Can You Have a Duck as a Pet?
Can you have a duck as a pet? Everything you need to know before bringing home your webbed-footed friends.
by Erin Snyder
Ducks are gaining popularity in backyard flocks for their superb, quality eggs and endearing personalities. With their cheerful faces, happy quacks, and adorable webbed feet, it’s easy to see why ducks are gaining popularity. So, if you’re considering adding pet ducks to your backyard, here are a few things you should know before bringing home your webbed-footed friends.
Make it Legal
Before acquiring ducks, check with your local municipality to see if there are any restrictions. Even when raised as pets, many towns still have regulations against owning ducks in populated areas.
If you plan to raise Mallards or Muscovies as pets, check with your local fish and wildlife experts to see if a license is required to own, breed, or sell these ducks.
Choosing a Breed
When raising ducks as pets, choosing a friendly breed will make the experience more fun. Heavy-weight breeds, including Silver Appleyards, Rouen, and Saxony, make ideal family pets, as do Buffs, Indian Runners (when kept in small flocks), and Welsh Harlequins.
However, you can’t beat the Pekin if you’re looking for a pet duck that excels in egg production and forms a close bond with their human family. These big, white birds are healthy and robust, lay an abundance of white or creamed-colored eggs, and are an ideal breed for the novice.
As family pets, Pekins are friendly and interactive, loving nothing more than spending time with their favorite humans. Pekin ducklings imprint on their human family, creating a bond that will last a lifetime.
Choosing a Coop and Run
Selecting a coop and run is an important decision. With many ready-made coops and runs available and even more plans online, the choices may seem overwhelming. Before choosing a coop and run, let’s go over the basics.
In the Coop
Ducks require a coop or barn to protect them from the elements and predators. These coops should have a cement or wooden floor resting on a cement pad, a water and feeding area, and a nesting spot for sleeping and egg-laying. Since domestic ducks (Muscovies excluded) don’t roost like chickens, they’ll need some extra floor room for resting.
Unlike chickens, ducks don’t require a nesting box to lay their eggs and will lay eggs in a nest of straw anywhere on the coop floor. However, you can build some yourself with plywood and 2x4s. Be sure the nesting boxes rest on the coop floor for easy access.
The coop should be large enough to allow at least 8 square feet of space per duck. While this may sound like a lot, domestic ducks require more space per bird than chickens. Ducks are flock creatures, so keeping at least 3 to 4 is advised. Also, consider the future, as you may want to add more ducks later. An oversized coop won’t harm ducks like an overcrowded one, so consider numbers before deciding on a coop size.
In the Run
Ducks enjoy foraging in grass for tasty morsels (including the grass itself). While this is fun for them, this trait means extra work for the backyard flock owner. To keep ducks happy and healthy, provide nutrient-rich grass, a minimum of 125 square feet per bird, more if possible.
When choosing a location for the run, look for a flat spot in the yard not far from an outdoor pump to provide easy access to fresh water for filling a kiddie pool.
Protection From Predators
Protecting pet ducks from predatory attacks is a necessary step to helping them live long lives. To prevent your flock from becoming a victim of an attack, lock your ducks up in a secure coop at night and only allow ducks to free range when directly supervised by an adult. Avoid free-ranging at dawn, shortly before sunset, and dusk.
Providing a predator-proof coop and run should prevent predators from gaining access to your flock. Line windows and run, including the top, with half-inch PVC-coated 16-gauge hardware cloth. Allow no gaps larger than a half inch anywhere in the coop or run. Secure doors and pop holes with padlocks to prevent curious raccoons from gaining access to the coop.
Nutrition
Like chickens, ducks will do well with a well-balanced layer ration supplemented with oyster shell, grit, probiotics, prebiotics, and brewer’s yeast. Many feed brands don’t make feed specifically for ducks, so feeding ducks chicken layer food is recommended.
Word on Brewer’s Yeast
Ducks require more niacin than backyard chickens, with each adult duck requiring 12.5 milligrams daily. Chicken feed lacks the niacin ducks need, so supplementing their diet with brewer’s yeast is a great way to ensure your flock gets the niacin they need to stay healthy.
Treats
Taking time to feed some treats to your flock is a good way to bond with them and help you spot any unusual behaviors, such as a sick or injured bird. Ducks love treats and will happily consume peas, salad greens, lettuce, zucchini, kale, dandelion greens, watermelon, and herbs. Avoid feeding processed foods, such as meat (poultry, beef, seafood, etc.), bread, pasta, and mealworms, as these treats may cause health concerns.
Fun With Your Ducks
There’s nothing pet ducks like more than interacting with their human family. And, let’s be honest, there’s nothing we like more than spending time with our ducks! So, if you and your ducks are ready to have fun together, check out the suggestions below.
Holding your ducks: Ours love being held, and handling them regularly makes them even friendlier.
Filling plastic colored cups with water is another way to interact with your flock as they splash through the water, looking for something tasty to eat. Add a few treats to make it even more fun.
Hand-feeding treats is another great way to bond with your flock. This activity may also help shy ducks become more confident around you.
Pet ducks may not be for everyone, but owning them is a labor of love, especially if you’re drawn to these delightful waterfowl. With proper nutrition and protection from predators, ducks live long lives and will provide you with lots of happiness.
Resources
https://www.petmd.com/bird/care/can-people-have-ducks-pets
https://www.fresheggsdaily.blog/2018/05/ducks-need-niacin-aka-ducks-love-peas.html
The Ultimate Pet Duck Guidebook: By Kimberly Link
Erin Snyder and her family have raised chickens and ducks for nearly two decades. She is passionate about all things poultry but is especially interested in poultry nutrition, predator protection, egg-laying disorders, and helping chickens live their best lives well into their golden years. You can follow her chicken adventures on her newly hatched Instagram page.
Originally published in the June/July 2024 issue of Backyard Poultry and regularly vetted for accuracy.
