Are you thinking of buying ducks? It’s not hard to see why.
When it comes to cuteness, ducklings win against chicks hands down. There is an awareness in their eyes that, in my opinion, just isn’t there with chicks. Ducklings are clumsy, entertaining, and adorable. And if you’re ready to buy ducklings, you should also know that they’re also a lot of work.
Like many things on our homestead, I often jump first and ask questions later, and this is exactly what I did with our ducklings. I got our first flock at the end of summer, after we were done taking care of our flock of chicks, and when I could no longer resist their sweet ducky faces. I came home with a Pekin duckling, two Blue Swedish ducklings, and one Mallard duckling. As I drove home, I figured I’d learn everything I needed to know with a quick search on Google.
After all, at the time we already had 13 hens…how much different could it be to take care of ducks? Turns out, plenty.
If you’re ready to buy ducklings, don’t do what I did and jump in before you’re ready. Here are a few things I didn’t know when I dove into the duck world.
What to Know Before Buying Ducks
1. Ducks Need A Lot of Water
Ducklings need water, and they need a lot of it. I couldn’t believe how much water our ducklings went through on a daily basis when I first brought them home.
For Drinking
First, ducks and ducklings drink a lot of water. On average, each duckling you have will need at least four cups of water per day. As they’re mature, adult ducks drink up to a half gallon of water per day.
That’s a lot of water for such a small animal.
For Bathing and Cleaning
Ducks also depend on water to stay clean, and they’ll need a water dish that’s deep enough for them to dip their entire head into. Ducks use water to clear their nostrils of food, dirt, and debris. They also use water from their water dish to keep their feathers clean.
Before buying ducks, you’ll need to set up a brooder box big enough to hold a hefty water dish. They’ll need something deep enough for them to get in and splash around, yet still easy to climb in and out of. Adult ducks will need a pond, creek, or kiddie pool.
For Mating
If you’re hoping that your ducklings will mate and produce ducklings, then you need a lake, pond, river, or moderately sized creek on your property. Ducks naturally mate on open water, and the water source must be deeper than a babbling brook.
How big of a water source do ducks need to mate successfully? It’s hard to say. The creek we have on our property is not large by any means, but it was deep enough for our ducks to mate in. To give you an idea, the part of the creek I saw it happen in was about three feet deep and six feet wide; this depth ran for about ten feet before it grew shallow again.
For Swimming
Ducklings are strong enough to swim once they’re about a week old. However, domesticated ducks should not be put into deep water for swimming until they’re at least four weeks old.
The reason is because in the wild, the mother duck rubs oil from her feathers onto the ducklings to help them stay waterproof. This waterproofing helps keep them warm and buoyant. However, domesticated ducks don’t get this treatment and, as a result, if they’re left to swim in deeper water they will get waterlogged and drown, or die of cold. Domesticated ducks will develop their oil glands on their own, by preening, but it takes longer than if they had a mother around to do it.
That said, you can give your littlest ducklings water time, as long as it’s shallow and they can easily get out and get to the heat lamp when they get cold. Always supervise your ducklings when you’re giving them splash time to make sure no one gets in trouble and can’t get out of the water when they need to.
Once they’re four weeks old, set up a kiddie pool or plastic tub so that your ducklings can learn how to swim and dive in deeper water. This exposure is important, since swimming will help develop their leg muscles.
2. Ducklings Are Messy
Because ducks consume so much water, they have very watery stools. You’ll need to change their bedding at least once a day, and most likely two or three times, because they soil it so quickly.
Ducklings manage to mess up the entire interior of their brood box or pen because of the way they feed. The ducklings dip their entire bill into the tray of chick starter to eat, and then waddle over to guzzle water in order to get the feed down. Then they dip their dirty bill into the water to clean it off, and waddle back to the feed dish to do it all over again.
This feeding pattern quickly does two things: it makes the feed soggy, it soils the fresh water dish, and it soaks the bedding in between the two areas. Ducklings also manage to spray watered down feed onto the sides of the brood box when they shake their heads to clean their bills off.
Prepare for the Mess Beforehand
As you can imagine, things get messy very quickly when you have several ducklings. Before you buying ducks, make sure you have the time to give these animals the care they need. If you already have a lot of commitments, now might not be the best time to take care of ducklings. However, if you have kids on your homestead, taking care of the ducklings can be a great project for them.
3. Set Up the Brooder Before Buying Ducks
You also need to think carefully about your duck brooder. You’re going to be cleaning this space out a lot, so it needs to be lightweight and portable. The picture below is the setup I used when our ducklings were very small. All it is a black plastic tote.
Some people who have an extra bathroom put their ducklings in the bathtub. We only have one bathroom or I totally would have done this! If you can go this route, make sure you put a screen on the drain so that none of the bedding gets washed down and clogs your pipes.
4. Ducklings and Chicks Shouldn’t Be Brooded Together
Ducklings and chicks get along well. However, they should not share a brooder box for three important reasons.
First, chicks like things dry. If they get wet, their temperature can drop quickly and they can die if they can’t warm up fast enough. As you now know, ducks can quickly turn a dry brooder into a soggy mess, which is not good for chicks.
