Randy - thanks for watching. KC's are great bantam weight egg producers. I hope to one day give them a shot. I've currently got a new batch of heavy weight Silver Appleyards (great egg producer, great temperament and yummy meat) and bantam weight Golden 300s (great egg producers, a little flighty, not a meat bird). Good luck!

Will - thanks for watching and the kind words. In terms of the feeder elbows I have added an improvement (which is not noted in the video above) by adding caps to the ends of the elbows with half of the end of the cap cut out. This still provides plenty of room for the ducks to access the feed, but adds rain protection for the pellets as well as them falling out of the feeder elbows onto the ground when they eat. I only fill my feeder up with 40lbs of feed at any one time. This tends to last 2-3 weeks with the ducks and reduces pellet spoilage due to humidity issues in the summer. I haven't seen too many issues with robbers (at least that I've seen). It may very well be that some robbing occurs, but I don't see them evidence of any robbing when I enter the coop and the ducks are a little territorial so hopefully they also guard against this.

You are welcome. I too find that lessons learned videos always provide really informative information.

Jerry, thanks for the compliment. I appreciate it!

What kind of ducks are you planning on getting?

Pekins. A friend of my wife is buying them for Easter pictures. She'll give them to us when she's done. I'm gearing up now. I'm going to use a shed I have and put it by our pond. Hoping to free range. Looking into a goose or geese as Well.

Pekins are a nice breed. Big eggs (90 - 110 grams)... about 130-180 per year and provide lots of breast meat. Make sure you keep your ratio of males to females 1:3 or more. Too many males in a flock will cause them to be overly aggressive to the females causing the females to be maimed or killed. Ducks are not the most chivalrous animal when it comes to mating (check out this video: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bctmiNpjqdesnIk.html)

Thanks for the heads up. I'll watch out for this behavior.

djpitr - Wow! Thanks for the kind words. I really appreciate it.

Debra - thanks for watching. I appreciate the kind words

Janett Porter yes we love Muscovy ducks too!

BTNL, man... while tackling off-grid living is impressive, doing so while living @ 9,000ft ASL is astounding. Glad to hear the video had some good food for thought in it for you. I'd love to hear the challenges and solutions you've come up with living off the grid at such an altitude. I visited Cuzcu, Peru (11,000ft ASL) a while back and got altitude sickness within 3 days.

Agree a thousand fold. Support your local farmer!! Chicken eggs bought at the store can be up to 2 months old by the time it gets to the consumer: www.fresheggsdaily.com/2016/01/how-old-is-average-supermarket-egg.html. In terms of the pros/cons of duck eggs vs. chicken eggs, there are numerous posts on line regarding this so if interested please "google" accordingly.

My local Seed & Feed store will give you 10 pounds of feed per one dozen eggs.

Y

Anthony Jones use subtitles that may help

I don't have any issues hearing this video myself, but I use headphones which I think helps the audio clarity

@@smithmal01 ya it really should be cut by about 1/2 the volume with the music. but it's really not needed

Anthony Jones I can hear it perfectly myself.

I didn't have a problem at all hearing him, and I watched it on my phone with no headphones. I don't know if he has already addressed the issue, or if someone's hearing is beginning to go, and they're trying to lame the video. Hopefully no offense is taken in that ,I certainly wasn't meaning anything like that, I just think it was a very informative video,and I don't want other viewers to be discouraged and not watch it thinking it's too hard to hear.

kahala - thanks for the kind words. I appreciate it.

Muscovy is a great breed who I've read have a great temperament. Funny that they can fly. I would think they are too big. That's something that Appleyards won't do as they are too heavy. Would be great if you could provide a "lesson's learned video" on your experiences.

Thanks for the compliment. My understanding after speaking with a duck hatchery expert (Dave Holderread) is to expect your ducks to take 1-2 months after they start laying eggs to get consistant egg quality and laying frequency.

@@smithmal01 Ooh, thanks, I'll remember that! I just ordered 15 jumbo pekins. I adore them, they're adorable and hilarious. And tasty, :D

@@ducksndogshomesteaddoggroo2706 Wow! 15 pekins. What's the ratio of females to males?

@@smithmal01 10 males to 5 females. Gonna harvest 9 males at 7-8 weeks, when they first start to molt (easier to pluck.) (We may keep 2 males, in case something happens to one of them.)

