Ducks vs chickens. Who’s messier?

[Aunt Angus]

Yeah, probably everyone's experience is different. If they're bred for meat they won't last long enough to have problems most likely.

But vet bills... You aren't wrong.

 

[Yardmom]

I think enough people have chimed in to let you know about the mess. Have you done research about the profits vs. cost? How about the demand for duck meat and eggs? In my area I can't hardly give away duck eggs and the guys at the auction who make a business out of chickens for meat pass when it comes to ducks. Maybe it is different in your area. Even if I could sell eggs at the price of my chicken eggs and had a good demand for meat I am not sure it would cover my duck food costs. Unfortunately in the US supply and demand economics in your favor are not an automatic profit when it comes to small livestock.

 

[muffin_p]

I think enough people have chimed in to let you know about the mess. Have you done research about the profits vs. cost? How about the demand for duck meat and eggs? In my area I can't hardly give away duck eggs and the guys at the auction who make a business out of chickens for meat pass when it comes to ducks. Maybe it is different in your area. Even if I could sell eggs at the price of my chicken eggs and had a good demand for meat I am not sure it would cover my duck food costs. Unfortunately in the US supply and demand economics in your favor are not an automatic profit when it comes to small livestock.

Now that I think about it, I don’t really notice a demand for duck meat in my area. There’s a few small farms around my area that sell ducklings $10 each and goslings for $20 each and then a dozen of fertile duck eggs for $10. They always seem to be sold out too and I wanted to join in as well. Doing more research though, I’m leaning towards quails instead. I think ducks would take up too much time than quails and I could practice butchering easier with the quails

 

[muffin_p]

Ducks are unfortunately veeeery messy. Besides splashing, they poop everywhere and love to track it around... They also tend to have lots of issues health wise. For laying hens, prolapse is always an issue, and drakes will brutally attack the girls- especially if there isn't enough of them. Ducklings/ducks are quite cute, but after reading some threads on here about them, I've firmly resolved to not get any. Just wayyy too much drama.

As for money making, that's a great idea! I'm just a few years older than you, so I do get how you feel about saving up. My advice would be to buy yourself a flock of chickens or turkeys. The former, you can raise for meat and eggs while the latter would likely be for meat and show. They're a bit easier to care for and since your folks already have some chooks, you'll likely be more familiar with them as well. You could also do quail which are relatively easy to care/raise for the same purposes as the chickens. Alternatively, goat milk and meat tend to be in demand (depending on where you are ofc.) And, you can sell any extra kids to make an extra profit. All of this depends on where you are and what's the local 'market'.

Hopefully some of this helps. I hope you two are able to figure some thing out

Thanks for the info/advice! After doing a bit more research on the ducks and reading everyone’s feedback, I think I’ll leave the ducks for sometime in the future. I’m thinking of getting quail instead as I’ve been reading that they don’t really take up too much time and aren’t too costly compared to ducks. I’m thinking of getting jumbo coturnix, I found a fair deal on some in my area

 

[bhaugh]

Having both, quail are definitely much easier but they don't compare to the antics of ducks.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

Chicken health issues you can treat yourself in many cases, but duck issues (maybe less frequent) are harder to diagnose and treat.

Ducks cost vet bills to treat (not always cure), chickens take love & patience to heal.

 

[PattieTheDuck]

Ducks are the messiest things. I find they don't lay as often as chickens, either. The amount of water they need and the amount of mud they generate is quite impressive and not something to take lightly. They will devinate any lawn or landscaping you have in an enclosure. But I absolutely adore them! I can't imagine life without them.

Maybe Muscovy might be a better choice? I don't have any experience with Muscovy, but I hear excellent things about them. Or even geese might work? Geese need lots of space to wander, but they don't tear things up the way ducks do, and they only lay seasonally.

I think khaki campbells do lay plenty so if you want them for eggs khakis are meaty good layers

 

[PattieTheDuck]

Chicken health issues you can treat yourself in many cases, but duck issues (maybe less frequent) are harder to diagnose and treat.

Ducks cost vet bills to treat (not always cure), chickens take love & patience to heal.

In my experience, many ducks that are bred for meat just have leg problems which can be completely prevented early on if given supplements such as niacin. As well as this, ducks are very hardy against disease so they hardly get sick at all. In my experience, even with their leg problems, I have been able to treat them pretty well too. My drake Cheese had bowed legs and now he is walking on both legs again.