10 Things You Should Know Before You Get Pet Ducks

by Kristine Ellis

If you’re considering adding ducks into your life, there’s some things you should know before deciding to bring them home. Are you legally allowed to raise ducks? What should you feed them? Do ducks need a pond? In this article I am going to discuss ten things to keep in mind before deciding to dive into the world of pet ducks.

1. Legality

Before bringing pet ducks into your life the very first thing you should consider is if you are legally allowed to raise ducks where you live. Many towns and homeowners associations have banned owning ducks and other poultry due to noise and smell concerns. Some places that do allow raising ducks and other poultry also have additional requirements such as: the property must be zoned for agricultural use, minimum number of acreage requirements, distance of the coop from property lines, bans on free ranging, and manure disposal requirements. Check local ordinances and bylaws before deciding to bring home your feathered friends to avoid having to rehome
them or getting fined.

The good news is that even if ducks aren’t currently allowed to be raised where you live- that doesn’t mean that won’t change in the future. As raising backyard chickens & ducks continues to become more popular there are more people who are coming together to change the ordinances in their towns.

Keep in mind that in most U.S states only domestic ducks are legal to be raised without permits. Some states and towns will require you to have a permit to own domestic ducks, even if they are just pets so be sure to check your state and laws and regulations to ensure that you get the required permits if needed.

2. Water Requirements

Ducks are waterfowl so of course they require water. At a minimum, I recommend ensuring they have access to a water bowl that is deep enough for them to dunk their head in. This will allow them to clear their nares, keep their eyes clean, and help prevent them from chocking on their feed. Your pet ducks will enjoy having a place where they can swim too. A pond or pool will truly allow your ducks to thrive and encourage preening behavior to keep their feathers looking nice. Your duck's pond can be as simple as a kiddie pool or as complex as an inground pond with a waterfall-either way your ducks will be excited to swim. Providing ducks access to clean swimming water helps them maintain their feather quality. How often you have to clean the pool or pond will vary greatly depending on the size of your ducks, the size of your pool or pond, and how many ducks you have. Ducks living in a muddy area will also make their pond or pool messy faster-but I’ll discuss ways to minimize that in section seven.

3. Social Needs

Ducks are flock animals and thrive when they are kept in groups. Metzer Farms requires a minimum purchase of 3 ducklings to ensure safe delivery. I personally recommend starting with 3 ducks as well.

A single duckling raised without other ducklings may exhibit behavioral problems, experience stress and anxiety when left alone, and suffer health issues from never learning “how to be a duck” by mimicking other ducklings. It is in their best interest for ducklings to be raised alongside other ducklings, so don’t get just one.

4. Balanced Diets

A common misconception is that ducks should be fed bread, but bread is not healthy for them. Luckily, there are several options of pellets available that are specifically formulated to keep your pet ducks happy and healthy throughout all stages of their life. A duck's diet should be at least 90% duck pellets and what they forage for. Treats should be kept to 10% or less of their diet.

For ducklings, the most ideal option is a duckling starter feed with about 22% protein for the first two weeks of their life. When your ducklings first arrive home or hatch, I also recommend providing Metzer Farms VitaMetz for the first 5 days of their life. VitaMetz is a supplement formulated specifically for waterfowl that contains vitamins, electrolytes, trace minerals, and beneficial bacteria. It’s a great way to ensure your ducklings get a boost of nutritional benefits while they are young & most fragile. You can continue to provide your flock with VitaMetz 3-4 days a month for continued support or during times of stress. As they continue to grow a 16% protein is ideal for age two weeks through seven weeks. Adult ducks should be fed a waterfowl feed with approximately 15% protein. To ensure healthy development, a duck's diet should also contain 55mg of niacin per kg of feed.

A great way to build trust with your ducks is to provide them treats. I recommend teaching them that special treats only come directly from your hand while they are young, that way they will be more likely to be friendlier when they get older. Healthy treats you can give your flock include: peas, cucumbers, cut grapes, chopped romaine lettuce, mealworms, black soldier fly larvae, oats, watermelon, blueberries, strawberries, minnows, and crickets.

While many fruits and vegetables are safe treats for ducks, you should always double check before providing them a new treat because some fruits and vegetables can be harmful to them. For example, citrus fruits like lemons, limes, and oranges can block calcium absorption which may cause egg laying issues for your female ducks. While this list does not contain every treat to avoid, here are some common foods to avoid sharing with your ducks: Bread, avocado, citrus fruits, chocolate, nightshades, and any sugary, salty, or fatty snacks.

5. Predators

Ducks are prey animals and are susceptible to becoming prey for wildlife if they are not protected. Many domestic duck breeds cannot fly and do not camouflage as well as their wild ancestors, which leaves them extremely vulnerable to predation. Predators of ducks include: foxes, coyotes, fisher cats, bobcats, mink, weasels, raccoons, birds of prey, snapping turtles, alligators and more. Even loose dogs can be a threat to your ducks safety. Ducklings are vulnerable to rats and large snakes as well.

To protect your ducks from predators, I recommend building a predator resistant enclosure. You must cover all exposed sides of the pen to prevent predators from flying into it, climbing over it, or digging under it. Chicken wire will be effective at keeping your ducks inside their pen, but it will not effectively keep all predators out of the coop. I recommend using ¼" and/or ½" pvc coated hardware cloth that is a minimum of 19 gauge thick on all exposed sides of the enclosure. Generally, ½" hardware cloth is available in a stronger gauge which makes it best for keeping out stronger predators like raccoons, but ¼" hardware cloth will be better for keeping out small pests like mice from getting inside your enclosure. You can also skirt the hardware cloth underground around the pen to prevent wildlife from digging underneath and into the pen.