@@ducksndogshomesteaddoggroo2706 It's good to keep you ratios of female to male at least 3:1 otherwise the males will fight over the females and they cold injure the females. How are you going to cull the males? I recently got a Ballista penetrating bolt gun from bunnyrancher.com and it worked great. Much more prefer it over the "death cone" and bleed technique.

Sounds good. Make sure you come up with a good strategy to clean. Also rocks can get very hot in the summer so make sure you have shade available

@@smithmal01 yep shade...with the gravel & sand mixed..probably good for the feet.

🖕🖕🖕🖕

He is not going to dig a pond in his backyard, ponds cost a lot of money and space, he will not be able to.

Thanks for that! Something people should definitely think about.

Do you have shade that they can access to cool down? If they are in the sun all day I agree that they could get overheated.

@@smithmal01 we have trees around the yard that should provide shade throughout the day

Thanks for your responses. All good ideas. It would be great if you could shoot a video to present all the ideas you noted.

Thanks for the feedback. Actually ducks mate very readily without water I see my Drake mating all the time. Good to know that you will be culling some of your males. The ratio of drakes to hens should be 3:1 otherwise competition between the males can occur causing them to be very aggressive toward the females.

Tomia - very kind of you. Thanks for watching.

hattie - that must be a very relaxing way to interact with your local duck population. The only thing I'll caution you on is to be vigilant about avian flu with regarding your contacts with wild ducks. It comes through every year due to migrating birds/ducks.

@@smithmal01 Thanks for that warning regarding bird flu, i hadn't thought about that, I will be sure to wash my hands immediately after handling their containers now.

Florina - Yes, you are absolutely right. I also feed them veggie scraps and the LOVE dandelions.

That is actually for another system I was playing with (insect trapping and feeding station for the ducks).

Wow I'd love to see what donkey eggs look like!

Thanks for watching and the kind words

Manish - thanks for watching and for the kind words.

Agreed

Kelly, my ducks lay in the coop and generally do so in early morning hours. You can train them to do so by opening the door in the morning and closing the door at dusk. After they get used to it, you can keep the door open all the time if you want. Ducks do volunteer to do so and generally will go in there at dusk on their own as they naturally like the shelter that it provides them when the sun goes down. I actually have a sand cleaning (collecting, cleaning and laying) video on my channel so please check it out (it's also noted as a video card on this video as well)

smithmal thank you!

Linzy, I've never heard of SAs laying blue eggs, but sense they are a mix of several different breeds I suppose it's possible.

Lorraine, Good Question and good eye. That is one of my DIY's in progress. The PVC pipe goes all the way up about 8 feet. At the top is a funnel. The 5 gallon bucket is filled with water which drains into a gutter. Just below the funnel attached within the PVC pipe is a June Bug pheromone pack. The bugs are attracted to the scent and go into the funnel. They will travel to the bottom of the PVC pipe and then fall into the gutter with the water and not be able to fly off. The ducks can then eat the June bugs floating in the water and get extra protein. Once the June Bugs come to an end, I could switch out the pheromone pack and attract flies. Still experimenting with this so I haven't made a video about it yet.

Christine, thanks for the reply. The feeding station is actually on a brick pedestal to ensure that it stays level at all times (though its a bit hard to see in the video). I think I understand your point that I could make the pedestal wider, but I wouldn't think that a wider step would protect feed that falls out from the rain all that much.

First eggs laid are usually few and deformed (thin egg shells, etc). It takes about 4-6 weeks once they start laying to provide well formed eggs and lay them regularly.

Yameen, this is a great point regarding ventilation. Ducks expel a lot of moisture when they breath and you need to make sure you have the ability to properly ventilate the coop to remove this excess moisture or you could have respiratory issues. From what I've read, you want at minimum 20% of your coop surface to be venilated space. That means if you have a 4' x 8' side wall (which I do) that would equal 32 square feet of wall. A 20% ventilation rule would indicate that at least 6.4 square feet (or a 3' x 2') seqment of the wall should be covered in screening. I really need to update my coop design to incoporate more ventilation on all four wall spaces. My biggest concern is properly protecting these spaces from water inflow when it rains. If the straw inside gets wet you may have a mildew/fungus issues created. There are rain shades that you could install above each ventilation area to protect against this. I have to do some more research to figure out the best design for this.

@@smithmal01 you could replace the floor with one inch hardware cloth and put straw only in the corner they sleep that way no ammonia builds and manure falls down where you could place a tarp(below the coop) to collect giving easy cleaning more ventilation and no water can stay in...

