Ducks or Chickens? Pros/Cons

[HollyBird24]

nvm

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Quote:

what?

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

No, I meant chickens. If I meant ducks, I would have wrote ducks.

-Duck eggs here are usually frozen here because they lay at such odd hours and I never get to them before they freeze
-The eggs are always covered in crap because they have a tendancy to lay right in the middle of the coop where they walk
-They never lay in the same place so if you want to find the eggs, you have to search for them
-They are very messy, you have to clean to coop much more often even if you keep the water outside because their crap is much more liquidy then chickens
-They take up more space
-They eat more
-Their eggs aren't as eye appealing as a chicken egg, they have a waxy texture
-Female ducks are quite loud and since you generally have more females then males, they don't compared to the 1-2 roosters people have with a flock of 10-20 chickens
-They don't put themselves to bed at night and have to be herded inside

 

[HollyBird24]

Quote:

what?

Nothing, I just posted on the wrong thread

 

[cbohn80]

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my chickens lay at odd times too.
my ducks always lay in 1 of 2 spots, always in a corner of the pen
my chickens always poop on their eggs.
they take up the same space as my chickens and need next to no shelter in their pen.
their liquidy poop disapears after every rain.
they do eat more but will eat more while freeranging also. i only mowed my backyard once last summer.
i love seeing those giant white eggs, waxy texture is fine but they are slightly harder to crack open
my chickens make more noise immediatly after they lay than my ducks do the rest of the day, although i admitt they do quack quietly throughout the night, not enough to bother anyone though
and my ducks always always always go into their pen at night. i often pen them earlier since i work late afternoons. as soon as they see me herding the chickens into their pen the ducks go into their separate pen all on their own also.

just shows everyone has different experiences.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Different coops, different climates, different mentalities etc

Its hard to compare them because everyone's personal experience is different.

 

[newbyduckmom]

Ducks....but then I have never raised chickens so....

If I could talk my husband into chickens too, it might be a tie.

Ducks were a compromise.

I wanted chickens.

Husband said no. Ducks would be okay.

I got ducks. Now he hates the duck mess, I love my ducks, we both love the eggs!

Think the ducks are probably easier in our cool, wet Pacific Northwest weather.

 

[triplepurpose]

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That's probably the only way you'll ever really find out...

 

[CarolAnn]

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Yeah, I've noticed this! My ducks poop twice if not 3 times as much as my chickens!

This is why I would be worried about houseing my chickens and ducks together?

do you think I could if I gave the chickens roosts?

I have 7 ducks and 23 chickens. The chickens have their house and the duck theirs. But two of my chickens are in with the ducks. One because it's got feathered legs and feet and I know my chickens in the big house would strip her bloody if I put her in there. They did my cochin roo and I finally re homed him in the spring. The other chicken is there because she was getting so pecked she was scared to death, and starving, to get out of the nesting box. I nursed her back and put her in with the ducks. No roost in the duck house but they both have plenty of room on top of a nesting crate to settle in at night.

As far as ducks making a muddy mess... they will if they can. My duck yard is on a 4-5 inch layer of rock. I keep the water pans at one end and food at the other. No water inside. I took out the kiddie pool before it got cold. It's a medium size and I was draining and refilling twice a week. They could blacked the water with just dirt in 45 minutes, and man could it smell in a few days. Even THEY didn't want to get in it! My problem now, in SE Kansas is how to keep water out there when it really gets cold. My only choice, I can see, is to try a heated dog bowl like I use for the chickens. Just not sure how that'll work if they continue to climb in to play etc. I've had eggs from all 5 females but down to 2 a day right now. I hope to get a few runner chicks in the spring. I have one huge Peking drake that may have to be re-homed in the spring. He's so big and rough on my hens.

 

[cbohn80]

if you get him more females he wont be as rough, i'm surprised though, i have 3 drakes and seven hens. they never seem to be too rough