor female up all the time, so we got rid of all of them except one male and one female.
Edited by livexlovexrodeo 2015-03-19 1:40 PM
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| hoofs_in_motion - 2015-03-19 1:34 PM
it's best to let him roam around, feeding him will keep him around. You can find him a friend on craigslist....that is where I'd start.
I'd love to just let him roam around my place but I'm scared my lab would kill it if he got out on accident or something I have young kids and sometimes they forget to close doors or pen gates. If we keep him I would definitely make a larger area for it because where it's at right now just doesn't seem right for him. It's safe and secure and shaded but still I feel kinda bad for it. My dogs just discovered it this morning so of course they are having fits. I have a small man made pond right near my house but we have baby koi in it and I'm afraid that sucker would devour them if I let it in there. I was just so blown away finding that guy out there yesterday. . We reside in New Mexico. Our land is completely flat and there aren't any tanks or ponds |
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Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9992
Location: Kansas | best thing to make him happy......kiddie pool, chicken wire, straw for bedding....and let him have at it lol. |
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 Cute Little Imp
Posts: 2747
Location: N Texas | He sounds like he was someone's pet that they got tired of and decided to dump.
He'll be just fine in a pen--better than just left roaming, because he'll probably get eaten if he's left to fend for himself.
Just a tip, don't keep the pool filled all the way up because it will get DIRTY and need to be rinsed out frequently. |
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| Gunner11 - 2015-03-19 3:06 PM
He sounds like he was someone's pet that they got tired of and decided to dump.
He'll be just fine in a pen--better than just left roaming, because he'll probably get eaten if he's left to fend for himself.
Just a tip, don't keep the pool filled all the way up because it will get DIRTY and need to be rinsed out frequently.
I went out to check on him. I grabbed some hay off the roundbale and put it down on the concrete for him. He's been laying right next to his pool. Hopefully he will put the hay to use. Gonna ask my husband to build him a bigger pen on the ground where there's some grass and other trees he can roam around on. As far as I can tell he hadn't touched his food . Mostly been drinking water. I imagine he didn't have water for a while as much as drank yesterday in the trailer. And poor fella might be tramatized. . Hope he settles in soon and can enjoy being a duck! |
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 I Chore in Chucks
Posts: 2882
Location: MD | our landlord has them, they wander around with all the other poultry. We don't have dogs that will kill anything so they are okay. ducks are social though so he will need a buddy.
http://poultrykeeper.com/duck-keeping/beginners-guide-to-keeping-du... This might give you some good pointers on some things you're unsure about. tips on water depth, housing, and routines are really good on here without wading through a bunch of nonsense. |
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| Crowned Image - 2015-03-19 3:23 PM
our landlord has them, they wander around with all the other poultry. We don't have dogs that will kill anything so they are okay. ducks are social though so he will need a buddy.
http://poultrykeeper.com/duck-keeping/beginners-guide-to-keeping-du... This might give you some good pointers on some things you're unsure about. tips on water depth, housing, and routines are really good on here without wading through a bunch of nonsense.
Thank you very much! |
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 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| Ducks are the best. They love new straw, wood shavings, etc. I would get him a pet carrier to lock him in at night, raccoons or skunks will make short work of him in a pen. They do great on flaked corn. Agree about the kiddy pool getting dirty, just don't fill it all the way or rig something you can drain. I kept ducks for years, just can't now because of working on the road. They really do love friends, do good in pairs. It's best to go with the same sex. Males have a curl of feathers at the top of tail, females don't. If you have two males, and one hen, she will get er, um, mobbed.
That's my duck 101. |
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I Chore in Chucks
Posts: 2882
Location: MD | classicpotatochip - 2015-03-19 4:36 PM
Ducks are the best. They love new straw, wood shavings, etc. I would get him a pet carrier to lock him in at night, raccoons or skunks will make short work of him in a pen. They do great on flaked corn. Agree about the kiddy pool getting dirty, just don't fill it all the way or rig something you can drain. I kept ducks for years, just can't now because of working on the road. They really do love friends, do good in pairs. It's best to go with the same sex. Males have a curl of feathers at the top of tail, females don't. If you have two males, and one hen, she will get er, um, mobbed.
That's my duck 101.
lol.... mobbed  |
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| classicpotatochip - 2015-03-19 3:36 PM
Ducks are the best. They love new straw, wood shavings, etc. I would get him a pet carrier to lock him in at night, raccoons or skunks will make short work of him in a pen. They do great on flaked corn. Agree about the kiddy pool getting dirty, just don't fill it all the way or rig something you can drain. I kept ducks for years, just can't now because of working on the road. They really do love friends, do good in pairs. It's best to go with the same sex. Males have a curl of feathers at the top of tail, females don't. If you have two males, and one hen, she will get er, um, mobbed.
That's my duck 101.