Thanks for watching. Color me jealous that you are able to live in NS.

Too many predators around my way so unfortunately no, I do not let them free range. I do not clip wing feathers since I don't free range however heavyweight ducks (like the Appleyard and Pekin) cannot fly due to their weight. I love the Appleyard the most. Great temperament (not flighty at all), great layer and great tasting meat.

You will need to clip flight feathers or have them pinioned if you do not want them to fly away and join the other mallards in migration flight. Mallards are the ones who are lightweight enough for them to fly. And they will. You can count on it! they are not "pets" as the other breeds of ducks. They listen to that rebel voice in their heads and that wild bird in their hearts and off they go!

Not a bad idea. An umbrella might be a problem during windy situations but putting a wide guard just over the feeding tubes might reduce the amount of feed moisture issues. Most of the food that falls out of the feeding bin is eaten pretty quickly so it hasn't been a huge issue with me losing feed due to wetness.

No they don't. In fact your eggs will stay fresher longer if they are not fertilized.

@@smithmal01 Thank you

Therlo - thanks for watching! I appreciate the kind words

Yes they do. They enjoy the shelter.

Linda, please click on the "i" icon in the upper right hand corner of the video. One of the videos that are linked discusses how I clean the sand in the duck yard. That video also has links to a build thread that created on a poultry forum which provides all the materials and tool and build information for the sand cleaning station. In terms of my thoughts of whether sand is a good alternative for you, it depends on a number of things: 1. Are you going to free range? If so, I wouldn't bother. I keep my ducks in a completely enclosed duck yard due to predator pressure so I need to have a way to keep the yard clean. 2. How many ducks do you have? The more ducks, the more muck and sand you will need to clean. I have six ducks and need to rinse and disinfect my sand (primarily near the water and feed stations) every two weeks and then re-till so it doesn't become compact. 3. What will you do with the sand rinsate which has duck waste in it (you will create a lot)? One of primary reasons for using a sand cleaning station is that I can save and use the rinsate which is very nutrient rich. I pour this rinsate onto the ground under fruit trees and onto my vegetable garden (I only do this in the late fall/winter when the garden is dormant). This allows me to 100% recycle my food costs as it eventually becomes fertilizer for my trees and garden. 4. Do you have access to water and electricity in your duck yard? I typically use 50-70 gallons of water per sand cleaning event so you will need access to a hose. I also use a 10 gallon wet/dry vac to create a vacuum to move the water from the rinsing station to a holding tank (you will see this in the video).

Heather, Thanks for the kind words. Funny you mention Welsh Harlequins as I"m trying to hatch some RIGHT NOW!! I'm on week 1 of the incubation so hopefully I'll have some baby ducklings in 3 weeks. I'm filming all the steps I'll take during the hatching process and should have that video up in 3 weeks or so. Wish me luck. I'll also be providing a video on taking care of ducklings after that. To answer your question, ducklings need their food regulated but adult ducks do not. If you want to do a 12/12 rule I wouldn't think that would be an issue, but adult ducks pretty much each what they need. In terms of free ranging your ducks I think that's a great idea. Just make sure you get them in their coop every night and get the coop door closed and locked or your ducks may fall prey to predators. One of my neighbors lost all 25 of her ducks in three days due to foxes. I've got too many around me which I why that are in a duck yard. Good luck!

@@smithmal01 thank you so so much for your feedback! I really appreciate it! I wish you all the luck in your hatching and I can't WAIT to see the videos! I'm currently finishing up my first run for my first chickens ever! They are in their coop now and are 6-8 weeks old. They are thriving thankfully because I lost five in the first couple of days owning them. I felt awful! I am itching to see how they react when they finally get to really experienxe rhe outdoors in their run. However I will likely only have the hardware cloth on the walls by the end of tomorrow and not the top yet so I'd be afraid to leave them outside by themselves just yet. Hopefully I can let them out for an hour or so tomorrow night video their first time! I have wanted to post a lot of my videos but I have a bad habit of saying potty words along the way. Hahahaha! I'm glad I found your channel and look forward to your hatching video and your informational video on duck raising! ❤️

What are the breeds of all your ducks? Is the muscovy and male or female?

