There is a lot of different types of great poultry out there including, Chickens, Peafowl, Quails, Turkeys, Geese, and Ducks. When your trying to decide what poultry to keep, it can be tricky to decide. Ducks are one option, but, why would you keep them? This article is here to answer that question for those who are wondering.
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One good reason as to why to keep ducks is that they are easy to raise. If you get Ducklings they will be pretty much fully feathered at 8 weeks old, and will start laying at about 5 months. Ducks are also resistant to disease and Cold, Hot, and Wet weather, except for Muscovies who do not handle wet weather well. Other types of ducks, though, not only handle wet weather well, they purposefully run outside when it's pouring down rain, and act like it's the best of weather.
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Ducks also are great at eating bugs you don't want, and love to forage in weeds and other places full of plants. Depending on the climate ducks are capable of foraging 15-100 percent of their diet.


Another great reason is eggs! Ducks are capable of laying lots of eggs. The Khaki Campbell and Runner can lay an average of 275 to 325 eggs per hen per year. Duck eggs are also 20 to 35 percent larger than chicken eggs. Furthermore, if you or someone in your family is allergic to chicken eggs, they might be able to eat duck eggs. If you want to get ducks because you are allergic to chicken eggs, I suggest finding someone who has duck eggs, first, and trying some to make sure you are not allergic to duck eggs as well.


They also make great pets. They are rather shy and seldom aggressive towards humans and of the larger domestic birds they are the least likely to inflict injury on children or adults. The reasons why one would get hurt by ducks are mostly because they went to near to a broody hen ( In case you don't know, broody means a hen wants to have babies and will becomes protective ) or because you don't hold them right. Ducks are beautiful and entertaining as well. Watching them splash around in a pool can really make you laugh.

Another reason is for meat. I do not plan on ever using my ducks as meat, but I know some of you might want them for this reason, so I'll say it, Many types of duck can be used for meat and many people consider duck meat a delicacy.
So there are the reasons for keeping ducks, if you decide to get ducks you stumble upon a whole new question: "What breed/s of duck should I get?" The answer depends on why you decide to get ducks. So I'll name the purpose and then the ducks that are very good for that.

Bugs extermination:
~Australian Spotted*
~Call
~East Indie
~Mallard
~Bali*
~Campbell
~Harlequin*
~Magpie*
~Runner
~Ancona
~Muscovy
Eggs:
~Campbell
~Runner
~Bali*
~Harlequin
~Magpie*
~Ancona
~Cayuga
~Orpington
~Swedish
~Appleyard*
~Pekin
~Saxony*
Pets:
~ Australian Spotted*
~Call
~East Indie
~Mallard
~Runner
~Muscovy

Meat:
~Harlequin*
~Orpington
~Appleyard*
~Pekin
~Saxony*
Rare Breeds



The *s by some of the breed names it means that breed is rare or endangered. If you are interested in taking care of or even breeding a rare breed, that's great! I have taken up that adventure myself by getting a Magpie pair ( The drake is pictured above ) to breed. It is very rewarding. If you decide to get a rare breed you can help raise awareness about it by exhibiting it, raising it, but learning about it first!
I hope this article helps you out!


-The Duck Ladie