Anyone have both chickens and ducks? Advice

[Ashleymarie529]

Have you had pigs?? Nothing is as bad as a pig!!

We raised to meat pigs and the ground will never be the same!!! Lol they were a nightmare!! Friendly but they rooted up ground like i couldnt beleive. I will never have pigs again! Haha.
Ducks can be messy. But to me the pros far outweight the cons.
Chickens can get into everything. Even with clipped wings. Ducks are soo much easier to contain.
I too love their personalities!!!! And i agree its kinda a matter of which you just like the looks and personality of best.

Chickens are a no less maintance in my opinion. When you add the dust baths and checking for lice/ mites. Etc.. they are actually more.
We have left both home for the weekend and they did great.
If you have plenty of room which sounds like you have lots of room they are easy to keep clean! And plenty of water buckets. And you only have to refil once a day.
And ducks dont waste near as much feed as chickens.
Im shocked at how much less feed i have went thru with 13 ducklings as i did with my last batch of fewer chicks. They cant kick all the food out or fling it out with their beaks like chickens!
I have all the diff chicken feeders, they can drain a 40 lb feeder in 20 minutes!

I don't have pigs but I worked on a farm that did. And I was being silly about the pig thing

My ducks get everything muddy... probably because we have hardly any grass!

 

[Ducks4us]

I don't have pigs but I worked on a farm that did. And I was being silly about the pig thing

My ducks get everything muddy... probably because we have hardly any grass!

Lol i knew you were joking. Just had to say something because we talk all the time about how horrible pigs were!!

I think i would take anything over a pig! Although i love them. Maybe if i had a 20 acre farm and could put them in the back corner

 

[Ashleymarie529]

Lol i knew you were joking. Just had to say something because we talk all the time about how horrible pigs were!!

I think i would take anything over a pig! Although i love them. Maybe if i had a 20 acre farm and could put them in the back corner

I would adore having pigs...

I really enjoyed workkng with them. And yeah a 20 acre farm would be...

 

[Ducks4us]

I would adore having pigs...

I really enjoyed workkng with them. And yeah a 20 acre farm would be...

Yes they are so smart, and one i bottle fed so tall about friendly. But stinky!! Lol and rooted up the area, and a year later that spot is still a mess

 

[Ashleymarie529]

Yes they are so smart, and one i bottle fed so tall about friendly. But stinky!! Lol and rooted up the area, and a year later that spot is still a mess

I'll stick with feathered pigs for now

 

[Ducks4us]

I'll stick with feathered pigs for now

Lol me too!

 

[lomine]

To answer your question about water in winter... I have heated buckets and a heated dog bowl. I like the buckets better because they are easier to carry but the ducks prefer the dog bowl because it is lower. This is the only source of water for them in freezing temperatures. The thing I don't like is when I have to haul water from the house when the outside faucet freezes. I do have a no freeze faucet so it only happens when the temperature is below zero, so not really that often. But those are the days I don't really want to be outside so that might be part of the reason.

I offer a bucket waterer with nipples that everyone uses so there is a source of clean water for the chickens. They don't seem to care much and just drink from whatever source is closest.

For swimming I have an in ground 50 gal livestock tank and a 200 gal kiddie pool. I use a sump pump to drain most of the water. The water can be put directly on plants and is a great fertilizer. With the kiddie pool I lift it once most of the water is out and then spray with the hose and refill. With the tank I have to suck out the remaining water and dirtiness with a wet vac. I prefer the kiddie pool and so do the ducks.

I don't have a problem with mud in my yard. I have a small patch of grass but the rest in covered in wood mulch. All the birds will dig around in the mulch but is easy enough to move back and level out. The ducks will make holes if there is standing or running water. When I leave the hose to water the trees and bushes they will play in it and make little holes. This is actually good for aerating the ground. I use deep litter in my run and have never had an issue with mud in there.