ericatdallas
In the Brooder
- Aug 5, 2015
- 37
- 2
- 36
Hi,
New to ducks... well sort of, my family tried ducks when I was a toddler but I apparently loved them so much they died (Elmyra-style from Tiny Toons) so my family gave up on them.
Anyway, now that I have my own toddlers I wanted to give ducks another try. I've been scouring the internet for all the advice and how to care for them.
We just bought a property with a couple of acres. We have a 170 year old barn that's in decent shape that was formerly used for chickens. We plan to have some of those too --- I think my wife joined this site last night.
I'm in charge of ducks. Wife is in charge of chickens.
We're thinking of starting pretty quick with 2-3 ducks and let them mostly free range.
There's a few Craigslist ads that are selling/giving away eggs all the way up to adults.
Is it advisable to go with older ducks? Will they be a problem with bonding with our family and learn not to run away?
Will adult/mature ducks be easy to handle for 'newbies'?
Any other advice would be appreciated. We live in upstate NY.
I'm considering Cayugas and/or Muscovies.
- My goal for them will be eggs.
- Maybe meat, but the kid you see as my avatar is shocked that people kill chickens... so we'll see.
- I want them for pest control. I hate mosquitoes and flies. I know any poultry will deal with the other land bugs, slugs, etc.
- snake and lizard control would be good too... we had a ton of lizards when we lived in Florida. My wife liked them but I found them annoying.
Thanks,
Eric
New to ducks... well sort of, my family tried ducks when I was a toddler but I apparently loved them so much they died (Elmyra-style from Tiny Toons) so my family gave up on them.
Anyway, now that I have my own toddlers I wanted to give ducks another try. I've been scouring the internet for all the advice and how to care for them.
We just bought a property with a couple of acres. We have a 170 year old barn that's in decent shape that was formerly used for chickens. We plan to have some of those too --- I think my wife joined this site last night.
I'm in charge of ducks. Wife is in charge of chickens.
We're thinking of starting pretty quick with 2-3 ducks and let them mostly free range.
There's a few Craigslist ads that are selling/giving away eggs all the way up to adults.
Is it advisable to go with older ducks? Will they be a problem with bonding with our family and learn not to run away?
Will adult/mature ducks be easy to handle for 'newbies'?
Any other advice would be appreciated. We live in upstate NY.
I'm considering Cayugas and/or Muscovies.
- My goal for them will be eggs.
- Maybe meat, but the kid you see as my avatar is shocked that people kill chickens... so we'll see.
- I want them for pest control. I hate mosquitoes and flies. I know any poultry will deal with the other land bugs, slugs, etc.
- snake and lizard control would be good too... we had a ton of lizards when we lived in Florida. My wife liked them but I found them annoying.
Thanks,
Eric