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Johari
06-13-2001, 08:40 PM
Does anybody know where I could find
information on how to take care of ducks and
what they need to eat throughout their lives?



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Karen
06-13-2001, 09:31 PM
See Clotilde and Pio Pis - they were Pets of the Day back in 1998.
http://PetoftheDay.com/archive/1998/September/03.html

Their page has a link to their website, on which, if you click the ducks link, you'll learn a lot about what ducks need, foodwise and in every other way!

Johari
06-14-2001, 05:59 PM
thank you very much

ilovehounds
06-14-2001, 06:27 PM
Hi,

What kind of ducks do you have ???

I now have 7 little post ducks or indian runners as they are sometimes called, they are now 2 weeks old. I raise them for pets and show, they are not a meat bird. Right now they are on duck starter but get most of thier food by wondering around our yard and eating bugs. every evening I also bring out some bread and rip it up in small pieces and sit on the ground and feed them, this gets them use to people and if you say weedy weedy as they are coming over for the bread and while they are eating it, it teaches them to come when they are called. Of course you don't have to say weedy weedy http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif you can say come on guys or something.

I also have one duckling that the mother has disowned and I have to walk around the yard with it a couple times a day and sit by the pond while he goes for a swim, the rest of the time its in the house sitting on my foot, it also has become very attached to my dog who has now taken the role of mommy on. They are cute http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif

Johari
06-14-2001, 07:04 PM
Well I haven't gotten my ducks yet. I am going to first research them and then I am going to get them. I really am excited to be getting ducks. I think I'll get Mallards. but it really doesn't matter to me as long as I love them.

Jasper's Mom
06-16-2001, 05:44 AM
I used to have a lot of ducks when I lived out in the country in Oregon. I had Pekin (all white) and mallard. After a while they interbred and the unusual mixed coloring were the most desired ducklings that I sold each spring. I would only sell to people wanting them as pets. I really loved them and they were great fun.

My huge pen had chicken wire even on top to prevent hawks and other birds from picking off the babies. I had a lean-to that I put straw hay in, and the babies usually stayed in there with the moms. I always wanted to build a cement pond with a drain on the downhill side, but never did. In the spring and summer when the babies came, I would buy a new kids swimming pool and had a makeshift wood ramp so they could reach the water. When they tired of swimming and running in the yard, and I went inside I always had to lock them up because there was no way to prevent them from being taken by animals because my acre was not fenced in.

One spring a sudden storm came up, and a bolt of lightning struck a tree right behind their pen, while I was filling their pond. I do not remember sprouting wings, but suddenly I was up the hill at the front of my house, plastered against the wall, heart pounding. Happily the ducks were fine, but I was shaken.

Because of no fence, when we had heavy rains I had to lock them up also, for they would head for the road where the worms would crawl to, escaping the water. Yum, yum, but since logging trucks traveled through there at top speed, it wasn't a good idea.

When I was leaving to move back to Hawaii, I gave some to a friend with a small farm, and the whole rest of them went to a family with several acres and a pond.

In a housing area with a waterway here there are many different kinds of ducks that the public sometimes feed. I have fed the ducks there but it's just not the same as having your own. After we mowed in the summer our ducks used to come sit in the cool shade with us.

Miss those little green droppings all over the yard and walkway, and their quacking sounds. And the raspberries, after the ducks were gone and I went back one summer to paint the house, they weren't big and good and sweet like before. No duck fertilizer.

Have fun with your ducks when you get them. I always loved them, and still do.

Jasper's Mom
06-16-2001, 06:16 AM
Johari: Oh gosh, I just noticed that you're from Eureka, California. My husband was in the Coast Guard, stationed in Samoa, at the very end of the peninsula. Our place overlooked the rescue boats pier. I worked at the Humboldt-Del Norte Co. Health Dept. until he retired and we moved to Oregon. My son Mike was born there. I loved it there.

Our Irish Setter came from there, and our sweet cat loved to eat mice in the sand dunes.

The ocean, the trees, Ferndale, fabulous Victorian houses, trips to the lakes or rivers to camp, Samoa Cookhouse. A great place to live. Nice to meet someone from one of my favorite places.

Johari
06-17-2001, 02:05 PM
Yes this area is wonderful. I have lived here all my life. some of my friends say that they want to move away from Eureka when they are older (I am 15) but I want to stay here for longer. the only problem with living here is that there are so many small businesses and not enough work for our growing population. our community is mainly older people. but I know that when I retire I am going to live up here. I love this place, the ocean, trees, and the mountains are all really close.

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"Even the smallest of creatures steal my heart." -Me

ilovehounds
06-17-2001, 02:25 PM
To bad you didn't live closer to me, I would give you one of my ducks http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif One duck makes a better pet then two or more because they bond with you instead of the other ducks. If you get them at a young age they also make better pets. But if you want a lot of ducks they are still nice pets but they won't bond with you as close as a single duck would.

They best ducks are Post ducks, they are the duck from the movie Babe Pig In The City and the first one I don't remember the title. They stand strait up tall. And another nice duck is the Call Duck they are really tiny with nice color.

Well keep us posted and good like in your duck adventures http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif

Johari
06-18-2001, 08:46 PM
I am going to volunteer at the petting zoo at my zoo this summer and when it is over I might get to take a duckling or two home. I want girls because they are nicer.

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"Even the smallest of creatures steal my heart." -Me