Can Ducks Be Kept Alone?
If you’re planning on raising a duck, you’re probably wondering if you’ll need to adopt more than one to keep it company. You may also be wondering whether you can keep ducks with other poultry, like chickens or guinea hens. To properly care for ducks, it’s important to understand their behaviors and characteristics.
Do ducks get lonely? Ducks are highly social animals and do best when they are in large groups. The best thing to do is to own more than one duck so that your duck does not get lonely and depressed. You can also keep ducks in with chickens and other poultry to provide a social setting.
A duck that lives alone can become depressed and stressed, resulting in negative health conditions and low egg production. If you want your duck to be productive, the best thing you can do is create a social setting where the duck can thrive. Continue reading to learn more about whether or not ducks can get lonely:
Ducks Are Highly Social Creatures
Ducks are incredibly social animals that get along very well with each other and seldom fight. They are not solitary creatures and will become depressed and lonely quite easily if they are kept separate from other ducks or birds. Much like humans, ducks can feel loneliness, isolation, and grief, so leaving a duck alone or caged for long periods of time is not emotionally healthy for them.
Here are some things to take into account when it comes to raising ducks:
Why Do Ducks Need to Live Together?
If you’ve ever gone to a duck pond or a park, you’ve probably noticed how all the ducks seem to stick together or have their own flock, or group of ducks. By nature, ducks are social creatures who live in a community of ducks called a flock. The primary reason for this is that flocks provide protection and security from predators.
Prey animals, like ducks, often live in social settings because each animal in the flock can watch out for the others. A flock or a herd is able to provide more eyes and ears to watch and listen for predators or danger. Often times in a duck flock, the female ducks will care for the ducklings while the male ducks will chase away potential threats or predators.
How Many Ducks Should I Get?
There are a few things to consider when it comes to determining how many ducks you should get. Not only do you need to provide your ducks with a social community, but you’ll also need to consider how you plan on using the ducks.
At the least, you should get two ducks so that they can keep each other company. If you want to provide your ducks with a stable flock community, consider getting at least 4-5 ducks. If you’re planning on raising ducks for a specific purpose, like egg production or meat production, there are other things to consider:
Raising Ducks for Egg Production
How many eggs do you want to collect each week? This is a question to ask yourself if you plan on keeping your ducks for egg production. On average, one duck will lay 5 – 7 eggs a week, or about one egg per day. Ducks also tend to lay eggs year-round, so factoring in a season laying period isn’t necessary. This means that having 4 -5 egg-laying ducks could easily provide you with enough eggs for your family and friends each week.
Raising Ducks For Meat Production
If you plan on raising ducks for meat production, this means you’ll have to go through the process of hatching ducklings and caring for them as they grow before sending them off to be processed. This means that at some point you’ll have quite a few ducks running around. A big aspect to consider in this situation is how much space you have for the ducklings.
Ducks can have a clutch of anywhere between 3 to 20 eggs. This means that your flock could suddenly have 20 new ducklings at some point! A good rule of thumb is that your duck coop has 3 sq. ft. per duck, and your duck pen should have a minimum of 15 sp. ft. per duck. Before you start breeding your ducks for meat, make sure you have the space to sustain a growing flock.
Can Ducks Live With Other Poultry?
Ducks are known to get along and be friendly with other poultry and animals. Ducks can be kept with other poultry, like chickens, geese, and guinea fowl. By keeping multiple bird species together, you can save on space and resources as well as increase pasture utilization.
Ducks can live with a flock of chickens, sharing an enclosure and nesting in their coop at night. On rare occasions, certain ducks may bully chickens; if you see this happening, you should separate the birds before it’s too late. However, ducks and chickens commonly co-exist without any issues.
Many people wonder if ducks can live with chickens since ducks aren’t naturally inclined to go in a coop at night. I have a whole article dedicated to answering the question of whether or not ducks need a coop. To learn more, visit the article Do Ducks Need a Coop: What You Need to Know.
How Do I Isolate Sick and Contagious Ducks?
While ducks shouldn’t live alone, there are some exceptions to when you should isolate a duck from other ducks. If you notice that one of your ducks seems sick or not its usual self, you should remove it from the flock and put it in isolation immediately. The reason for this is that there are many contagious diseases that can spread through ducks, posing a risk to your entire flock.
You will need to isolate the duck until you are able to diagnose the problem. You can bring the duck indoors or you can place it in a separate enclosure where it can still see the other ducks. The separate enclosure should be at least 40 ft away to prevent any airborne illness from spreading.
If you do have to separate a duck from its flock, be sure to provide it with plenty of food and water. A lonely duck may refuse to eat or drink, so keep an eye on the duck to see if it’s exhibiting such behavior. You can also visit the duck routinely to provide it with social interaction.
