I have 6 pekin ducks and 2 mallards in a large pond.?

Question

The problem is that we are trying to buy a house that has no pond. I dont want to get rid of them or just leave them here alone and I was wondering if it would be too stressful on them to take them with us and keep them in a pen with a pool. It could take a while before we could get a pond made at the new place. Any help is appreciated!!

Answer 1

I have to agree with the other answers. Take the birds with and I would not give them a wading pool either the smell will be enough to knock you out. and they will splash it empty on you to.  I would run a sprinkler for them but not everyday.  I currently do not have ducks but have in the past they were more like a dog and demanded allot of attention and they had their favorite people. If your ducks a novelty and just spend all day on the pond the move might stress them but I would still take them.  If your ducks are social and hand feed and follow you around I think it would be more stressful on them to leave them behind.

Answer 2

They would be better off without any pool until you get a permanent pond for them. They will keep it so nasty that it will make them sick. It is best just to give them a good pan of water and change it three or four times a day. If you keep them in a  pen they will dig in the mud around the pool and make one big smelly mess. They need a pretty good sized lot to keep them happy and plenty of green grass to eat. They also like whole yellow corn.

Answer 3

I agree with pigeon boy!

Answer 4

Shouldn't really be a problem IF you have a place to pen them up for a few days until they learn where they are to go to roost so to speak.

   I started out with 2 Pekin hens,one died and rather than get rid of the one that I didn't want to keep all alone I went to buy one other duck but got 2 more ducks.  I kept them in the henhouse for a couple days and then let them out. . . . haven't had a single problem having done this.

   I have a 4ft high fence around my birds and for the ducks I dug a hole and dropped in a child's wading pool.  Hard to keep clean as you would imagine but shallow as it is,the ducks are Happy.

   Oh yeah BTW,I have since acquired  6 Mallard mix hens which brings my total up to 11 ducks.  Not sure I want any more in the up and coming years and not likely to replace them after they are gone because they ARE nasty birds and make it almost totally impossible to keep swim water clean.

Good Luck