Are ducks worth raising?

[chicken mama 0908]

At some point I want ducks, but I have been told they are messy, and eat way more than chickens. Do their eggs taste good? What about their meat? Can I raise them with chickens?

 

[mwturn99]

Ducks have their pros and cons

Ducks are very messy, like all water fowl. You can keep chickens and Ducks together, but I'd be careful. Drakes tend to kill hens for fun, especially if you don't have a rooster

I like duck eggs more, they're bigger, and have more umami. They actually lay way more eggs per year as well, but you're gonna have to wash them, because they're usually really dirty.

I can't really speak for the meat, but I hear it's a lot fattier.

Ducks are also way more cold hardy than chickens, which can make them a better option for people in a colder climate.

And no they won't fly away, domesticated Ducks are too fat.

 

[Jenbirdee]

Ducks are so funny it makes the extra work worth it. i have 12 all female ducks in with 2 chicken hens all day together but sleep separate However, I believe they would be fine to sleep in the same coop if I had room to do it that way my duck house fits my ducks perfectly so I got a little extra house just for the two chickens.

 

[chicken mama 0908]

Wow! I didn't know ducks lay so many eggs.
.

 

[telandra2]

I haven't had chickens. On the duck side, my Ancona lay an egg a day from Feb/March until they molt.. usually October. I keep forgetting to freeze (scrambled) eggs so end up shamefully buying eggs in winter. 1 duck egg = 1.5 chicken, so you use less. They have more yolk so make richer baking. My nestbox laid eggs are usually clean, any kicked out get poopy.

A loose dog killed some ducks I ended up processing so their death wasn't a total waste. I'm not a meat foodie, but I don't recall any strange taste. It is much darker than chicken meat. I guess plucking is much harder due to the oils in the duck feathers, so I just skinned mine.

Drakes have a long corkscrew penis and will try to penetrate chickens, who don't.

You might consider geese if you are looking for meat. The same dog got some geese too. I find it similar to beef. Same processing and requirements as ducks for more meat, vegetarian, more solid poop.

 

[Papaye]

Hi!

What duck breed would you like, exactly...?

Some duck breeds are less messy than others... but with ALL the ducks, you will have to change the water they drink AT LEAST two times a day, because they tend to dirty (all) the water.
(Ducks need to dip the head in the water to clean their nostrils!)

I have Indian Runners...
They are good to have : they walk funny, don't fly (I just had a drake blown away by the wind ONCE, because my department is ridiculously windy), don't eat a lot (no more than my chicken, I believe?), and are not so messy compared with some other ducks... and they lay A LOT of eggs!! (My duck laid eggs almost everyday until their molt!)
(My runners don't even eat a lot of grass - they make NO damage : they prefer to eat slugs and worms!!)

Eggs from ducks are richer in flavor, and taste better - allegedly... but actually, some people don't like these eggs, so... you will have to taste them personally in order to decide if you like them or not.
And to warn you : you really should cook the eggs from ducks before consumption, because they are renowned being particurlaly susceptible to Salmonella infections.
(Make bread or cakes!)

Actually, ducks have some advantages to chickens : if you allow them to swim regurlaly in a pool or in a pond, they won't have lice. Nice, right...?

Also, they are just so beautifuuuuuul.... Their bill are cute, their feet are adorable...! (Look at them SWIM, and you want them into your garden!)
And the white duck are soooooo WHITE (clean!) you can easily spot them at night. That is very good for those who return from work when it is dark, and who can only lock the birds up at night! (No, really...!!)

Another advantage : ducks are fairly more resistant to diseases than chickens.
I never had a sick duck. In fact, I never even had a duck with (mere) parasites... à contrario, in the past, I had to deworm (naturally) some of my chicken several times!!

The same goes for the weather...
...Did you already see ducks swim in winter, despite the snow and the frost?
Duck are hardy, and contrary to chickens, don't even care about the rain... they won't even be too hot in summer if you allow them to swim, while chicken can easily DIE from the heat...!

Regarding duck meat, I don't know what to tell you...
Seemingly, duck meat is good for health, and its fat is healthy...?
(Ducks are hard to pluck, no...? People tell me that...)

But what I CAN tell you : you can have them with chickens, yes.

Just... think about monitoring your drakes if you let them with the chickens : you don't want them to rape your poor girls - hurting or KILLING them in the process.
If you don't buy a good enough number of ducks, you will surely need to separate the drakes from the chickens - especially in mating season (spring and summer).
I know last mating season, I did need to : one of my drakes has continuously tried to rape my chickens until I put him in another park! (He doesn't try anymore to breed with them now, because we are no more in mating season.)

Whatever you choose... good luck!

 

[Myah1011]

I’m not an expert since I only have 2 ducks but I’ll tell you about my experiences
Ducks are definitely messy.. I have pools for them which I clean out once a day and or water bowls because they bathe in those sometimes as well, but overall they aren’t bad.

Egg wise I actually like duck eggs more! It definitely comes down to personal preference but I find the egg whites so much nicer than chicken eggs. It’s especially nice because all my chickens are molting right now so my Khaki Campbell duck is giving me the majority of the eggs right now (She produces eggs every 2 days.)

Meat wise I am unsure because i have never had duck and I definitely wouldn’t use my ducks for meat but I’m sure that there’s probably good meat ducks you can get.

As for raising chickens and ducks together, that’s definitely doable. I raised my chickens and my ducks together and they all get along really well, (although you’ll definitely have to clean their housing a lot more than just chickens because of how messy they are.) my ducks and chickens usually are pretty chill together though. I have heard raising them separately but then putting them in the same area once they grown up some can lead to your chickens being bullied so I would recommend raising together when they are all young.

All of this is just based off my own experiences but I can say even though ducks are messy that they are worth it, ducks are pretty chill and they lay pretty good, my Ducks are slower than my chickens so they are way easier to catch if need be and are pretty good with putting themselves up at night once you show them where to sleep once or twice, so overall ducks in my opinion are worth it.

 

[Sally PB]

Eggs from ducks are richer in flavor, and taste better - allegedly... but actually, some people don't like these eggs, so... you will have to taste them personally in order to decide if you like them or not.

Egg wise I actually like duck eggs more! It definitely comes down to personal preference but I find the egg whites so much nicer than chicken eggs.

Definitely try duck eggs before you decide to raise them, if you're getting them to have eggs. I'm one of the people who doesn't like the taste. Fortunately, I found out and got chickens instead.

But cute? Oh, my, they have chickens beat on cute. (Don't tell my chickens I said that.)