I think from your description we are dealing with a female then... I'll have to check the tail feathers again. I do worry about night time predators .. no coons but skunks do come around and I have a HUGE owl that takes out the pigeons in the barn... although I'm not sure the owl will go after the duck. The dog run has a cover over it but it's like hog panel. I do have a decent sized dog crate available I can put in there. It's the type with a plastic cover on top. Should I lock her in there at night till I can get a better one built??? |
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 Regular
Posts: 96
| We have ducks, have had them for years. You will HAVE to lock him/her up at night because ducks aren't quick like chickens, and can't get away from predators, even dogs. If you have dogs you are afraid will go after it, keep the duck locked up. Since it's only one, you can keep it in a large dog kennel for a bit and it will be fine. We have ours (14) where they can wonder around the barn and go down to our pond, then lock them up with the chickens at night, BUT we also have a border collie that would protect them with her life if need be. In the past, we have kept ducks in a pen, they did fine and thrived. When we were home we would let them out, since they were easy to herd back in, it wasn't a big deal to let them out for a couple hours then put them back. Since you only have one, do what we did and get a dog igloo, put straw in it, and then pound 4 t-posts about 5-6 feet apart in a square. Put chicken wire around it and pull it tight and fasten to the t-posts, then attach the end you want to be the "door" to a wooden post, kinda roll it around the post a staple it. That worked good as a door and we just used two bungee cords to fasten it. Also put chicken wire over the top and zip tie it to the side wire. It's simple, doesn't cost a fortune, and while it may not look the best, it worked great when we only had two. We did it right next to our house so we knew they would be safe. They loved the dog house and hen would lay in there. Eventually we did put stakes through the bottom wire so they wouldn't scoot under. Worked well and served it's purpose at the time. As far as a friend, most ducks to like a friend. If you just get one more duck you can get either sex. If you are sure you have a female, get a male and then you can have duck eggs....they are wonderful!
Edited by theerebel 2015-03-19 3:58 PM
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| Thank you for the tips. Cleaning out the dog crate for tonight. We got home and "waddles" was floating around in the kiddie pool. Lol! |
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 Chicken Chick
Posts: 3562
Location: Texas | You can keep ducks penned. If you were close I would send you my duck. Everything sold but her so she is hanging out in her pen by herself. She has a kiddie pool that she is happy with, she prefers a mud puddle though lol. She splashes all the water out of her kiddie pool then plays in the mudd. She loves the sprinkler when it is hot out. I let mine out when I am watching the dogs and she waddles around eating grass and bugs and whatever else she decides looks good. She is awesome. None of my ducks were aggressive even though they weren't tame at all. When you finally did catch them you could carry them around and pet them without them freaking out on you. Mine had a big pen so you didn't really smell them. Inside the coop got pretty rough if it was really hot out. Sometimes they aren't the smartest things. Like playing in mud puddles in the middle of a hail storm, but they are tough little things.
The only reason I got rid of my ducks was because I have absolutely zero time for them. They would have all ended up getting eatin by the dogs that I couldn't monitor all day. For some reason the 1 duck I have has survived the Doberman and Retriever even after they have destroyed her fence to nothing but a visual barrier lol. She must be one mean hussy.
ETA: As for the feather on the tail if you google "drake feather" and look at the pictures it will make more sense what you are looking for. Those feathers can be plucked out, so if you don't see one now.. but see one later you have a male.
Edited by pinx05 2015-03-19 4:25 PM
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| I just realized we have an old calf hutch laying around. Once I get a bigger pen set up I can use that to keep her locked up at night! It'll work perfect |
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Regular
Posts: 96
| want2chase3 - 2015-03-19 4:25 PM
I just realized we have an old calf hutch laying around. Once I get a bigger pen set up I can use that to keep her locked up at night! It'll work perfect
That will be perfect! She should like that. Keep us posted on how she settles in! Good luck! |
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| I was out there trying to look at the tail feathers lol! Now I'm not sure .. it's windy and it looks like the feathers are curling up some on the ends. Ugh who knows! Waddles is a unisex name anyway lol! Put the dog crate in there with some shavings and some hay for bedding. |
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Regular
Posts: 96
| want2chase3 - 2015-03-19 4:38 PM
I was out there trying to look at the tail feathers lol! Now I'm not sure .. it's windy and it looks like the feathers are curling up some on the ends. Ugh who knows! Waddles is a unisex name anyway lol! Put the dog crate in there with some shavings and some hay for bedding.
If it's a male the feathers will no doubt be curled. Even to someone who doesn't know, they have a very distinct curl to them, I'm talking like on a good size duck a curl the size of a half dollar, some smaller ducks will have ones like a quarter. Normally two or three big curls. Females will have ity bity ones, if any at all.
Edited by theerebel 2015-03-19 4:41 PM
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