i am planig to get ducks

[lil shant]

i am planing to get ducks in my yard i will build a pond but does it need to have a filter?
and how do i tell a part a male adn a female?
adn can i have as much info about them as possible

[Shineillusion]

If you're in the U.S., contact your local county extension office or farm bureau for information on ducks. They're a lot more work than you might expect if you don't have a natural pond or stream for them. And they tend to get eaten by foxes and other preditors.

[Aqueous]

What species of ducks are you planning to get?

Do you live in a rural, urban or suburban area? In a lot of places it's illegal to keep ducks in urban (and in some cases suburban) areas.

Also if they're in your yard, how do you plan on sheltering them from weather extremes? Eventhough they can stay out for long periods of time they need a warm, dry place where they can rest.

[Fuz]

if you are getting ducks make sure that the pond or pool you use can be cleaned trust me it gets disgusting after a while and for the coop make sure it has a drainage system so it will stay dry the diff between male and female is males when they quack they are alot quieter than females and when they get to the age of sexual maturity the mles will have a few tail feathers that curl up the #1 predator of ducks geese ect. is the human protect your ducks from humans and other predators we havent had problems with foxs just humans stealing and weasels. make sure that you have a nest box for the females to lay eggs cause no matter what they will lay. the eggs are perfect for baking. unless you want them to be completely spazzy hold them everyday as hey grow up. when they are young give them grass with their food so they will eat grass when they become adults and then they will start eating bugs especially slugs. just wonderin what are you goin to use them for meat, show, eggs, or pet? i will put more info on later after i give my ducks some hugs.

[lil shant]

i am gonna keep thEM as pets and breed them but most of all as pets and i am gonna keep the in a huge avrie with a nice pond and the ducks i want to keep are white pekin ducks

[Fuz]

ok so your going to get pekins ok first of all make sure they get plenty of excersize. this is a meat breed and it will keep growing. make sure that the pool is deep so that the male isnt pressing the female on the bottom when they mate. the nest box needs to be long enough that each duck/female will have enough room for her own nest. you can have more then one male although you may want to watch out for fighting drakes/males can get violent. in my opinion it is best for the parents to sit on the eggs and raise the ducklings. if you are going to collect the eggs every day and hatch them your self with an incubator youll have to look up what temperature and how much humidity they need. as for keeping them for pets all you need to do is handle them alot when they are babys so that it is a little easier to catch them when they are older because they will then trust you a little bit better. you can buy them duck food or chicken food duck food is a little bit more expensive even though both have basically the same stuff in them. and ill give you more nfo later.

[Fuz]

i would actualy suggest a different breed of duck because i just remembered pekins have a really hard time breeding because they are so big. also theey keep producing body mass. a blue swedish is also a large breed duck if you want a large duck but they dont get as big and they have a much easier time breeding. but i would really suggest a different breed.

[AnnaBelle]

We have muscovies and mallards. They are great as pets. But, pekins are beautiful~good luck

[Fuz]

yes they are beatiful but they have such a hard time breeding and if their leg gets hurt you might as well put them down automattically cause trust me it takes forever for it to heel and my pekins got worse and worse and then he died.