Technical Points for the Construction of a Standardized Wild Duck Farm

The wild duck is a typical representative of waterfowl; the wild duck is the common name for the mallard (mallard) in the Northern Hemisphere. The wild duck belongs to the class Aves, order Anseriformes, family Anatidae; its numbers are very large, and it is a general term for many kinds of wild ducks, with more than ten species. Wild ducks are capable of long-distance migratory flight, with the highest flight speed reaching 110 km/h. In the narrow sense, the wild duck refers to the mallard, also known as the large green head, large red-legged duck, large hemp duck, etc. It is the most common large wild duck and also the ancestor of all domestic ducks except the Muscovy duck, and is currently the main subject of artificial domestication.

A standardized wild duck farm includes: wild duck brooding room, young wild duck house, wild duck free-range area, breeding wild duck house, wild duck escape-prevention netting, etc.

1 Wild duck brooding house

1) Requirements: facing the sun, good insulation, dry, good lighting, good ventilation; when ventilation is not needed, there should be no drafts through gaps in doors and windows.

2) The ratio of the window lighting area to the indoor floor area is 1:(10-15)

3) Floor: concrete floor, with a small water pool

4) Partitioning: the brooding house can be divided into small compartments of about 4 sq m in size, so as to facilitate brooding ducklings in small groups.

2 Young wild duck house

Used for raising growing-period breeding ducks and commercial ducks. The young duck house can be somewhat simpler and can be built as a rearing shed.

Size: generally 9 m long, 4 m wide, and 3.2 m high.

Structure: the upright frame of the shed can be built with bamboo, wood, steel, or brick and stone, while the roof frame is erected with bamboo, wood, or steel, and the shed roof is covered with reed mats. On top of that, asphalt felt or plastic film is added to prevent rain and snow. Before 60 days of age, bamboo fencing is used to enclose the duck flock; after 60 days of age, an overhead net needs to be installed.

Pen division: the duck shed is generally divided into small pens of 10-12 sq m. Each sq m houses 8-10 growing-period wild ducks.

Floor: concrete floor. The floor is covered with bedding such as sawdust, wood shavings, or chopped wheat straw and rice straw. Inside the house, half can be used for bedding while the other half holds drinking water basins and feed troughs. The bedding must be changed frequently to keep it clean and dry

Other

The breeding wild duck house must have sufficient lighting conditions and insulation conditions; the ratio of the duck house lighting area is 1:10

The north wall must be windproof, and the roof is required to have good insulation and heat-preservation performance. A laying room is set up in one corner of the breeding duck house. It is best to build a feeding shed outside the breeding duck house, and inside the feeding shed place feed troughs and waterers according to the number of breeding ducks raised, so that feeding can be done outside the house regardless of wind or rain, which helps keep the house clean and dry, and at the same time gives the ducks shelter from wind and rain while eating. In addition, the feeding shed can serve as a shade shed in summer.

Wild duck escape-prevention netting

When wild ducks are 50 days old, their wing feathers have basically grown in and they begin to learn to fly. Anti-flight netting and anti-diving netting must be set up around the exercise yard and over the water surface, and at the same time, enclosure netting and overhead netting must be built. Anti-flight netting and anti-diving netting are set up on top, and at the same time, enclosure netting and overhead netting must be built. The height of the overhead net from the water surface is about 2 m, and enclosure netting is added around down to the bottom of the water, forming a closed body with the overhead net to prevent escape by flying. The mesh size of the overhead net and enclosure net is 3 cm x 3 cm. Either nylon netting or rope netting may be used.