Ducks also grow faster than chicks do. Chicks need their brooder temperature reduced by 5 degrees each week. However, ducks need their temperature reduced by 10 degrees each week. When chicks and ducks are housed together it’s hard to keep it at a temperature that works for everyone.
A duckling’s faster growth rate means it’s going to get big, fast. This can pose a threat to tiny chicks. Ducklings are, by their very nature, clumsy and awkward. While this is incredibly entertaining to watch, it’s not safe for chicks, who are much more delicate. Ducklings can easily trample or drown a baby chick without meaning to.
Another problem with housing chicks and ducks together is that they have different feeding requirements, but we’ll cover that next.
5. You Need the Correct Feed
Duck starter is really hard to find in most areas of the country. I live in a rural area that’s heavily populated with cattle farms, and many people around here keep chickens and ducks. Even out here, duck starter is not available.
The good news is that ducklings will happily eat chick starter, as long as it is unmedicated.
Medicated chick feed contains Amprolium. According to Poultry DVM, Amprolium is “a common anticoccidial medication used in the treatment and prevention of coccidiosis in chickens and turkeys.” Coccidiosis is an infection caused by the protozoan parasite Eimeria.
Ducklings are not as susceptible to coccidiosis as chickens are, and according to Purina, medicated starter feed is not approved for ducks or other water fowl. When you’re out buying ducks for the first time, make sure you purchase unmedicated chick starter to feed them.
6. Ducks Need Extra Niacin
Ducklings also need more niacin, Vitamin B3, than chicks do. Without it, ducklings can develop niacin deficiency. This typically shows up in their legs, which become weak and bowed over time. Without treatment and feed adjustment, it’s fatal because the ducklings will no longer be able to walk to get food and water.
You can easily give your ducklings the niacin they need with Brewer’s yeast. Your local co-op or feed store might sell it in bulk, or you can find it on Amazon. Mix 1.5 tablespoons into every cup of feed.
If you plan to let your ducks free range, they will not need a niacin supplement once they’re old enough to safely walk around the yard. They will get the niacin they need from foraging and eating bugs.
If your ducks are penned, you can boost the niacin in their diet by giving them peas, crickets, mealworms, or sweet potato. You can also give them plenty of healthy snacks like:
- Kale and other chopped greens
- Chopped fresh herbs like parsley or basil
- Scrambled eggs
- Leftover cooked chicken or beef
- Minnows or feeder fish
7. Ducks Need a Secure Shelter
The expression “sitting ducks” exists for a reason. Ducks have no defenses other than taking to the water when threatened, which means that if they are not trained to come into a secure coop at night once they’re old enough to be outside, it’s only a matter of time before a predator picks them off.
Even when they’re trained to come inside at dusk, they might decide to do their own thing and stay outside to enjoy the night air. And they’ll get picked off anyway. That’s exactly what happened to our first flock of ducks. I trained them to come inside the coop and sleep with the hens, and for months they did just that. However, last fall one of them decided it would be a lot more fun to stay down at the creek at night so, of course, they all started doing it. And then we were down to one lonely Mallard.
The point is that you need to provide some kind of secure shelter for your ducks or, eventually, they will get killed. If you have hens it could be as simple as training them to come in when they do. Or, you could buy or build a duck coop. If you do this, keep in mind that you’ll need around 4 square feet of floor space for every duck you have.
8. Ducks Need an Introduction
If you currently have a flock of free ranging chickens, you might have to introduce your ducklings to your hens slowly, much like you introduce new chickens to a flock. Before you let your ducklings start wandering around, make sure they’re at least big enough to withstand any bullying or aggressive behaviors from your adult hens.
The Best Places for Buying Ducks
So, are you wondering where to get buy ducklings?
We got our baby ducks at Tractor Supply during Labor Day weekend, and it was the last shipment of ducklings they were going to get for the year. We got our second flock from TSC as well. I’ve found that TSC ducks are healthy and generally well taken care of, and because TSC is a chain there’s a decent chance there’s one within driving distance of you.
Your local co-op might also carry ducklings during spring and early summer. You can also order baby ducks online through a breeder, like Metzer Farms. Or, Google “baby ducks for sale near me” to find a local breeder. If you’re looking for a particular breed, you could Google “Mallard ducks for sale near me,” or whatever breed you’re looking for.
Last Word
I loved each of our ducklings, and it hurt every time one of them got picked off by a predator. Ducks have a mind of their own, and even when they’re trained to seek shelter at night they still might decide to stay out, as mine did. That’s just a risk you take with ducks.
That said, the work and heartache was all worth it. Ducks are so amusing, and we had a good many laughs watching them waddle around the yard and occasionally picking fights with the hens.
Rico, our last remaining Mallard, is so lonely without his tribe that I know I’ll be buying ducks again once this year’s chickens start laying eggs. (Update: I did end up buying ducks! We’re currently raising 4 Blue Swedish ducklings to keep Rico company.)
What about you? Do you want to buy ducks this year? What questions do you have?