Sylvia, please check out my channel for information on coop and sand cleaning. IMHO, the best reference book for duck keeping is Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks. In terms of training ducks to come when called, I believe it can be done but don't have any experience with that. Your best bet is to get the right breed (good temperment) and purchase fertilized eggs. That way you can make sure your ducks imprint on you as soon as they are born. I think imprinting takes place between days 1-3 after they are born. This link may provide you with some useful info on imprinting: www.thegoosesmother.com/id6.html

Sylvia Harris I have trained my ducks to come to me with chopped lettuce. When I first started giving them lettuce I’d say “ Want some lettuce???” They figured it out pretty quickly. Now when I say it they come running from wherever they are. I use only a good quality romaine.

Sylvia Harris I give it to them in their coop area also. I raise Call ducks.

Billy - I'm in MD so we're both basically in the same temperature zone. That basically means during the winter months when my water line freezes I cannot clean the sand. However, during those months its too cold for bacteria to thrive so it hasn't been an issue. I do have a lot of sand to clean though once the weather warms up.

Check out the table posted on the 2:25 mark of the video. It indicates the temperment of the different well regarded duck breeds.

Marilyn - I've read a lot about who much fun IR's are. Their egg production is a little lower than I'd like (200+ annually) but their egg colors are beautiful.

@@smithmal01 Hi! My Indian runners lay waaaay more than 200 a year...I wonder if it's the environment or???Mine are free range...maybe that's why...I also give them high protein mixed with oats and brewer's yeast...I don't know. Sometimes those statistics are off. They are with my 11 runners...we have so many eggs we steam them and give them back to the dux and chickens!! LOL!

@@smithmal01 plus...there is NOTHING funnier than an IR. Their personalities make their "low" egg production a non issue.

@@marilyngriffin4183 once you steam your eggs, how do you present them to your ducks? Do you remove them from the shell? How do they like them?

@@smithmal01 I crush them--shell and all and feed them with blackberries, lettuce and whatever my husband has put in the crushed egg container--sometimes sweet pepper tops--all the chickens and ducks come running from wherever they are when I call "Duuuuuuuks!" They love them. I just crush them enough so that the chickens don't recognize that they are eggs, lol!

That was an insect capture/feed system I was experimenting with. The top of the pipe goes above the duck yard to a large funnel. Further down the funnel is fly bait. The flys would travel down the funnel and land into the bucket that was filled with water and drown and then I could feed it to the ducks for an extra source of protein. Interesting concepet but it never really worked out.

@@smithmal01 cool like the sand cleaner very inventive. Well done much thought went into your whole duck yard very nice. God bless Shalom

Eliza, Thanks for watching. Each day I spend about 5 minutes in the morning (water, feed and collecting eggs) and 5 minutes in the evening (water and feed if necessary). Every two weeks I spend an additional 2 hours per weekend cleaning sand and changing out coop bedding. The amount of time depends on how your are housing your ducks (if free ranging you wouldn't need to worry about cleaning the sand) and the size/amount of ducks you are keeping. In terms of choosing between ducks and chickens I would make sure that everyone in your family has had an opportunity to taste and compare both duck and chicken eggs.

In the long run I would think ducks would take a bit more time since they need open water (nice watering station smithmal) which will need to be cleaned out periodically. You can water chickens with nipples in a hanging bucket with a lid. Pour more water in as needed, submersible aquarium heater in the winter. Might have to clean it out once a year if the sun never gets to it for algae to grow. I spend about 5 minutes twice a day on my 17 laying chickens. I clean the pine shavings out once a year in the spring. The open water need for ducks is what has kept me from getting them so far, we have below freezing temps for 4 months or more a year. But clearly, since I watched this fine video, I'm tempted to get some ducks too.

Joyce - Thanks for the comment. Ducks preen themselves to clean their feathers. That being said, they do need clean water which is deep enough to dunk their heads so they can clean out their nostrils and eyes which they do on a daily basis. More information on this can be found in Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks which is a well know reference book for information concerning the raising of ducks: www.amazon.com/Storeys-Guide-Raising-Ducks-2nd/dp/1603426922/ref=asc_df_1603426922/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312118059795&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16032524849866790069&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9008062&hvtargid=pla-449354489414&psc=1

@@smithmal01 it is cruel to deny a duck the chance to bathe fully in fresh water daily, the fact you don't allow them this really makes me question how much you say you care for them, even a 6" deep tray that they can splash and play in will make them so happy. I feel so so sad for your ducks I really do :(