Longtime local journalist Bill Radford and his wife, Margaret, live on 5 acres in the Falcon area with chickens, rabbits, dogs, cats, a flock of parakeets, goats and two horses. Contact Bill at billradford3@gmail.com.
“Duck Dynasty” on the prairie
By Bill Radford
Jack and Mel stand at the open doorway, hesitant to go any farther.
They retreat, chattering ferociously, then return to the doorway. This time Mel (short for Melinda) sticks her head out, but that’s as far as she’s willing to go.
They pull back again, still chattering and pacing. Then Jack jumps in his pool, ducks his head under the water, climbs out and rushes to, and through, the doorway. Mel quickly follows.
Jack and Mel, named after the lead characters in Netflix’s “Virgin River,” are ducks — and the latest addition to Radford Ranch. We weren’t looking to expand our menagerie, but a work friend of Margaret had gotten the ducks in the spring as babies and was looking to rehome them in a more rural environment.
They had a good setup in their suburban backyard, though. They had a small pen with a wooden box attached to it that provided shelter. And the box, once used to hold wood, had wheels and was easy to move about the yard with the pen. So the ducks could visit different parts of the yard while still being protected from predators such as raccoons and foxes.
At our place, they took up residence in our old chicken coop and pen, which we have used to quarantine injured or ailing chickens. The coop has a lot more room than they need but it is convenient. I built a new, less vertical ramp for the ducks to go up into the coop, but so far they haven’t been interested; for the last couple of nights, I’ve gone out, snatched them up and locked them in the coop. They would be safe enough just in their pen, but they seem to be agitated as the sun falls, running about and quacking nonstop. For their first two nights, I put their old box at the entrance to the pen and closed them inside it after they raced in. But the box is too big to get into the pen without some disassembly of the pen. An expansion of their pen is planned. And maybe I need to rethink the ramp; one article online says ducks actually prefer stairs.
We’ve had ducks before but it has been a while. We had one duck, Ferdinand, who was, shall I say, particularly romantic. He had to be separated from the chickens because otherwise he would go after the hens to mate. But ducks and chickens are not physically compatible in that sense, and an amorous duck could hurt or even kill a chicken.
We haven’t let our chickens and the new ducks mingle. If and when we do, we figure our roosters will keep Jack off the hens; when we had Ferdinand, we lived in the city and couldn’t have roosters. But we may have to get another female duck so Mel doesn’t have to put up with all of Jack’s attention. The Cape Coop Farm (https://thecapecoop.com) suggests having two or three females per drake to keep him “occupied.”
As for raising chickens and ducks together, the site says, “For the most part, your ducks and chickens are likely to just ignore each other. … Generally, ducks will prefer the company of other ducks, and chickens will prefer to hang out with chickens.”
Their water needs are different, the site points out. “Ducks … need to have access to water that is deep enough for them to dip their head in. They need to be able to dip their head in the water to clean and keep their nostrils moist, clean their eyes and mix their food with their water for digestion.”
Chickens and ducks can share a coop; according to Raising Ducks (https://raising-ducks.com) be sure everyone has enough space. And keep their sleeping arrangements in mind: “Chickens roost; ducks don’t,” the site points out. “Ducks sleep on the ground. Be sure your ducks have floor space that isn’t directly under your chickens’ roosts.”
Why? Let’s just say if a chicken needs to use the potty at night, it’s likely not moving from its perch. And you don’t want your duck underneath that.
For the most part, chickens and ducks can share a meal. Jack and Mel’s previous family fed them an all-flock feed, good for both species.
The ducks also came with a passion for frozen peas. I didn’t know peas and ducks are a thing, but their previous family apparently did and tossed peas into the ducks’ water twice a day for a treat. Go online and you’ll fine viral videos like one titled “Ducks annihilate a bowl of peas” that has nearly 23 million views.
Peas seem to be a healthy treat for ducks. Among other things, they’re a source of niacin, an essential vitamin for ducks that promotes healthy growth — though there are supplements and other foods that apparently serve better to boost those niacin levels.
Jack and Mel don’t seem to have any desire to be picked up, but they do come up close to people — probably because they know a person could mean food.
According to PetMD.com by Chewy (https://petmd.com), ducks can be great pets “for the dedicated pet parent.” The site also states they are high-maintenance, with a lot of cleanup and replacing of water needed. And they’re noisy. But in return, they provide plenty of manure for the garden and chow down on grasshoppers. And it’s fun to spend a Sunday morning watching “duck TV” as they wander the side yard quacking and foraging.
Jack, left, and Mel, are the latest additions to the Radford menagerie.
