THEY HAVE SHIPPED!

[SMonroe1990]

After a bit more reading and realizing that they aren't as bad as I originally thought I have changed my mind. My mom (who I live with) doesn't want me to get them because she thinks they can all be nasty. I think if I raise them from babies and do what I do with the chicks, constant handling/spending time with them, that they will be nice. And any mean ducks will end up dinner. I figure it doesn't hurt to give them a shot and if they aren't for me I can either sell them or make them into dinner when the time comes. When I go to get them I'm going to try to aim and only get 3. But yeah at first I didn't want them, heard to many horror stories. But I figure it will be like with the chickens, my mom didn't want them at first either because she figured when you have chickens you always have rats. I had to explain to her that that wasn't the case and until I did a bit of research I didn't really want them either if I was just going to end up with rats. But even if a rat shows up we have a wonderful rat/mouse killing dog and two cats so hopefully that covers us on this end.

 

[lightchick]

Oh OK! Almost the same thing with me. Except that it was because I thought they didn't lay very many eggs at all and they wouldn't be worth it. But then I checked out a duck book at the library and found out that some breeds DO lay a lot of eggs. I really REALLY want one, but well see......

 

[SMonroe1990]

I'll be excited to get duck eggs if I follow through and actually get the ducks. I hear that they can be tastier than chicken eggs and are better in baking. Maybe we should just cave and get ducks lightchick. But I know what you mean. I was surprised to find that there is a breed that can potentially lay like 300 eggs a year. The only other issue I have is how noisy they can be. Any ideas on breeds that are quieter than others?

 

[lightchick]

The only breed people say are quieter are Muscovies. But someone said that their Khaki Campbells weren't very loud. If I got one I'd only get one or 2. I don't really have room.....we'll have to see how big the coop we build is. I live in town and I only have 6 chickens at the moment.

 

[SMonroe1990]

I know the dilemma there. The only open yard space I have now is down behind where a garage is being built and if the garden doesn't get moved down there I am going to build a bigger coop behind it for chickens and maybe a couple ducks so I can use the current coop to raise some turkeys. I am determined at one point or another to have the end result with me raising and growing pretty much all of my own food. We are even thinking about moving and my one stipulation when looking at houses is it needs to have plenty of land.

So since you only have 6 at the moment, you need to make your coop big enough to at least account for how many chicks you may buy next spring when you need to go to the feed store to get feed.

 

[lightchick]

Yeah, I was planning on only four chickens, but then the coop I bought wasn't big enough for four chickens even though that's what it was suppose to be big enough for. So I thought we'd build a coop and we might as well make it big enough for a few more chickens. I'm going to try and build the biggest coop I can and spend the least amount of money. Last year I made a 4 ft wide, 6 ft long and 6 ft tall pigeon loft and only spent $200. Hopefully I can get a even better deal.
Right now 4 of my chickens are 16 weeks and the other 2 are 7 weeks old.....one of the younger chicks is a roo so I need to trade him for a pullet....I'm pretty sure the farmer we bought them from sells ducklings too. I have a Silkie that loves to cuddle so I think a duck would love cuddling with her too.

 

[jtn42248]

I know. I may say that changing the water and feed all the time is a hassle, but yet I would order more next week if my DH would let me. I did convince him to let me get a few ducks next year though so I'm super excited about that. I know ducks are messier, but ducklings are so cute. Plus I hear duck eggs are really good for baking and I love to bake and eat baked goods so I wouldn't mind trying duck eggs in my baking.

CAUTION!!! Duck math is equal to if not worse than chicken math. I started with 5 and now have 25 and that is all in less than 6 months. They are fun and cute and beautiful as adults. Beware of males though if you don't plan on breeding. Duck sex is very violent and the males will fight to the death if there are too many of them.

 

[SMonroe1990]

Yeah, I was planning on only four chickens, but then the coop I bought wasn't big enough for four chickens even though that's what it was suppose to be big enough for. So I thought we'd build a coop and we might as well make it big enough for a few more chickens. I'm going to try and build the biggest coop I can and spend the least amount of money. Last year I made a 4 ft wide, 6 ft long and 6 ft tall pigeon loft and only spent $200. Hopefully I can get a even better deal.
Right now 4 of my chickens are 16 weeks and the other 2 are 7 weeks old.....one of the younger chicks is a roo so I need to trade him for a pullet....I'm pretty sure the farmer we bought them from sells ducklings too. I have a Silkie that loves to cuddle so I think a duck would love cuddling with her too.

Yup always build bigger. I was lucky in the fact that I already had a coop on my property it just need to be fixed up a bit. I think all in all for all the stuff I had to buy I only spent about 350 and it will fit about 14 chickens. I hope you can get a better deal too and what size are you looking to build the coop?

CAUTION!!! Duck math is equal to if not worse than chicken math. I started with 5 and now have 25 and that is all in less than 6 months. They are fun and cute and beautiful as adults. Beware of males though if you don't plan on breeding. Duck sex is very violent and the males will fight to the death if there are too many of them.

Thank you for the heads up. I figure all animals probably have a math thing to them. I have actually been pretty good with chicken math. I started wanting only 8, got 6 from the feed store because they only had the one breed and then after I put one down I bought 6 more. I wouldn't have bought the 6 except people started finding out I have chickens while I was at work and asking for eggs so I figured I would need more than the 3 I was going to order to get me to my original 8. There are only a few more breeds I want to get next year, but that is mainly because I am looking to see which ones I like the best so when I need to order more to replenish my flock I know what kinds to get. I swear chickens are a gateway animal though. I'm in talks with my husband about getting turkeys and meat birds to do next year plus maybe getting a pig to raise and than butcher for our own meat. If I had more land I would do the same with a cow.

 

[lightchick]

Quote: Yes, I've heard that. I'm hoping to get only a female or 2. Before that I didn't know ducks could be so violent!

 

[lightchick]

Yup always build bigger. I was lucky in the fact that I already had a coop on my property it just need to be fixed up a bit. I think all in all for all the stuff I had to buy I only spent about 350 and it will fit about 14 chickens. I hope you can get a better deal too and what size are you looking to build the coop?

I really don't know the size yet! I want to make it at least big enough to hold a few more then 6.
We know of a place where we can get lots of free lumber. So I should be able to make it pretty big.