Ducks

Beginner’s guide to raising ducks: 17 things you should know

Posted on January 22, 2025

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Last Updated on January 22, 2025 by Aaron von Frank

We’ve kept backyard ducks for over a decade, and have pretty much done it all in that timespan: hatched our own duck eggs, purchased ducklings, adopted rescue ducks, kept numerous breeds of ducks, and raised both boy and girl ducks. We’re also the authors of The Impractical Guide to Keeping Pet & Backyard Ducks.

Yep, we’re those crazy duck people, and we’re proud of it!

The Tyrant is her happiest self with an armful of ducks.

Thus, one of our biggest goals is trying to help beginners understand how to raise happy, healthy ducks. This also means we actually discourage people from getting ducks if they’re not prepared or clear-eyed in their reasons for doing so. See: 11 reasons why you should NOT get ducks.

We don’t want more people to raise ducks. Rather, we want more people to raise ducks responsibly and humanely. And that’s why we’ve created this quick beginner’s guide to raising ducks.

We want you to have a good understanding of what you’re in store for if you choose to raise ducks. From here, you can take a deeper dive into the related articles we’ve added below — or perhaps even read our book if you decide that backyard duck keeping is for you.

Beginner’s guide to raising ducks

Here are 17 things every beginner should know before they decide to raise ducks:

1. Make sure you can legally raise ducks.

Make sure there are no local ordinances (city or county) or neighborhood Home Owner Association rules prohibiting you from raising ducks. Otherwise, you may be forced to re-home your ducks after you get them.

2. You should have a 10+ year duck plan that does NOT include setting your ducks “free” at your local pond.

Ducks can live a long time. We have ducks in our flock that are over 10 years old, and the longest lived domestic duck ever recorded was 20 years old when she died.

So if you think getting ducks is something that’s a short commitment, think again. That’s why you should plan to have ducks for 10+ years.

As such, it’s probably also a good idea to have a friend or acquaintance in mind who can adopt your ducks if something happens to you, assuming immediate family can’t fill that role.

3. Lady ducks can be very loud.

Boy ducks don’t have very loud voices. However, girl ducks can drown out the sound of a bagpipe if they really want to be heard. Our ducks are quiet for most of the day, but when we’re off schedule letting them out of their coop, something scares them, or they want something from us, their quack chorus can be deafening.

You might not mind the noise, but your neighbors could feel differently. So depending on your proximity to your neighbors, you may want to talk with them about your future duck plans before you get ducks.

Piper earned her name because she sounds like a broken bagpipe with the volume turned up to maximum.

4. Where you get your ducks REALLY matters.

We don’t have proof to back up this estimate, but our guess is that for every 10 ducks purchased in the United States:

four die from predators within a few months due to inadequate human preparation,
three get abandoned at local ponds and parks, and
three end up having a pretty decent life.

We’re basing this estimate off of countless messages and conversations we’ve had with people who raise ducks over the years.

What happens to the ducks that get abandoned at the pond? The vast majority die very quickly due to starvation, injury, or predation. A lucky few will be picked up or brought to waterfowl rescue operations.

Every waterfowl rescue operation in the country is overrun with abandoned ducks, dependent on volunteers, and financially stretched to the brink as they try to raise money from the public to cover their operating costs. These organizations desperately need people to adopt ducks from them, but instead people continue to buy new ducks from breeders or impulse-buy them at farm supply stores.

Thus, we highly recommend you get your first ducks from a waterfowl rescue operation. Buying adult ducks will also help you skip over the relatively expensive, messy, time-intensive, and knowledge-intensive step of raising baby ducklings.

We got our most recent six ducks from Carolina Waterfowl Rescue (CWR) , and every duck we get from here on out will come from waterfowl rescues. At the time we got our ducks from CWR, they were trying to find homes for 700 other rescue ducks. Seven hundred!!

5. You should only start with a few ducks.

Another common avoidable problem we see is when people get way more ducks (and/or other poultry) than they should responsibly start with. Then they get completely overwhelmed and various tragic outcomes ensue. Don’t make this mistake!

Instead, start with 3-5 ducks. Conversely, don’t just get two ducks, otherwise if one dies, the remaining duck won’t have a friend. Ducks are VERY social creatures who need a companion around 24-7 to feel their best.

