Practical Tips for Raising Ducks in Orchards
Raising ducks in orchards, combining planting and breeding, allows fruit trees and ducks to live together for mutual benefit, reducing the cost of planting and breeding and increasing the economic returns of the planting and breeding operation. The key technical points are described below:
Stocking time. According to the feed resources available in the orchard, duck raising in orchards is divided into a period focused on free-range grazing and a period focused on confinement. The most suitable grazing period is when plants and animals in the orchard are growing most vigorously, generally from mid-April (after Qingming and before Guyu) to the end of October. At this time, forage grass in the orchard grows lushly and there is plenty of residual fruit-tree by-product, so ducks can feed on various kinds of green grass, wild vegetables and fallen flowers, leaves and fruit and other plant-based feed, as well as various insect eggs, pupae, insects and low-flying insects near the ground and other animal-based feed. Adult ducks can be grazed year-round.
Orchard site selection. Ducks move clumsily and cannot climb trees to peck for food, which provides assurance for low-fence grazing in orchards. Any orchard with good soil and water source conditions and with tall trunks or older trees, such as apple, pear, apricot, hawthorn, persimmon and walnut orchards, can be used for grazing. Grazing ducks can play a role in controlling weeds, and duck manure can provide a high-quality fertilizer source for the fruit trees. This is an effective measure for transforming orchards that are overgrown with weeds, extensively managed, seriously affected by pests, or that fail to bear fruit at the proper age or are low-yielding and low-efficiency into high-quality, high-efficiency orchard sites.
Stocking density. Stocking density is determined by the size and strength of the ducks being raised, following the principle that sparse is preferable to dense. Generally, an average of 20-30 adult ducks are raised per mu of orchard, and 2000-3000 are raised in a 100-mu orchard.
Supplementary feeding on schedule. To make up for insufficient feed during the grazing period, ducks being grazed should be given supplementary feed at the appropriate times. Ducklings start grazing from 4 weeks of age; the earlier stage is the brooding period, and they can be kept in confinement or in cages. Ducklings are given supplementary feed once each in the morning and evening to make up for insufficient energy. Determine the amount of supplementary feed on the principle of half-full in the morning and full feeding in the evening, and gradually reduce the number and amount of feedings to encourage the ducks to feed freely. As the ducklings grow, supplementary feeding of the grazing ducks can be decided according to how much they peck at weeds, wild vegetables and insects. During the period focused on grazing, give supplementary feed after they return to the shed in the evening, and prepare enough drinking water to meet their needs. In spring, before young ducklings are put out to graze, they must first be acclimated to changes in outside temperature and gradually introduced into the grazing orchard.
Disease prevention and control. Disease prevention for grazing ducks likewise adheres to the policy of “prevention first, with prevention more important than treatment”. Follow routine defense procedures, carry out regular vaccinations, and do a good job of disease prevention and control.
Preventing poisoning. When fruit trees in the grazing orchard must be sprayed with pesticides, it is strictly forbidden to spray highly toxic pesticides. Low-toxicity, high-efficiency pesticides or low-concentration, low-toxicity fungicide pesticides should be used. During the spraying period, carry out fenced grazing in limited areas to avoid poisoning caused by random grazing. The ducks can also be confined for 3-5 days and then released into the grazing area. When grazing in limited areas, the amount of supplementary feed can be appropriately increased.