Chickens vs ducks ???

[horsejody]

I have one duck. She is a rescue. Somebody dumped a malnurished duckling at the vet's office last year. Of course, the vet immediately called me because I'm such a sucker for a hard luck story. The duck gets along fine with the chickens, but she is messy. I love her, but that one duck makes more of a mess than all of the 9 chickens she is cooped with combined. In the summer we put a little pool out for her. This winter she has decided that the heated water bowl is actually a hot tub. She has a crooked leg due to her malnutrition as a baby. Right now she is in the hospital cage because the bad leg is bothering her. The nutritional needs of ducks are different than chickens. Make sure you research it. BTW she is a Pekin and doesn't fly at all.

eta: She is a prolific layer. Her eggs are delicious, and they don't stink. However, the eggs laid by my Creve Couer chicken hens stink if they drink the water that the duck played in.

 

[kcardella]

I have both chickens and ducks (one laying). Other than the ducks eggs being firmer than the chicken eggs, I cannot tell any difference in taste. They certainly do not stink. Both my chickens and ducks free range in a fenced area with access to feed and plenty of forage.

I also use the duck eggs for baking, and they are wonderful!

 

[SilverPhoenix]

If you're interested in both ducks and chickens, there's no reason you can't try both! I have five ducks and a bunch of chickens, and they do fine together. The ducks can be a little pushy towards the chickens at times, but overall they get along great and we don't have any problems. It might be worth getting a few ducks and a few chickens to try them out and see what you think--if you don't end up enjoying one or the other, you could always rehome the ones you don't care for. If you like both, nothing is stopping you from having both! The main difference I've noticed between the two is that the ducks are really messy and muck up the water, whereas the chickens are neater. That said, it obviously doesn't bother me, as I just got more ducks yesterday!

Both ducks and chickens are really great animals, and enjoyable to be around. I wish you luck in deciding what you want! By the way, I have rouens and a swedish duck in with my chickens, and then I have call ducks separate (but they'll be going in with my seramas soon enough).

 

[FlashPointFarm]

We love our pet ducks. I would highly recommend getting something small for them to swim in that is easily dumped. They foul their water so quickly. I use a cement mixing tray, that's about 2x3', works great.

Ducks are so funny too. If you get a duck breed meant for meat, then you shouldn't have the flying problems. We have muskoveys which can fly a little, females more than males. And our Pekins, which can't get the fat bottoms up off the ground. They follow me around yelling at me to give them treats. Muskoveys are very broody birds, and will hatch out their own eggs, one or two batches a year.

I don't think the eggs stink at all, my husband loves them for their huge yolks. The duck eggs are great for making brownies, if you like your brownies gooey!

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

Quote:
yep. our favorite saying is "get out there and free range because its FREE!"

however,

we have two huge hard workin' farm dogs who keep most of the predators out...and i'm home during the day. when i'm not languishing inside during the winter i'm outside almost all the time and everyone gets locked up at nite (the ducks roost on the pond).

the only predator problems we've had was when the pond freezes over...then the ducks are.. well... sitting ducks and the foxes can grab them off the ice.

once the ducks are in the yard the poop-smearin' isnt so bad. it breaks down pretty quickly in the rain. but they will 'drill' and make little holes digging up grubs and stuff. we gave up the idea of a yard a long time ago and its all basically a big barnyard and everyone free ranges. we are mostly fenced and the neighbor dogs are afraid to come over here. the hawks arent a problem for us (for any of the poultry)...and anything else is kept at bay by big dogs (who wouldnt dare touch my poultry). to be honest, you might want to get some geese which are superb 'watchdogs' in that they will alert you if anything shows up. granted that gander and i have a love-hate relationship but.. they are great alarm sounders

FlashPointFarm - thanks for the tip on brownies! yay!

 

[horsejody]

Quote:
I use them for baking brownies too. I brought brownies to work about 2 weeks ago. The next day a guy asked me what I did that made them so good. I told him it was duck eggs, and he said he wished he had known that before he had eaten a bunch of them because he doesn't like to eat "wierd" foods. I guess he must like wierd foods more than he thinks because he always eats the stuff I bring in.

 

[spamee34]

I have both ducks and chickens also and yes the ducks are a mess. We started out with those nice neat waterers ya know the one's you fill up and put the red lids back on and sit out on a brick or cynder block , well that did not work for the ducks they would end up knocking it over so we went to tubs for the ducks and the regular waterers for the chickens well that worked as long as the ducks couldn't get to it. THe thing is that when ducks eat they mix their food with water ( which means food goes in the water feeder too so your chickens get messy water), so it is best to keep their food and water seperate from the chickens, or at least the water. And what ppl aren't telling you about the duck pond is that they muck up those little baby swimming pools in no time like in an hour so if you have something small you can clean it out , but if you have a pond that stuff meaning the doo and the stuff they mix with their silava stays in the bottom of the pond and it don't take no time to have it stinking and they will dig out all around the pond and make a mess . They are known to stop up a drain on a drainable pond it's just what ducks do . But if you don't want the benifit of a duck and no duck ponds the runners just need something to clean their eyes with something like a small tub and they are good the runners lay well and don't fly or require water to reproduce. They do well with chickens and you can give em a pond to take a bath in once a week if ya want. I hope this helps !

 

[okiegirl]

Thank you so much. Ya'll are great! so much information.

I'm thinking maybe lowering my chickens to around 12, and gettting just a couple runners.

As I said in my first post, the coop is about 8 x 10, so that should be enough room for them all to coop together.

silly question, but chickens need roosts and nesting boxes, what do ducks need inside the coop?

 

[Wifezilla]

A pile of straw? A dog house with shavings? They really aren't that picky. They just need a way to keep the chickens from pooping on their heads.

 

[Blooming chicks]

Hey Okiegirl,

I just wanted to add this information for you--the website cites the USDA. I found the comparison very interesting.

http://boondockersnaturals.com/DuckEggNutritionFacts.aspx