Ducks in the Vegetable Garden / Raspberry Patch ???

[Barry Natchitoches]

I just had 2 three-day-old ducks literally dumped on me by a (former?) friend.


They are just cute as a button, I've got to admit.


I have never had a duck although I have two flocks of chickens (one group is adult birds, one group is 12 week Ameraucanas).


I am told that ducks are easy to raise.


But how are they with vegetable gardens? What about raspberry patches? I read somewhere that they will jump up to eat blueberries and/or raspberries.


Can I raise both raspberries and ducks in the same area?


What about tomatoes, strawberries and other vegetables?

 

[hcppam]

Hummm my ducks haven't got my black berry's yet and if they try I will have to put some chicken wire around them, as far as a garden THEY WILL EAT IT! even my egg plants %#*&(+ But they are fun!

 

[Myra]

i had to dig up all my raspberry bushes this spring and relocate them outside of the fenced in yard - away from my pekin ducks who loved them all too much! Now a wild rabbit has discovered them!

Myra

 

[Wifezilla]

I use ducks in my garden, but NOT DURING GROWING SEASON! Ducks can NOT be trusted around plants. If they don't eat them they will trample them. You do let them dig around in the garden beds AFTER you harvest in the fall and in the spring BEFORE you plant. This will keep weeds and bugs down. One other thing you can do is put poultry wire right around the plants and let the ducks roam the isles between your plants. I put poultry wire around my pond filter plants. The ducks got to eat anything that poked out the sides, but they couldn't dig up the plants. Worked well for both of us

 

[TLWR]

My ducks got in the garden and picked as many grape tomatoes they could reach off the plant as they could. Little turds didn't actually eat them though!
Then the dog jumped the fence and plucked my tomato plants clean of ALL tomatoes (and ate them) and the watermelon and anything else she finds yummy.


i had floating plants in my filter for the pond which I thought was out of reach of the ducks. Until Ally figured out she could fly up and stand on the edge of the pond and reach her head into the filter to snag plants for her and Cadbury to eat...

 

[Amiga]

ditto Wifezilla. One little exception is that I let them cruise vegetable and flower beds for just a few minutes at a time, when we go for our walks. If the plants are fairly mature, there is very little (but just a little) stepping on plants, nothing intolerable.

I haven't noticed them eating the raspberries or blueberries, but they are only walking through. Also, there are so many bugs to eat, they don't go for plants unless they are done foraging for creepy crawlies.

They pick at greens through the fence, which is fine with me.

 

[pirtykitty]

We have let the trio of duck in the vegetable garden now for 2 seasons, after the plants get some size.. Have not lost any plants to speak of.. The love to nibble on the beet tops and lettuce.. don't bother the tomatoes, and do green bean leaves.. Last year they did eat the leaves off a sweet pepper plant, but it wasn't doing well anyway.. This season never touched the 12 plants we had...
Now the 16 week old chickens we have had had a blast in the tomatoes once they figured out how to go under netting.
I keep garden roped off till plant get up in size then they are allowed in.. didn't see a tomato horn worm all season this year, nor potato beetles.