Ducks at My Pet Chicken

[1goose2ducks]

Yes but that will be EXTREMELY LOUD they love talking to each other

 

[RodNTN]

Be careful the males can go mad to protect the female the female and one hit of the wing can beak bones. Don’t mean to discourage you. Just warning you. Good luck

Ooh, sounds painful. It's fine, I've always heard that

 

[Golden Brahma 64]

Khaki Campbell’s

Pekins

And Indian runners

All rarely go broody and the khakis and runners lay a good amount of eggs.

 

[1goose2ducks]

My friends have four female Peking and all of them went broody and hatched babies. It’s all luck my pekin female sat on eggs the week before she passed away

 

[Golden Brahma 64]

My friends have four female Peking and all of them went broody and hatched babies. It’s all luck my pekin female sat on eggs the week before she passed away

Funny that. It usually depends where they came from. Ones raised by a mamma duck will most likely go broody and ones done in an incubator usually won’t.

 

[1goose2ducks]

Really I didn’t know that. Cool

 

[PirateGirl]

The mess is just different than chickens. Chickens scratch their waste into the ground, ducks make everything wet and their poop tends to form a layer on top of the ground. Because they are wet, they tend to smell more. With more land and free range time I don't think it would be an issue the way it is in a pen.

 

[1goose2ducks]

Yes I keep mine in the pen at night only

 

[Golden Brahma 64]

Really I didn’t know that. Cool

All breeds of duck/chicken can go broody. Some are just unlikely to and some are prone to it.

 

[CayugaJana]

If you have 23 acres, I wouldn’t worry about the mess.

Pets- I would choose a larger breed.
Pekins- Mine are really calm. They love food, so it’s easy to make them friendly with treats. They are cute, big, and squishy. They are pretty decent layers, with most laying double yolkers on a regular basis. Cons are they can be loud if you have to worry about neighbors. They are heavy, so they are even less able to run from predators than most breeds. And with being heavy, I would highly advise giving them poultry vitamins to protect their growing legs until they are adults.

Black Swedish- They are calm and friendly. They are a large breed, but not as big as Pekins so less leg problems. They also lay a little less eggs than Pekins.

Cayugas- Large breed that are calm and friendly. Beautiful ducks. Decent mother’s. Also less eggs than Pekins. I love mine. Very quiet.

There are some other large breeds that I don’t have experience with.

Eggs-
Khaki Campbell’s are going to be the easiest to acquire. They are also excellent layers. Good mother’s. They can be nervous, so more for eggs than pets.

Runners- Excellent layers. Nervous type. I’m not sure on mothering.