HOW TO START DUCK FARMING IN GHANA.

Dark, also known as the Water Fowl, thrives well in aquatic areas around the world, and Ghana is not an exception.

In the humid tropics, it is kept on free-range management around river and lake areas.

The domestic duck traces its ancestry to the wild mallard.

Duck breeding and production are not well established in Ghana compared to domestic fowl, and therefore their numbers are small.

Why choose duck farming?

They provide excellent meat, which is a good source of animal protein.
They produce more and bigger eggs than hens.
Their eggs have a stronger flavour.
They provide more income than hen.
Easy to keep as they require simple houses, and they therefore require less capital to start.
It can withstand several diseases and pests.
They provide manure that can be used to enrich the plankton levels of fish ponds.
They are generally good brooders as they can raise a large number of ducklings to maturity.
Ducks are excellent foragers and can feed themselves at no cost to the farmer.

The common breeds include the following

Ducks can live without any shelter, but their performance in egg-laying is low.

Rearing ducks under a semi-intensive system of housing gives better eggs and meat.

Under this system, ducks can make good use of grass runs and have shelter during the cold, windy periods.

The intensive system of housing ducks on restricted premises is less popular in the tropics.

For successful duck breeding, crossbreed good ducks such as Aylesbury and Pekin, and the duck production gives good white-skinned meat.
The mating ratio for good fertilized eggs is one drake to 7 – 8 ducks.
The ration may be reduced or increased depending on the size of the breeds.
To produce more fertile eggs, the drake is introduced to the ducks about four weeks before the eggs are collected for hatching.
Egg-laying in ducks occurs early in the morning, so ducks must be kept indoors during the laying period up to about 10 am or 11 am before they are allowed to go out on the grass run.
The nest box should be stuffed with straw and sited on well-drained land.
The incubation period is 28 days, and a good breeder duck should be able to hatch between 18 to 22 eggs over this period.
Good egg-producing ducks start laying eggs at about 26 weeks and may lay throughout the year.
The wood shavings in the nest box have to be changed regularly, and the eggs collected as soon as they are laid.
Eggs meant for hatching have to be collected from the ducks after about 7 weeks (from the time of laying) to get good eggs of high hatchability.

Ducks require a simple house to keep them safe at night.
In the semi-intensive system, a dry, cool, dark house built on well-drained soil to provide a floor space of about 0.35 m² for a table duck is suitable to give profitable yields.
The house may be built of hardwood with a concrete floor raised about 20 cm above the surrounding soil.
The roof has to be rainproof and covered with corrugated aluminium sheets.
The room can be dark but must have adequate ventilation.
Cover the concrete floor with wood shavings or straw, and those materials must be changed frequently.
A grass run made of wire fence about 1.5 m high has to be attached to the main house for a semi-intensive system of housing.
The grass run may include a pond for ducks to swim and disinfect themselves.
The duck yard should be shaded with trees well-spaced out.

Ducks are nocturnal feeders and therefore must be given extra feed and water.
Ducks take a lot of water and have to be provided with clean, cool drinking water at all times.
The drinking trough should be shallow of about 20 cm deep.
At the brooding stage, ducklings have to be fed about 4 times a day on either day-old chick starter ration for the first 4 weeks or duckling-starter ration prepared industrially.
The brooder duck should be fed with a high level of calcium and crude protein.
Duck rations do not require the addition of coccidiostat and other growth promoters.
The texture of the ration should be coarse.
In general, ducklings, gnower ducks, layers, and breeders can be reared satisfactorily on the rations of the domestic fowl at various stages of growth.
The adult duck, however, eats more than the fowl, and laying ducks consume about 300-250 g of feed per day.
Ducks being good foragers can live on grass and green vegetables such as spinach leaves, pasture legumes, and other rich legumes of high nutrient values.
Fast-growing ducklings usually develop weak legs, and to prevent this, the ration contains a good balance between calcium and phosphorus, vitamin D, and vitamin B-complex, especially nicotinic acid.

Change litter materials regularly.
Replace wet litter around the drinking trough as soon as practicable.
The feeders and drinkers have to be cleaned every day before fresh feed and water are placed.
The grass run has to be kept dry, and this is the reason runs are built on sandy soils to allow maximum drainage.
Change the water in the pond frequently to allow the ducks to wash themselves with fresh, clean water all the time.

The main infectious diseases of ducks are:

Duck viral enteritis is commonly called duck plaque.
Affected ducks become listless, and the death rate can be very high in severe cases.
Not yet known preventive measure, but use recommended vaccines.

Duck viral hepatitis is a very serious disease and affects ducklings under 4 weeks old.
Affected duckling tumbles over, paralysed legs aimlessly in the air, and dies about an hour later.
The dead duckling’s head is drawn up with its back muscles tightened.
Post-mortem examination shows haemorrhage in the liver.
Restricting visitors or the dockyard and practicing good sanitation by keeping the floor, litter, and feeding equipment clean can help to prevent this disease.
Day-old foot-web chicks are vaccinated by stabbing
If the duckling has received antibiotic protection from the mother, the vaccine should then be given when it is 12 days old.

Ducks do not suffer from serious attacks of other viral diseases like Newcastle disease that affect other poultry species.

Ducks are offered for sale as live birds and processed products like meat and eggs.
The carcass is processed in the same way as the broiler chicken and is sold as a whole carcass or in cut-up parts.
The carcass is also preserved by deep-freezing after it has been wrapped in a polythene material.