Anyone work ducks?

[hoku's mum]

We are thinking of herding lessons for Hoku, and if it goes well, would maybe consider getting some Indian Runner ducks or (?) for him to work with at home (just really can't see having sheep ). Does anyone have any experience with that? Would it be a good thing to work him with (along with sheep, of course, in lessons)? Would love to hear any stories or thoughts about it. Also any other suggestions for types of birds that work well.

 

Kristin, Hoku and Gussy

[mbernard2424]

I started my young dog on ducks and still work them on occasion. I'm sure more experienced people will have more to say, but I don't think working ducks did my dog any harm when it came to working sheep. We went from ducks to goats to sheep, and as I said, still work the ducks and goats. Runners are great, but they don't hold up all that well. I bought Khaki Campbells and really like them. The good thing about both of these breeds is that they are excellent egg layers. The problem with working/keeping hens is that they are loud! They are also messy.

 

Good luck!

 

Michelle and Gel

http://www.blakkatz.com/ducks.html

http://www.blakkatz.com/herdingducks.html

[juliepoudrier]

Kristin,

The only real problem you might run into is that some dogs just aren't interested in working ducks. My best working dog won't give poultry a second look (well, she will work ducks with great reluctance if I insist), but that doesn't affect her ability on other stock. Then I have a couple who love to work ducks. The nice thing about ducks is they aren't terribly fast, so even the old retirees can work them.

 

Ducks *are* messy. They really do need to have water to dabble in and they can make a huge, stinky mess of it. That said, we kept ducks for years, and if you keep their wading pool and surrounding area clean, then they aren't too nasty. They do provide yummy eggs, but be careful of your drake-to-hen ratio as too many drakes can really harass hens (and each other).

 

I would say that if you *like* ducks in general, then this would be a good dual purpose for them (working the dog and eggs) or tri purpose, if you want to eat them as well. If you don't particularly like ducks, then you will probably find them more effort than they are worth to you for training.

 

J.

[mbernard2424]

Yes, that's true about the drake to duck (did you know that a female duck is just a duck?) ratio. I had a whole lot more Khaki Campbell drakes to ducks and the fighting was HORRIBLE! The drakes eventually killed each other off. I now have one drake to four hens.

 

The hens are a riot! They do this head bobbing to the side dance. I love to watch the ducks and much prefer them to chickens.

 

Michelle

[hoku's mum]

Thanks for the responses, Michelle and Julie. We have a pond (about 50'x100'), so they would have a good spot to be for the day. I know Runner Ducks make yummy eggs, a plus! The person who we are thinking of training with offers sheep, cows and ducks to work with, so we could find out if he is interested in working them. I worry that he will just kill ducks, as that is what he seems to want to do to our chickens. We keep 'The Girls' cooped now as I don't trust him with them.

 

Michelle- nice website, Gel is just a beautiful dog. I like the duck herding pic of her putting the ducks through the cat gate, lol! Do your ducks have the run of your pond?

 

Kristin, Hoku and Gussy

[mbernard2424]

Yes, Gel is gorgeous and he is a boy! Of course, I'm biased. Well, the ducks are not supposed to have access to the pond as I want the eggs, but right now, the fence that I keep them in is down, I am re-arranging their space, so they get to go to the pond. I plan to keep them up during the week and let them out to play in the pond on weekends. They come up at night automatically.

 

How old is Hoku?

[hoku's mum]

Oops! Sorry Gel, you handsome boy!

 

Hoku is somewhere around 15 months, he's a rescue, so we don't know his exact age, or mix for that matter. Some say all BC, some say a bit of something else. When we take him for his first meeting with sheep, we may get a better clue!

Here is a pic of him.

 

Do your ducks lay mostly in the AM like chickens do, or will they just drop their eggs anytime, anyplace? The eggs would be a big part of having them. 'The Girls' would go back to the coop to lay when we free ranged them, tho we usually just let them out in the afternoons anyway. We have a lot of coyote around here, that is what we have lost most of 'The Girls' to. My thought is that ducks might be safe on the pond in the day, and cooped at night. Don't know how smart they are 'bout predators, tho. Chickens are cute, but non to smart!

 

Kristin, Hoku and Gussy

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

The ducks like to lay at a particular time - it will usually be around sunrise to 9 am. It depends on the individual duck. It's best if you either put them up at night or keep them in a clean, littered or grassy area or they will try to lay them right on the ground - very messy. It doesn't matter in the long run, the eggs are still clean for eating, but it makes for more cleanup.

 

Ducks are particularly vulnerable to canid predators, less so to coons, winged predators, and other troubles of the chicken coop. But the dogs, foxes, and dogs are twice as deadly - they'll wipe you out in one blow, guaranteed. I just lost almost all of mine in one visit, apparently, a few weeks ago.

 

Feed the ducks at night in their coop and like chckens they'll learn to put themselves right up. They know a good thing when they've got it. Ducks don't need to roost - and adults don't even need water in their coop overnight. It's not a good idea, in fact, as they get the area all nasty and dsiease prone.

 

When you are raising ducks, speaking of disease, there's a couple of bugs you have to watch out for. One should be no problem if you get your ducks locally or from a reputable mail order place. Don't get ducks from a feed store unless you are condifent in their duck care skills. Ducks are highly vulnerable when young to salmonella no matter where you get your duck from, and also to New Duck Disease which they can pick up from the feed store.

 

Be very careful when working a young dog on ducks. Ducks are very reactive, which draws a dog's eye down, but the dog does not work a line or the heads, but rather the "flow". This doesn't matter if you are just walking in figure eights in the round pen a few times and the ducks are very quiet. But if you start to try to do fine work with them (or work unbroke ducks), and your dog still hasn't gotten the basics down, you may find your dog has trouble later finding balance, pushes too hard, and if your dog already has a lot of eye he might develop too much eye working the ducks.

 

Again, all of this applies only if you use the ducks like "training sheep substitutes", not doing chores or just a few times in a round pen.

[hoku's mum]

Thanks for the input, Rebecca. Lots of good info to digest. Sorry to hear that you lost so many of your ducks, that must have been awful. Was it at night, or a daytime attack? Do you know what it was? That is one of our main concerns, with our robust coyote population around here.

 

Kristin, Hoku and Gussy