My Love Affair With Ducks...

[shawluvsbirds]

Nope, that bee died instantaneously when the bill closed. Crunch!
My ducks eat all kinds of nasty insects, the nastier the better the taste it seems. They love those mahogany wasps and those have a nasty sting.

Oh man you were talking about slugs the other day...
I have had so many slugs here in the past it's insane. I truly believe the ducks are keeping the population down these days.
We still have them but not nearly the numbers we used to have. My first baby call ducks found a slug one day that was dam near as big as they were at the time.
Of course the fight was on and one of them ended up trying to gobble it down whole and nearly choked to death!
Slugs are just as hard to hang on to trying to pull one out of a baby ducks throat as it is trying to pull a worm out of the ground.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Oh man you were talking about slugs the other day...
I have had so many slugs here in the past it's insane. I truly believe the ducks are keeping the population down these days.
We still have them but not nearly the numbers we used to have. My first baby call ducks found a slug one day that was dam near as big as they were at the time.
Of course the fight was on and one of them ended up trying to gobble it down whole and nearly choked to death!
Slugs are just as hard to hang on to trying to pull one out of a baby ducks throat as it is trying to pull a worm out of the ground.

So far i never had a problem with choking with my ducks. They seem to know very well what fits through their throats: Whole mouse fits through after it made some crunching noises.
A large toads needs two ducks working as a team, pulling it apart from the back legs on.
Almost returned my lunch when i observed this for the first time…
The only exception is - as always - Blanca Duck who tried to swallow a snake whole: Quack! Dear good people from BYC!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Well i just hit that post button too fast! There was a huge problem with my ducks, but that was more over-eating on grashoppers than choking… Too much protein and fibers at once i guess and as always Blanca Duck could handle it! Maybe she has a landfill in her lineage?

 

[shawluvsbirds]

So far i never had a problem with choking with my ducks. They seem to know very well what fits through their throats: Whole mouse fits through after it made some crunching noises.
A large toads needs two ducks working as a team, pulling it apart from the back legs on.
Almost returned my lunch when i observed this for the first time…
The only exception is - as always - Blanca Duck who tried to swallow a snake whole: Quack! Dear good people from BYC!

Lol! Well I doubt that ducks really get choked very often unless they just don't have access to water. Those Cayuga ducks could swallow a snake, there was another user on here a while back that had a video of hers swallowing a snake!
Mine was just a little call duck about the size they were here in this picture.
I really think he would have died

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Well i just hit that post button too fast! There was a huge problem with my ducks, but that was more over-eating on grashoppers than choking… