Ducks as house pets

[tcfrogs]

discuss.

Seriously, my neighbors have four ducks. Just saw them tonight while taking the dog for a walk, and met the owner. In the city of Chicago, not some rural area, but a residential neighborhood.

Anyone know of people keeping ducks as pets?

[Dookus]

1. sigh

I've wanted a duck for years. I just love 'em.

[Maple]

2. Ducks aren't too bright or

able to be housebroken, or trained to a litter box.

Duck diapers?

[Spinzonner]

3. Get a Goose

good Watch Poultry

[Gyre]

4. They poop at will

and it ain't pretty.

Gyre

[Lisa]

5. then again, there aren't any expectations that they'll be housetrained!

I've lost count of the number of times my landlord's freaked out about his pets having "accidents".

In the meantime, I've played host to 2 clutches of ducklings (mallards and Indian Runners) and 3 clutches of heritage chicks -- and I'd rather clean up after the birds! (At least they've never pooped in my shoe -- unlike certain cats I could name.)


Pic of Runner ducklings (mine are chocolate-colored, and are boarding at a friend's farm)




p.s. a friend of mine had a couple of ducks that lived in the garden -- when they were hungry they'd peck at the glass sliding doors. She would sometimes let them into the living room, BUT she had easily-cleanable tiled floors, and they were rather small ducks. I've heard that people have kept individual bantam chickens (better be a calm variety like the Cochin or Sultan) indoors, and either had diapers fitted or been prepared to clean up after them. Ducks are messier, since they are so fond of water and tend to eat more than chickens anyway.

[radwriter0555]

6. I've been DREAMING of a Pekin duck for a pet... **sigh** LUCKILY

my family keeps talking me out of it.

[Lisa]

7. I was tempted, radwriter!

Several years ago, I was helping a friend with her veterinary school project -- monitoring white cell levels in Pekin ducks. One of the ducks was a true albino (red eyes and all!). I really wanted to take "Ruby" home with me, and even spent extra time playing with her and giving her treats so she'd get used to being petted. But unfortunately I was moving to the West Coast, so she ended up living on a hobby farm.

A girl in my neighborhood had a pet Pekin she'd hatched from an egg, for a science fair exhibit. She used to put a harness on him and take him for walks in the park. It was really cute.

Did you know, Caroline Kennedy kept a small flock of Pekins when she lived at the White House?

[radwriter0555]

8. **sniff** I want one....

**sigh**

[HEyHEY]

9. BE careful, they attack in flocks

[Pithlet]

10. If I lived out in the country

I'd have some. Not allowed to have them where I live. I love ducks!

[radwriter0555]

18. I have a nice big back yard with a 5 X 10' pond.... and some doggies that

would LOVE the company...

Okay, this is getting tempting again.

Dammit.

I just spent $4,000 on my little Winky dog's broken leg; think I need more critters? I found a home for the giant tortoise...

Donna Duck?

[skygazer]

11. I used to raise birds

Pheasant, duck, goose, chickens and quail. I hatched them all in the house, kept them in there until they were ready to go into the barn and then they went out. Chicks are easy - you can keep them contained. I wouldn't think an adult duck would be all that happy in a house - they like to wander around and peck at stuff. I suppose you could keep them but it would be a bother cleaning up - four adult ducks would generate a lot of ducky doo doo.

edited to add - there may be zoning regulations about it, too. Ducks would probably be considered "livestock".

[radwriter0555]

19. Shhhhh, don't mention code violations and zoning regs please...

**ahem**

[soothsayer]

12. I had one as an indoor pet! Mr. Duck. He'd follow me around, even play

hide and seek (I'd hide, he'd seek), but like so many fowl, he got duck pneumonia and expired after about 4 months, just as he was getting his grown-up white feathers and his voice was changing.

He was GREAT! You do have to clean up alot of poop, but he slept in a big area on the floor of my bedroom covered with newspapers and that's where most of the poop ended up. He was great and I still love him.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

13. A friend of mine had ducks in her back yard.

She set up one of those cheap plastic kiddie pools with some water in it, and fed them fish and bird mix stuff...they're easy to take care of.
Duckie

[barb162]

14. well does the person keep them in the back yard or inside the house

most of the time? Do you know? I would be afraid for their health in January, February. Do they have any shelter in the back yard, like a little wood house or something?

[tcfrogs]

16. I couldn't tell

It was dark out. I think the owner said he keeps them in the house at night. I can't imagine all that poop inside the house, though!

[exJW]

15. After a while, the *feel* underfoot becomes quite appealing.

You find you can't wait to take your shoes off when you get home!

[Cadfael]

17. I had a chicken as a house pet once

My grandma bought a baby chick for me for Easter (back when they still allowed such madness). I think most of the chicks they sold for Easter died fairly quickly, but this one thrived. It lived for a while in a hatbox with a light bulb for warmth. Then it grew up, and we moved its sleeping quarters to a cardboard box. It had the run of the house, and I had to follow it around with Kleenex doing "poop patrol". The Fuller brush man almost fainted when he came to our door and was trying to sell my mom something, and the chicken ran by behind her. My dad used to hypnotize the chicken (who we named Fluffernut, BTW) at parties. Eventually he started crowing at 4 am and that was it for Fluffernut. We found him a home at a farm