Duck - fish culture

Benefits of ducks

- Ducks contribute to high fish production while producing valuable eggs and meat.

- Ducks loosen the pond bottom, releasing nutrients which increase pond productivity.

- No additional land is required to raise ducks.

- Ducks get 50 to 75 percent of their feed from the pond in the form of aquatic weeds, insects, and molluscs.

- Ducks spread their droppings over the whole pond. This reduces the labour associated with pond manuring.

Ducks and fish make a great combination. Just build a simple duck shelter next to the fish pond and reap the results. Your fish will grow large on duck manure, spilled duck feed, and microscopic animals and plants made plentiful by the presence of the ducks. You will harvest fish, duck eggs, and meat while saving on pond fertilizers and supplementary fish feed.

Pond management

- Six- to eight-week-old ducklings should be stocked on the pond.

- Vaccinate them prior to stocking.

- The ducks are likely to prey on small fingerlings. To avoid this, stock the pond with fingerlings more than 10 cm in length.

Selection of ducks

Indian runner, styles, mete, and megaswari are suitable breeds.

Construction of duck house

- Construct a house on the pond embankment to shelter the ducks at night and during egg laying.

- Allow the ducks free access to the pond during the day. It is not necessary to build a fence around the pond.

- Provide about 0.3 0. 5 sq m of floor space per bird.

Duck droppings as manure

- Droppings should be collected from the duck house at night and applied to the pond every morning.

- 200-300 ducks are sufficient to manure a 1 ha fish pond.

Feed supplements for ducks.

Supplementary food at the rate of 100 g per bird per day can come from household wastes such as kitchen leftovers, rice bran, and broken rice. Put this feed inside the duck house. Do not give ducks spoiled food.

Fish, eggs, and meat

Ducks start layers eggs at the age of 24 weeks and continue to lay until the age of two years. After this, sell them.

About 3,000 kg of fish, 12,000 eggs, and 500 kg of duck meat can be produced per hectare of pond each year.