Buying a domestic duck: the ultimate guide

You would like a duck to join your garden, but you don’t really know how to do it, how to choose? Rest assured, I have been in your shoes and here I am offering you the ultimate guide to raising domestic (or companion) ducks.

The second, more original, is to have a pet duck. Indeed, unlike chickens, ducks can create an emotional bond with their master and behave a bit like a cat or a dog.

I. Which race to choose?

The first question to ask is duck breed. There are basically these aspects to consider:

I.1. The best duck breeds for the garden

For the garden, you have two important characteristics: Are the canes good? layers ? Are they good “foragers” (= find their food by themselves and eat weeds and insects)?

The best layers are the Kakhi Campbell (250 to 340 eggs per year with an average around 300) and the welsh harlequins (which we talk about later).

As good “foragers”, you have in particular the indian runner where the cayuga.

I.2. The Best Pet Duck Breeds

In terms of aesthetics, you have many magnificent ducks (well more than the others), notably the mandarin duck, THE emerald duck or even the carolin duck.

The versatile duck: the Welsh harlequin

If you have a hard time choosing, take a duck”welsh harlequin“, he does everything:

• The duck is a good layer (240-330 per year, barely less than the Campbells)
• It’s a beautiful animal
• It effectively protects your vegetable garden and finds its food on its own

II. How to buy your ducks

Now that you know which breed to buy, you still have to find it. Indeed, there are quite a few duck suppliers in France, it is a market that is not very professional.

II.1. Unprofessional supply

In France, there are no national breeders. The main problem is transport: it is difficult to send live ducks in good conditions to individuals.

Here are the vendors I found:

• There Beaumont Farm : it is the main French supplier, with many different choices possible
• There Blair Farm : a small farm, which sells Barbary ducks (besides chickens, turkeys, etc.)
• animal broadcast : breeding of ornamental birds and equipment

You can also find, often quite inexpensively, ducks for sale on private listing sites, such as ReleasedSold.

Note that, the duck being a fairly sociable animal, it is recommended to buy at least 3 of them.

II.2. Ducks or ducklings?

Buying maturing animals is always more risky: they are more fragile and generally need a specific diet. Moreover, if we want them to lay eggs, we will have to wait longer. Nevertheless, ducklings are relatively resistant and, while special feeding can be advised, it is not crucial (unlike chicks, which need it to prevent coccidiosis).

The advantage of buying ducklings is that you can get to know them very early and create an emotional bond. This will allow you to make them pets, with which children can play and which you can present to your visitors.

Note that ducks can lay eggs for a long time: up to 6 years for the most resistant!

II. Preparing to welcome your duck

Once you’ve ordered your duck, all you have to do is get ready to welcome it. For this you will need:

• Provide him with a suitable habitat
• Provide an adequate diet
• Know the risks of disease to identify and avoid them

II.1. The duck house

The duck’s shelter does not need to provide elaborate nests: a bed of straw on the ground is enough for it. It is necessary to plan a closure, to avoid attacks by predators.

Be careful, our happy waterfowl have a tendency to ruin lawns. Indeed, they love mud and, if it rains, will scrape the ground in certain places to create a muddy space. This is probably less of a problem than for hens (which really dig up the ground on a large scale), but it can be a problem if you like a nice lawn.

I would still tend to advise you to leave them free. Seeing them walking around is downright relaxing and they will entertain you when you go out.

II.2. Duck food

If you, like me, have been on holiday in the countryside as a child, you have undoubtedly known the ritual of going to give dry bread to the ducks. It turns out that this is really not the best food to lavish on them. The ideal will be:

• pet store food, with a niacin supplement if there is not enough
• peas
• corn
• lettuce
• oats
• seeds
• rice, cooked or not

Pelleted food is preferred to limit the risk of waste or choking and powdered food is avoided. Note that ducks also need quite a bit of water to stay hydrated.

Finally, remember that ducks can to a large extent feed themselves if they have enough resources (insects, grass …) available. This is another advantage of letting them roam free.

II.3. What are the disease risks?

Ducks are particularly resistant to cold, humidity and disease. They can nevertheless be exposed to botulism (stagnant water) or aspergillosis (fungus) due to their affinity with water. In principle, there is no risk if you maintain a minimum of their environment.

You have to be careful of what lies on the floor, because ducks can eat almost anything, including screws or coins.

Ducks that cannot bathe regularly or are in poor health may have their “smooth gland”, which produces the oil that makes their feathers waterproof, stop working. This can make them more exposed to cold, damp and can even make them unable to swim without drowning. This is easily solved, by cleaning it, then giving it access to water.