Guide To Raising Ducks - 101 Tips On How To Raise Ducks

Many animal raisers are now choosing ducks over
the popular counterpart, the chicken. This is a
guide to raising ducks, a bird species with 20
million of them being raised in the United
States alone.This is because duck meat now also
receives an equal number of consumers with those
of chicken meat.

Ducks are primarily raised because of their
meat. The most popular breed for food in the US
is the Pekin duck, a breed that originated from
China. The Pekin duck matures fast and they lay
more eggs compared to other breeds. A fully
mature Pekin duck, 4 to 7 months old, can weigh
up to 11 pounds. The mature Pekin duck also can
lay up to 200 eggs per year.

A variety of guide to raising ducks include
detailed protein levels that should be fed to
ducklings until they mature. Basically, all they
say is that the duckling stage of 3 weeks since
hatching is the most crucial for growth, so they
must be fed with starter feeds with 22% protein.
After that, protein levels may be decreased.

This guide to keeping ducks like most others
would recommend that most breeds of ducks should
be grown for their meat, not for the eggs since
ducks consume 75 percent more laying feeds than
chickens do. Eggs are usually not harvested for
selling but for food or hatching. The ducklings
are then sold later.

Duck shelters need not be expensive. The
shelters can be made up of assembled bamboo or
wood. The key thing is that the shelter should
be kept dry so that bacteria will not grow and
cause diseases. This can be done by covering the
flooring with layers of rice or peanut hulls and
corn cobs. 3-4 square foot space in the shelter
should be allotted per duck.

It is also advisable for the shelter to be
situated near a stream so that the ducks can
swim and exercise. It is better if the body of
water is moving freely. If it is a closed pond,
the droppings of ducks can make it green and
dirty in just 2 weeks so the water must be
replaced regularly.

Ducks should be fed with multivitamin feeds. At
least once a year, they should receive pesticide
spray so that they will not be attacked with
mites, free or worms. This is just a quick
overview guide to raising ducks. If you want to
learn about the feeds and the medical supplies
for ducks, agricultural and farming agencies can
give you detailed information.

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Generally, a guide to raising ducks is no longer
necessary the second time one will take care of
them. They are easy to handle and keep healthy.
Most of all, it is not just a profitable
endeavor, but a lot of fun too. If you are
interested for more tips on guide to raising
ducks, please go to:
http://www.howtoraiseducks.com

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