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How Long Do Ducks Live Naturally?

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Robin Burden Profile
Robin Burden answered
A duck's lifespan can range from between 2-20 years dependent on specie, although the average life-expectancy of a duck is somewhere around 7-8 years.

How long does a duck live?
There are a couple of different factors that affect how long a duck lives; the first is specie.

As a general rule, the bigger the duck - the shorter its life expectancy.

Smaller waterfowl like Bantam ducks often live to the ripe old age of 15, while rapidly-growing Pekin ducks rarely make it past 5 years.

Whether a duck is domesticated or whether it lives in the wild will also affect how long it can be expected to live.

Ducks that are used for farming and laying eggs tend to get less exercise and are often overfed, which can greatly affect how long they live. Even free-range ducks tend to have shorter lives than their counterparts in the wild.

A domesticated duck's conditions can heavily impact on its life expectancy, and 'battery farming' can halve a ducks life expectancy in extreme cases!

For more information on the lifespan of specific species, check out hobbyfarms.com.
Christine NZ Profile
Christine NZ answered
A duck's life expectancy depends on the species of duck. If no predators and no injuries or illness, etc.. A duck can live for as long as 15-30 years.

Pekin ducks: 9-12 years.
Mallard: 5-10 years in the wild, up to 20 years in captivity.
Muscovy ducks: 10-20 years.

Average life is probably about 7-10 years.

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