6. You should strongly consider the breed(s) of duck you get.

The breed(s) of duck you get can make or break your duck raising experience. We recommend starting with smaller to mid-sized ducks like Welsh harlequins, Buff Orpington, Cayugas, Runners, etc.

Why? They’re less prone to reproductive health problems than ducks bred for maximum egg production. And they’re less prone to leg, joint, and other health problems than breeds bred for large body sizes (Pekin, Silver Appleyard, etc).

We have six breeds of ducks in our flock, each with unique features and attributes.

We’d also recommend avoiding “tufted” ducks. Yes, that little tuft of feathers sticking out from the top of their heads is ridiculously cute. However, it’s actually the result of a genetic defect wherein part of their skull is missing below the feather tuft.

As you might have guessed, this feature leads to a heightened risk of health problems and a shortened lifespan. In our opinion, it’s cruel for people to continue to selectively breed for this abnormality, but as long as demand continues, so will supply.

7. You need to be very careful about the sex of your ducks.

Want some eggs? Get all female ducks for your first flock.

Just want pet ducks and no eggs? Get an all-male flock. (Boys also have fewer health problems since they don’t produce eggs.)

If you do have to get a mixed-sex flock, make sure the ratios are a minimum of 1 boy for every three girls.

Why? Male ducks are very sexually aggressive for most of the year and will spend their days trying to mate. This can lead to stressed and injured females.

For most of the year in our ten duck flock, we keep our drake separated in his own run during the day and his own partition within the coop at night. In the winter when hormonal shifts make everyone calm, he can be fully integrated with the rest of the flock.

8. Producing the most eggs possible leads to worse health and shorter lives for your ducks.

Something you don’t hear from breeders and farm supply stores is that the more eggs your ducks produce, the higher their risk of acute and chronic illnesses and premature death.

That’s why we don’t recommend people who view their ducks as pets to get breeds which have been bred for maximum production.

Our article How to choose the best duck breed for your home or farm includes total egg production comparisons for most common duck breeds.

9. Lower protein ratios of duck feed can help reduce egg production. `

Two factors which work synergistically to influence whether your ducks will lay eggs are: 1) total daylight hours (10+ hours stimulates egg production), and 2) higher protein diets, aka use of layer feed vs maintenance feed.

While you can’t control total daylight hours (unless you put your ducks in a black-out space/coop), you can control nutritional cues that help stimulate their reproductive systems. Thus, consistently giving your ducks 100% layer feed (which is higher in protein) versus lower-protein maintenance feed isn’t a great idea if you want them to continue to be healthy and live a long time.

This isn’t just our opinion, it’s the opinion of top avian vets from around the country who we’ve interviewed, such as Dr. Scott Echols.

With our flock, our target is a maximum of 5-6 months of egg production (with some variance by age and breed), then 6+ months of non-laying to remineralize and recover. Note that it’s harder to get younger ducks from high production breeds to shut off their reproduction; the opposite is true for older ducks and lower production breeds.

10. Ducks need to swim.

To be their healthiest and happiest, ducks need access to clean swimming water for baths, play, and sexy time. Yes, even all-girl flocks will get randy with each other. You want them doing their business while floating in water rather than on the ground, or they’ll eventually end up with ankle and leg injuries.

Getting a kiddie pool seems like a simple solution… until your ducks make the water disgusting every 48-72 hours, after which you have to dump and refill the pool. Next thing you know, your backyard is a mucky swamp. Your ducks will love this outcome, but you probably won’t.

So you’ll want to figure out a better, long-term solution for your ducks’ swimming needs. There are multiple duck pond options you can find online.

What do we do? Here’s our self-cleaning, chemical-free duck pond setup.

11. Everything wants to eat your ducks.

If you don’t predator-proof the areas where your ducks spend their days and nights, they will very quickly become a meal. We’ve never had a single injury or death in our flock due to a predator attack, and we don’t want you to either.

12. Ducks need plenty of space during the day and night.

It should go without saying, but living all day and night in a small, cramped box isn’t any better for ducks than it is for humans. Your ducks need space to move around and get exercise during the day in order to stay happy and healthy.

