Quote:
Yep.
I have been hard boiling duck eggs like crazy. Only two of my egg customers will buy duck eggs, so the rest are on me. The hard boiled duck eggs are absolutly yummy. The yolk doesn't get all dry and crumbly like chicken egg yolks do. It's smooth and moist and yum.
Yum....... goes to dad to beg for ducks
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You really should try to get even a pair of hens... My ducks are amazing creatures. Not only do they outlay my chickens and I have the same amount of laying pullets as I do laying duck hens- but they are SO much more hardy than my chickens have been.
I have only had any barnyard birds for a little over a year but in that year with chickens and ducks I have dealt with the following with my chickens:
Mites.
Open Wounds that needed sewing (2).
Picking on eachother to the point of blood drawn on several occasions and I have plenty of space for my birds
1 pullet culled due to severe prolapse.
4 died/diappeared from various things (predetors, injuries, etc.).
Not as cold hardy as I expected. On snowy, cold days my girls hang out inside.
Very sensitive to the effects of light on their lay cycle.
Laying was on and off all fall/winter.
When ranging my chickens move out all over the place and do not stay together, making it very hard to catch them if you need to.
And my ducks:
One runner duck hen has broken her leg twice, the same leg.
No deaths.
No illness.
Birds LOVE the cold and layed amazingly well all winter.
Birds needed a bath in my tub mid-winter from just getting gross not having regular bathing time in the cold.
When ranging my ducks all stay in a tight knit group and move as one, this makes them very easy to move and catch if I need to.
I am seriously thinking about phasing out chickens down the road and only keeping ducks and geese, years off probably but still thinking about it. I wish I had kept a log of how many duck eggs versus chicken eggs I have gotten over the last several months. I love how hardy my ducks are.
