Ducks - are they worth it?

[BeccaJoVon]

I was thinking of going along the lines of Muscovy and Runners. I'm hoping the Runners will help encourage the Muscovies to stay close by.

We are about to take a few days and go out of town. When I get back, I'll make a call or two and see what I can find out about the Muscovy being okay to raise. I should be able to get answers via information from the site Dawn referenced. In the meantime, I would appreciate it if anyone can refer me to another meat duck that taste similar to Muscovy.

 

[mrbstephens]

kinda funny the UT ag extension ofice told me muscovies were fine and legal and that it was only illegal in some states LOL.

for housing runners ive been told 2.5 sqft per bird INDOORS is minimum, with more being preferable (4sqft per bird ideally and even more if your prone to realy long bouts of bad weather where theyd be locked inside.
i dont think it realy matters if the house is raised or not but rats will eat the eggs and mice are drawn to duck food so making it in such a way that rodents cant dig in is best bet.

runners are aparently one of the best free ranging ducks because of thier speed, tendency to stay fairly tight in a group and general skittishenss...but they are at risk from the same things chickens are, hawks, racoons ect and any larger predator.
some people offer thier runners nest boxes, some offer something more akin to a nesting platform, and others just put a realy thick layer of straw at one end of the duck house as one big communal nesting area...
runners dont perch (and there terrible flyers, but they can climb if the incentive is right) generally speaking though a 24" fence is tall enough to keep them where you want them and they dont need roosting poles ect so height of the house isnt as important either id say 24-36" tall would give sufficent head room if space was at a premium...
runners unlike other ducks dont NEED a pond (though they do enjoy one), but they are just as messy as any other duck so when planning housing easy clean out is a must.


my personal plan is to set up an area under my soon to be rabbit hutches (which will have a solid floor so no droppings on the ducks lol) the hutch base will be 4x8 so im planning for 6 runners to do a 4x4 enclosed space and a 4x4 roofed wire space and then theyll be able to free range around the garden once its fully fenced. untill then ill be setting up a low fence around their space (about 2ft tall) so i can open their "lock down" area and let them run around the back area close to the house. once the property is fully fenced theyll be allowed to fre range but right now my property isnt realy set up in such a way that it would be safe (the neighbor has a rather jumpy pitty who while is very frightend of people (runs away from people) is a little too interested in other animals, and occasionally they "let him off to run" (yup hes on a chain in the back yard 24/7) so fencing is going to be a must before i free range anything.

Thank you for this info!

 

[Wannabefree]

I believe that was just a proposed law that didn't pass. It is legal in most states still to raise Muscovy ducks. It has been illegal in Florida for a while, and maybe Texas(?) as well. Double check with your own state though.

 

[lorihadams]

My runners have a plastic tub that I got at Home Depot, it is a mortar mixing tub, that I fill with shavings and that is in their hutch where they sleep. It's easy to dump out and clean about once every week or two but I only have 4 birds.

I give my runners a kiddie pool, one of the medium sized ones that is big enough for them to wash themselves but not so big that I can't lift it to dump it out every day in the summer. They love it!

My ducks are in the chicken run and they do very well, they love to go into the woods and root around in the fallen leaves and they also lay in the shade from some of the fallen down trees back there too.

I have had several that go broody and in that case I usually move them to another pen by themselves once they get close to hatching time. I raise them in a tractor so the hawks don't get them.

 

[mrbstephens]

I have something!!! It's a house I used originally for turtles then I transformed it to a mini chicken house. I used it to introduce new chicks to my flocks. It's wood with a maintenance door, a pop door and three windows that are covered with hardware cloth and plexi that is removable. It measures 4 feet wide, 3 feet deep and 2 feet high. So, I could use it for 3 ducks??? Could the ducks share a run with the chickens? We just moved a couple of months ago and this spring I'll be working on making the run completely predator proof.

 

[pinkfox]

as long as the run is big enough, yeah they can share

 

[mrbstephens]

as long as the run is big enough, yeah they can share

I have plenty of room for them. The run is something like 25 feet by 25 feet and I only have 10 hens.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Ducks are very messy but worth it. My girls hatch out about 150 Muscovys every year. Most of the males are processed and put in the freezer and the others are sold. A lot of people in my area love to cook duck. A duck in the store can cost $16.00 - $19.00. I keep about 50 or so for the next year's hatching. The eggs are worth selling as well. I usually get $5.00 a dozen for eating/baking and $12.00 for hatching eggs.

 

[Sebrightmom]

I also believe ducks are worth it. I raise Cayugas. I sell their hatching eggs. I also sell ducklings that I and they hatch out. They have paid for themselves year after year. I haven't ate any yet, but plan on raising several this year to eat. They are also great egg layers. We also eat their eggs.