I have found that my runners and buffs, whom some have described as quite doted upon, lay many and wonderful eggs. I feel that one can taste the love.I think they are kind of spoiled. Maybe my efforts will be rewarded with oodles of eggs.
That would be awesome! I am going to have a bit of a race going. I am going to record the egg output of my 11 ducks for a laying year. I hope to have 8 laying chickens (I will have a total 15 chickens so I hope hope hope I have a good number of hens in there. i have already figured out 3 hens from 6 chicks so....). I'd like to see which fowl produces the most eggs. It's not for a profit thing...just to see. I wish I could have equal amounts but buying straight run- you never know. I also did not get the 'best' egg laying chickens- but good layers none the less. Just pure curiosity. We will keep ducks regardless of the turnout because we all love them. My mil lives with us and she flat out adores all the ducks.I have found that my runners and buffs, whom some have described as quite doted upon, lay many and wonderful eggs. I feel that one can taste the love.
I also feel that health problems are minimal in content animals.
Takes cell phone pictures to work and shows off our ducks to her co-workers. 
I am enjoying the chickens so far- but the ducks are packed full or personality!
Are you just counting the number of eggs, or weighing them? We don't have duck eggs, but get chicken eggs from two different sources, and the one flock lays eggs that are easily twice the size of the other!
No I won't weigh every single one. I will likely very occasionally weigh them just to see. Duck eggs are generally larger than chicken eggs. Since this is for my own family- I really don't care about size. If a cake recipe calls for 4 eggs- I use 4 eggs. It doesn't matter if it's a medium sized chicken egg or a large duck egg. I will still use 4. So for me- a slight difference in weight is just not important. We will have ducks regardless off the outcome. But this will help determine which (duck or chicken) we want to keep 'breeding' for our main egg laying purposes. I have Pekin ducks (bigggg eggs) and I have Runners (I assume their eggs will be closer to a nice sized chicken egg). My chicken breeds should yield decent sized eggs. Purely for our family purposes. Not a scientific study where I will break down sizes and weights. I have over 6 diff kinds of ducks- I won't be able to keep up with who laid what. But who wouldn't be curious how many eggs 11 ducks will lay in 1 year? hehe! I will be sure to share!
I told my boys they get to go egg fishing if they see floaters. The ONLY kind of floater they can jump into the pond for.nice pond. if they get to comfortable you will have to go in the pond to get eggs
nice pond. if they get to comfortable you will have to go in the pond to get eggs
When do you let your ducks out? I read to keep them in until 9am to help eliminate that....but who knows?? LOL Our pond is small too. A long pool net and we are good to go.
No I won't weigh every single one. I will likely very occasionally weigh them just to see. Duck eggs are generally larger than chicken eggs. Since this is for my own family- I really don't care about size. If a cake recipe calls for 4 eggs- I use 4 eggs. It doesn't matter if it's a medium sized chicken egg or a large duck egg. I will still use 4. So for me- a slight difference in weight is just not important. We will have ducks regardless off the outcome. But this will help determine which (duck or chicken) we want to keep 'breeding' for our main egg laying purposes. I have Pekin ducks (bigggg eggs) and I have Runners (I assume their eggs will be closer to a nice sized chicken egg). My chicken breeds should yield decent sized eggs. Purely for our family purposes. Not a scientific study where I will break down sizes and weights. I have over 6 diff kinds of ducks- I won't be able to keep up with who laid what. But who wouldn't be curious how many eggs 11 ducks will lay in 1 year? hehe! I will be sure to share!
We also can now utilize the pond for a water source for the ducks during the day to cool off which means less work now, less water use...they free range during the day with a lunch offered in the afternoon (just feed) and then supper- but there is usually a little feed left over in the morning so they feed themselves breakfast before they are let out of the coop. I am curious how much feed the ducks will consume vs the chickens (who will also eventually be free ranged during the day).
A bonus I am looking at with ducks though- very winter hardy and will still like to be outside even if it's raining and they will let through the winter- pausing for molt (whenever that occurs). Our summers are 100+ F and our ducks just hang out in water. The chickens cannot- so I am a little nervous about how much more care they will require with the heat.
I will likely keep both no matter the results- but fewer of one when we decide what our main egg source will be.