You may see other animals such as geese or alpacas recommended as guard animals to keep your ducks safe from predators while they free range. It’s important to remember that geese are also prey animals. While they do make great alarm systems and will typically become very noisy if there are any potential threats nearby- geese are also vulnerable to predators. A livestock guardian dog can be a fantastic option for protecting a free ranging flock, but keep in mind that they are a big commitment and may require extensive training before they are ready to protect your ducks. You should extensively research livestock guardian dogs before deciding to bring one home to
protect your flock.

6. Noise

Domestic ducks can be quite loud-especially females (with the exception of Muscovy). Some breeds like call ducks are known for being particularly loud. Male ducks make a soft, raspy sound whereas the females have a sharp loud quack. While they don’t typically quack nonstop- they do quack quite often during the day and sometimes even at night. If you have neighbors close by or need to maintain a quiet home, I recommend looking into keeping a bachelor flock or raising Muscovy ducks. Female Muscovy make soft coos or trills and male Muscovy make hissing and huffing sounds. In general, Muscovy are a lot less local compared to other domestic duck breeds.

7. Mess

Part of owning ducks is maintaining the mess that comes along with them. Yes, they really are as messy as people say they are, but there are ways to minimize their mess. Ducks poop approximately every fifteen minutes, splash water out of their water bowls & ponds, and dip their feed into their water bowls. These factors all contribute to duck
ponds, pens, and coops quickly becoming messy even shortly after they’ve been cleaned. You can minimize mess around their ponds and water bowls by placing pea pebbles around them to provide better drainage and to prevent those areas from becoming muddy. Pea pebbles are small smooth rocks that will not cut your ducks feet- but they should have access to softer ground to walk on as well. Inside of the coop you will want to use a highly absorbent bedding to keep things as dry as possible. Pine shavings are a popular choice, but I personally love using hemp bedding because it is extremely absorbent.

8. Space Requirements

You don’t need multiple acres to raise ducks, but you do need to provide them with an adequate amount of space so they can forage, swim, and have enough space to move around and exhibit their natural behaviors. A duck coop should be a minimum of three square feet per duck, but of course bigger is always better. Ducks do not sleep all night long so it’s important for them to have space to move around, even at nighttime. I also recommend building or buying a coop that is at least as tall as you are to make cleaning it out easier. A draft free and well-ventilated coop will help keep your ducks happy & healthy in all seasons, so I recommend placing vents high up within the coop and covering them with hardware cloth to prevent unwanted pests and predators from getting into the coop.

For your ducks outside pen area, I recommend a minimum of ten square feet of space per duck. You want to ensure they have enough space to get away from each other if they want to to prevent squabbles. I recommend starting out with a pen that’s at least one hundred square feet even if you only have a few ducks though. This will ensure your pen has space for a pond or kiddie pool, food and water bowls, and space for your future flock to grow without having to worry about upgrading your pen immediately while also offering plenty of space for them to waddle around.

9. Male to Female Ratio

You might expect it to be best to keep ducks in male/female pairs but that’s typically not true. My general recommendation is to keep at least three females for every male (drake) in a flock of mixed sex ducks. Of course, there are exceptions to this though and you may need more or less females depending in your flock dynamics. If you only have two ducks, a pair will oftentimes get along great but it’s important to keep an eye on your female for signs of over-mating such as missing feathers on her head or neck. The flock dynamics tend to get trickier when you have multiple drakes competing over females during breeding season. A particularly zealous drake may require having more females to mate with to ensure that none of them get over-mated, and your drakes could still pick a “favorite” female which will require separation of the drakes from the favorite female to keep her safe until breeding season is over.

Typically, when purchasing ducks at a farm store, they are unsexed so you will not know how many are males and females when you purchase them. The good news is Metzer Farms offers sexed ducklings (of all breeds except call ducks and Australian spotted ducks) with about a 90% accuracy. That means you won’t have to worry about purchasing unsexed ducklings and ending up with a higher percentage of males than females. If you are only raising ducks for eggs, you could order only females and not have to worry about flock dynamics during mating season or if you want a quiet flock of drakes you can order only males.

10. Long-term Commitment

One of the most important things to consider when deciding to get pet ducks is how long they could potentially live for. While the average life expectancy of a domestic duck varies greatly from 5-15 years, some pet ducks have lived over 20 years! You should not raise ducks if you don’t plan to keep them long term. You cannot release domesticated ducks into the wild. Not only is it illegal to abandon a domestic animal in many places, but it is also cruel to the ducks. Many domestic duck breeds cannot fly and do not have the instincts to migrate if their pond freezes. They will likely struggle to find food on their own after being fed by humans, and in the winter if their pond freezes,
they may have no food source at all.

Consider your long-term plans before getting ducks. Will you be living somewhere you are legally allowed to raise ducks for the next 15 years? For minors considering ducks as pets- think about if you plan to move away from home for college or to an apartment outside of your town to be closer to your job. Talk with your parents/guardians about if they would be willing to care for your pet ducks while you’re away before deciding to get
pet ducks.

If you’re interested in learning more about raising pet ducks, my book “Raising Ducks for Beginners and Beyond” is an excellent resource for anyone just getting started or even current duck owners who want to learn more about raising ducks. I cover topics like breed selection, common health concerns, the differences between raising ducks & chickens, duck nutrition, predators, pools and ponds, and how to keep your ducks happy & healthy throughout every season. I’ve been raising ducks for almost twenty years and ducks are my passion in life. I love getting to teach people about how wonderful ducks are and teaching people about how to care for ducks through my book and posts on my social media channels “Dunkin Ducks”.

If you’re interested in reading “Raising Ducks for Beginners and Beyond” by Kristine Ellis you can find it here:
https://geni.us/RaisingDucks