Planning For a Duck Flock: Step-by-Step Guide
Since ducks are social creatures, you should plan to raise a flock rather than just a single duck. Make sure you plan carefully for your flock to avoid many common mistakes many first-time flock owners commit. Planning is the most important part of owning a flock of ducks. Here’s a step-by-step guide to planning your flock!
Which Breed of Duck do You Want to Raise?
First, decide on a duck breed you want to raise. There are many duck breeds, each with different characteristics and traits. The duck breed you choose can determine the specific qualities and abilities of your ducks. Certain duck breeds lay more eggs than others while other duck breeds are known to be more friendly and docile. Here is a list of popular duck breeds and their specific qualities:
Magpies
- Popular ducks for suburban areas and backyard farms
- Often black and white-colored, but can vary
- Weigh between 5 – 6 lbs
- Can fly
- Active birds that like to forage and perform pest control
- Great for egg-laying productions, laying 4 – 5 eggs per week
Mallards
- Popular duck breed often seen at parks and duck ponds
- Known for the males’ signature green heads
- Weigh on average 1.5 – 4 lbs
- Can fly
- Do not do well in enclosed areas
- Can be more aggressive than other duck breeds
Pekin
- White in color
- Often seen in movies and at parks and duck ponds
- Usually larger than other ducks, weighing an average of 8 lbs
- Cannot fly
- Known to be friendly and calm
- Great for meat or egg production, laying up to 200 eggs per year
Rouen
- Looks like a Mallard duck but much larger
- Can weigh up to 6 – 8 lbs
- Cannot fly
- Lay 3 – 5 eggs per week
- Known for their calm disposition
White Call
- Was popularly used for commercial duck hunting
- Usually white in color
- Smaller than the average duck, weighing 1.5 lbs
- Known for being sweet and friendly
- Great to have as a backyard pet
How Much Space Do You Have to Raise Ducks?
Before you purchase ducks, you should make sure you have the space available to properly raise them. Some duck breeds like to roam and forage while others can survive just fine in an enclosed area. If you live in a more suburban area, your space may be more limited compared to on a farm or in rural areas. You want to avoid crowding as much as possible when it comes to raising ducks, as this can lead to unsanitary conditions and fighting within the flock.
If you keep your ducks in a coop at night, one duck will need about 3 square feet of floor space in the coop. Ducks tend to nest on the ground rather than roosting on poles or in boxes like chickens. Outside in an enclosure or a pen, your duck may require up to 15 square feet minimum. Calculate the number of ducks you want compared to the amount of space. you have to ensure your ducks will have an adequate living area. Don’t forget to factor in space for a kiddy pool or duck pond, as ducks need a water source to wash and dunk their heads in.
Should You Get Male Ducks or Not?
A male duck is known as a drake, and they are vital to productions where you plan on hatching eggs and raising ducklings. female ducks, however, will still lay eggs even without a drake around. These eggs can be collected and used for food, but they will not hatch. Whether you should get a drake really depends on how you plan to use your ducks.
If you only want to use your ducks for laying eggs, remember that the female ducks will eventually stop laying eggs as they age. Ducks usually only lay eggs for several years. At some point, you will need to replenish the flock with new ducks, unless you plan on breeding the ones you have.
What Type of Accommodations do Ducks Need?
Ducks do require some form of a coop or a house to keep them safe. While ducks don’t naturally return to a coop each night like chickens, training them to do so can increase their longevity by keeping them safe from predators and other elements that can cause them harm.
A good coop should protect the flock from predators, keep the wind, rain, and snow out, have good ventilation, provide a good place to lay, have a place for water and feed, be easy to clean, and be comfortable for your ducks (To learn more, check out my article Do Ducks Get Cold? Essential Care Guide.) Ducks will often nest on the floor of a coop or a house rather than roosting up high as chickens do. You’ll want to make sure a coop provides enough space for your ducks to nest.
If you don’t want your ducks to fly or wander away, it’s also a good idea to have some type of enclosure or pen. This enclosure should provide them with space and variety to browse and roam while also protecting them from predators and keeping them from escaping and flying away.
Your ducks will also need a duck pool of some kind, whether you have a small kiddy pool you can place in their enclosure or a large pond where they can walk to. Ducks love water and require it for entertainment and to clean themselves.
What Should I Feed My Ducks?
Ducks often have a varied diet of vegetation, bugs, grubs, worms, fruit, and commercial duck feed. While you can provide your duck with a commercial feed like grain and seeds, it shouldn’t be the sustaining factor of their diet. Throughout the day, ducks will browse and forage for vegetation and bugs. You can feed your ducks leftover vegetables and fruit, and let them have access to your yard to provide pest control.
I hope this article was helpful to you when it comes to figuring out whether or not you should keep a duck by itself. I have many articles dedicated to answering your questions about raising poultry. To read more, check out some of the articles below!