We also let our ducks out into the rest of our yard on afternoons and evenings when we can be outside with them to keep any predators away. You never know when a neighbor’s dog has gotten loose or a fox is stalking nearby.

How much space? At night, make sure your ducks’ predator-proof coop allows for at least 2-6 square feet of space per duck. Smaller breeds can get away with the lower end of that spectrum, whereas larger breeds will need the maximum space. General rule: The more space, the better.

13. Ducks are only as dirty as their setup.

It seems to us that one 5 pound duck can produce 10 pounds of poop per hour. Not really, but they are incredibly poopy creatures!

Ducks also love muck and mud, and will happily turn your yard into the duck equivalent of a pig sty if given the opportunity. Despite their dirty reputations, ducks are actually only as dirty as their setup allows.

Over the years, we’ve figured out how to have both ducks AND an attractive yard with edible gardens.

14. Leaving town or going on vacation will be 10x harder for you than it used to be.

Do you like to travel? Enjoy going on weekend trips to see friends and family?

Kiss all that time away from home goodbye if you have ducks… Unless you have a trusty duck sitter.

15. Your ducks will need a vet at some point — and it’s going to be expensive.

Everyone and everything eventually gets sick and dies. No matter how good the care you provide, your ducks will eventually get an injury or illness beyond your ability to treat at home, or they’ll require end-of-life care that you might not want to provide at home.

In these cases, you will need a vet who can treat ducks. The problem is avian vets aren’t that common, and ducks are considered an “exotic species.” Translation: Make sure you have a vet who can see ducks near you and be prepared for duck vet visits to be much more expensive than cat/dog vet care.

Related: Duck healthcare guide

16. You won’t save money on eggs.

Our ducks provide us with many benefits:

Smiles — our ducks are highly entertaining and their antics provide us with daily laughter.
Pest control — ticks, slugs, and snails don’t stand a chance against our ducks.
Soil fertility — we have an edible organic landscape for which our ducks provide quite a bit of soil fertility via their manure and their spent coop bedding which we turn into compost.
Education — our family (including our young son) has learned a tremendous amount about nature and ecology as a result of being enslaved by our ducks.
Food — as a side benefit, our ducks produce delicious, nutrient-dense eggs, although we don’t try to maximize their egg production.

Education is a huge value our family gets from ducks. Here, our son is getting a lesson from Izzy the Orpington duck.

One thing our ducks definitely do NOT do? Save us money on eggs. By the time we add up the value of our time, coop construction costs, bedding, pond costs, water and feed costs, veterinary care, etc, we’d be lucky if we’re at $2 per duck egg.

Takeaway: If your primary reason for getting ducks is to save money on eggs, please don’t get ducks. The only way you’ll come close to competing with commercial egg prices is by taking very poor care of your ducks and culling them every 18-24 months like commercial egg operations do.

17. Your ducks will die at some point — and you’re going to be really sad.

Chances are, you’ll feel great affection for your ducks. And sometimes, you might have a certain duck who you fall totally in love with due to their peculiar personality or their ability to tolerate or even enjoy the physical affection you show them.

The downside of becoming emotionally invested in creatures whose lifespans are considerably shorter than yours is that it can hurt deeply when they inevitably die.

So be prepared for this possibility when you let ducks into your life!

We hope this beginner’s guide to raising ducks helps set you on a course to taking excellent care of your ducks — if you decide to get them. And if at all possible, please remember to get your ducks from a nearby waterfowl or animal rescue operation!

Thanks!

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Aaron von Frank

Aaron is the creator of the Impractical Guide book series, and author of the Impractical Guide to Raising Ducks: How to joyously produce the world's most expensive eggs from the world's most adorable animals, available in paperback and ebook on Amazon. In addition to their work on Tyrant Farms, Aaron and his wife, Susan (aka "The Tyrant"), are co-founders of GrowJourney.com, which provides free educational resources for home gardeners and market gardeners interested in no-till organic food production. In addition to writing, Aaron loves getting his hands dirty raising ducks, growing food, foraging, and cooking. He is a graduate of Furman University, and served on the board of the Diversified Agriculture Committee for the South Carolina Farm Bureau for five years. He's also a proud papa to an amazing wild child.