Ducks vs chickens

[Tinycap]

So as season aproaches im starting my plan for more birds. I raised only 6 last year as a practice to see if i will want to continue and i do. Best chicken ive tasted! My BIL and MIL had mentioned wanting to go in on it this year but when i asked my BIL he said he wants ducks . Now if i do ducks it will be AFTER i do chickens since ive got to build a bigger brooder and a tractor or hoop coop. I might keep one duck to try since ive never had duck, but it will be his money going into the ducks and ill jist be raising them since ive got more space. So anyway, my question is what if anything is different about raising meat ducks than chickens? I know they dont NEED a pool and they will splash water so you have to have tricks to keep them from messing the clean drinking water with their bums, diff feed, deeper and wider water space for the bills, but thats about where im at. If i make a hoop coop for meat chickens can i use that for the ducks? Ive got time before ill do it, but id like to get planning and decide if i will.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

might keep one duck to try since ive never had duck

Ducks, like chickens, are flock animals and should not be raised alone.

 

[Tinycap]

Ducks, like chickens, are flock animals and should not be raised alone.

I mean after processing, i know ducks need friends.

 

[Penpal]

We have a pond so the water thing was not an issue. You are not going to swim in their little wading pool, so don't worry about the water getting dirty. You can also put little fish in the water to eat the mosquito larvae, but the ducks may eat the fish.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

We have a pond so the water thing was not an issue. You are not going to swim in their little wading pool, so don't worry about the water getting dirty. You can also put little fish in the water to eat the mosquito larvae, but the ducks may eat the fish.

They will eat the fish, I can't go into how I know.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Ducks are dirty, disgusting things. They like LOTS of space. I have an 8x12 mobile hoop coop for raising chicks in before they join the main flock. My ducks (pekins) will sometimes use one corner for nesting when I leave the door open - but otherwise they don't go in it much. "Too small". Fine as a coop, not as a coop & run.

If you were raising just for meat, yes, a good sized hoop coop would be just fine for ducks - but if you intend to keep them and don't have a huge run, whatever you put them in will feel very small. I know the "thumb rule" is 20-25 sq ft of run per duck, but I honestly can't imagine having three full sized pecins in that ~100 sq ft.

Now, all that said, I have a love hate relationship with my ducks. I love the taste. I hate that they lay so infrequently, they take a long time to reach laying age, and my birds didn't put weight on nearly as quickly as advertised. I had intended to raise them as alternative to Cx, and they underperformed.

 

[Amer]

Ducks are harder to process because there are a lot more feathers to pluck. I've heard of duck wax but I've never tried it.

 

[StinkyAcres]

Ducks are harder to process because there are a lot more feathers to pluck. I've heard of duck wax but I've never tried it.

I heard ducks are harder to process because their feathers are waterproof and cannot be scalded and plucked by a machine.

 

[Amer]

I heard ducks are harder to process because their feathers are waterproof and cannot be scalded and plucked by a machine.

Idk
I've never plucked by machine but I assume that would be a lot more efficient.
A duck definitely can be scalded though, it's just they have a lot of tiny feathers to remove one by one instead of a few big feathers go remove in clumps.
I've never plucked a duck, this is my experience with geese.