Hey ya ducksters,
I am looking into adding ducks to my homestead. We have a flock of free range laying hens - usually about 100-150 depending on the time of year. We also raise a couple hundred meat birds in mobile pasture pens every season.
I had a chef, that often buys our whole chickens, approach me to see if I would be interested in trialing a few ducks for a menu special they want to run for one weekend of next year - maybe 10 ducks. Potential is if that works out, there could be opportunity for us to raise alot more ducks specifically for this restaurant. The ducks being used for meat, not eggs in this case. I've always wanted ducks around and actually a neighbor adopted a duck a while back that ended up hanging out with my chickens for a couple days after getting into it with it's new coop mates at my neighbors house.
I have a small pond (roughly 80ft diameter) that is about 150- 200 feet away from my chicken coops.
I would like to free range the ducks and get a breed that can mostly live and breed on their own so that I can cull extra drakes to eat, have duck eggs for making custards and have a mosquito and tick eating source. Am I expecting too much or is that a realistic thought.
Any breed sugestions?
How close do they need to be to the pond to want to use it?
The pond is a serious mosquito site so I need them down there.
Can I just have them in with my chickens or should I build a separate coop near the pond?
Should I stick to raising meat ducks in pasture pens rather than getting a more dual purpose self-sustaining variety? Do people do that?
Any and all ideas appreciated. Please share with me your experiences along with your own land/water circumstances and how you use those to your advantage.
Cheers!
I am looking into adding ducks to my homestead. We have a flock of free range laying hens - usually about 100-150 depending on the time of year. We also raise a couple hundred meat birds in mobile pasture pens every season.
I had a chef, that often buys our whole chickens, approach me to see if I would be interested in trialing a few ducks for a menu special they want to run for one weekend of next year - maybe 10 ducks. Potential is if that works out, there could be opportunity for us to raise alot more ducks specifically for this restaurant. The ducks being used for meat, not eggs in this case. I've always wanted ducks around and actually a neighbor adopted a duck a while back that ended up hanging out with my chickens for a couple days after getting into it with it's new coop mates at my neighbors house.
I have a small pond (roughly 80ft diameter) that is about 150- 200 feet away from my chicken coops.
I would like to free range the ducks and get a breed that can mostly live and breed on their own so that I can cull extra drakes to eat, have duck eggs for making custards and have a mosquito and tick eating source. Am I expecting too much or is that a realistic thought.
Any breed sugestions?
How close do they need to be to the pond to want to use it?
The pond is a serious mosquito site so I need them down there.
Can I just have them in with my chickens or should I build a separate coop near the pond?
Should I stick to raising meat ducks in pasture pens rather than getting a more dual purpose self-sustaining variety? Do people do that?
Any and all ideas appreciated. Please share with me your experiences along with your own land/water circumstances and how you use those to your advantage.
Cheers!