I may be getting............ducks

[Kansaseq]

I fear that tomorrow my chicken habit may grow to include ducks. After hearing how great duck eggs are to eat and cook with, I really want to try some! And there are some Saxonies for sale not far from me. I really wanted Cayugas or Anconas, but alas no one has any right now. And everyone and their sister is selling chicken eggs on CL these days, but no duck eggs. Thought I might have a small niche side business. What do you guys think? Will duck eggs fit in large egg cartons? Any advice, last words, or warnings?

I actually raised a clutch of muscovies years ago when I first had chickens. The barn I rode at was a dumping grounds for any unwanted bird-horse-goat-sheep-llama,etc. Not sure if that is how the muscovies got to be there, but, one spring, a mamma had her brood out for a walk near the barn. Well, the barn cats were having a field day with the little, succulent duckies, and I had to intervene. I collected the survivors up and told the barn owner I would be taking them home until they were older. I did a great job, turned them loose, then we had a freak snowstorm. I was able to find one survivor, who had a gangrenous foot, and had to be euthanized. It was very sad and I felt horribly guilty(and rightly so). Didn't occur to me at the time that even if the weather hadn't turned bad, that they would have trouble finding food since they'd been fed by me most of their little lives. Anyway, that was my sad first experience with ducks. I'd like my next one to be a LOT more positive.

 

[TennesseeTruly]

I have Pekins and Calls and I love them. They are so much fun to watch and interact with. I say go for it!

Good luck!

Laurie

 

[ChickenToes]

I started out raising chickens, then moved to ducks. For me, they are easier to raise than chickens. I don't have to mess with chicken feeders and waterers, I just give them a kiddie pool and a bucket full of feed and they are happy.

There are a few pieces of advice I can give: They are messy. Their run will probably need a bit more maintenance than a chicken run would. I find that my coop also needs a bit more TLC now that I have ducks in it instead of chickens. I do the deep litter method in the coop, and it still can smell like ammonia. But a little Stall Dri or DE solves that problem.

Also, duck eggs fit better in jumbo egg cartons.

Good luck! It's hard not to love ducks!