Did I order too many ducks?

[CindyinSD]

I don't give my ducks and geese anything but drinking water in winter (and winter is loooooong here). They seem happy enough.

It *does* need to be deep enough to dunk their heads, though.

 

[Floof]

I think you should've maybe made sure you want that many ducks, first. Maybe started by going to Aldi's, picking up a butchered duck, and seeing whether you like it. Similarly, get some duck eggs.

Ducks are extremely fatty, dark meat. My mother does not like them at all. My father thinks they're delicious. I am the only person in my family who will willingly eat duck eggs any way but baked into something, and I think it's an acquired taste. My grandmother, who will boil anything and eat it, throws duck eggs over her fence.

I can't find a store that carries ducks or duck eggs but I've had duck at chinese restaurants so as long as it's similar to that, I'll love it.

 

[Floof]

I feed my butched ducks to my dogs. I haven't been brave enough to eat them yet. But the eggs i do like as an egg salad, and i loved brownies with them! yummmm.... now i want brownies and everything is closed due to lock down i will have to aquire brownie mix now!

Gosh I can't imagine having a kitchen without baking staples. I like to be able to bake on a whim so at any time we have 10lbs of flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and I just stocked up on 5 pounds of chocolate chips!

 

[Floof]

Thanks a lotta ducks! I am not sure what their assortment will give you but not all ducks are great for meat. The Welsh I had dressed in the fall aren't much bigger than the average store chicken you might buy but i do know many ducks are much bigger. The eggs are super tastey. One thing you might want to try before you get to involved is buying local duck eggs and having everyone eat a few first to make sure no one has a sensitivity to them. It would really suck if someone did. Some people can't eat duck eggs cooked in anything but baked goods some can't even have that.

Other wise it seems sound. But it is going to be a lot of work and a lot of fluffy ducky cuteness!

I ordered the Silver Appleyards and then the bargain assortment. I assume the bargain assortment literally means anything left over so it could be anything from the list. I don't think they do any mixed breeds/mutts so no matter how they fill it, it should be quality birds.

 

[Mylied]

I think you are going to have your hands full. Ducks are the messiest creatures ever. Ducklings too. Set up a nice big brooder outside your house. Look up duck waterers so they can dip their head with minimal mess. If they can get in it, they will spill it everywhere. They grow really fast, they eat a lot, but their feathers grow slow. I have 7 five weeks olds, 4 adults, and 17 in the incubator. I've raised ducks previously before too.

One other downside, they have rediculously cute faces. I've tried raising ducks for meat twice before and couldn't go through with it. I've done all kinds of poultry, pigs, goats, sheep, rabbits, but there's something about those duck faces. Lol. I'm determined to do it this time since my husband loves duck meat. We'll see in a couple weeks.

 

[Ratchnick]

Your going to be fine. I have a dozen coming from holderreads too. Certanly the best stock you can get anywhere. So You have 4 breeds potentialy.

Saxony
Silver appleyard
Welsh harlequin
Golden cascade

Your going to have a large number of ducks for the first 4 months. At 16 weeks your going to have a bunch of drakes to bucher, maybe 8 or 10? I highly recommend dave holderreads book "stories guide to raising ducks" his book goes
over proper feeds, mixing your own feeds, buchering, how to grow your ducks so they are not fatty, lots of other good things. Likely you will find which breeds you like best and stick with that. Keep in mind that you may never get new golden cascade stock, so if you like that duck maybe keep enough ducks for genetic diversity. Also I'm getting some so maybe next year we can swap hatching eggs?

 

[Floof]

Your going to be fine. I have a dozen coming from holderreads too. Certanly the best stock you can get anywhere. So You have 4 breeds potentialy.

Saxony
Silver appleyard
Welsh harlequin
Golden cascade

Your going to have a large number of ducks for the first 4 months. At 16 weeks your going to have a bunch of drakes to bucher, maybe 8 or 10? I highly recommend dave holderreads book "stories guide to raising ducks" his book goes
over proper feeds, mixing your own feeds, buchering, how to grow your ducks so they are not fatty, lots of other good things. Likely you will find which breeds you like best and stick with that. Keep in mind that you may never get new golden cascade stock, so if you like that duck maybe keep enough ducks for genetic diversity. Also I'm getting some so maybe next year we can swap hatching eggs?

I love that idea! I'm in Oregon, about an hour north of Holderreads. Whereabouts are you? I've never mailed eggs before.

 

[Floof]

I think you are going to have your hands full. Ducks are the messiest creatures ever. Ducklings too. Set up a nice big brooder outside your house. Look up duck waterers so they can dip their head with minimal mess. If they can get in it, they will spill it everywhere. They grow really fast, they eat a lot, but their feathers grow slow. I have 7 five weeks olds, 4 adults, and 17 in the incubator. I've raised ducks previously before too.

One other downside, they have rediculously cute faces. I've tried raising ducks for meat twice before and couldn't go through with it. I've done all kinds of poultry, pigs, goats, sheep, rabbits, but there's something about those duck faces. Lol. I'm determined to do it this time since my husband loves duck meat. We'll see in a couple weeks.

What kind of coop do you have for your ducks? I'm hoping to put the next couple weeks to good use. I just can't decide what to build!

 

[Huntergatherr]

I love East indies, where did you get yours??

my ducks were happy and healthy at the end of winter. I had 5 black east indies and 3 welsh harliquin at the time. I gave them a dish pan of water to clean with from the dollar store, (because I am cheap!) and filled it with a five gallon bucket they washed and were happy most of the winter except when the snow apcolypse came then they stayed in their house.

 

[Mylied]

What kind of coop do you have for your ducks? I'm hoping to put the next couple weeks to good use. I just can't decide what to build!

My adults are in a dog pen with a roof, a big doghouse with hay, and a kiddie pool. Nothing fancy. If we didn't have so many hawks I'd let them out in our fenced areas. I want to put in a pond but I will have to think about keeping out aerial predators. They get any chicken that is not in a covered pen.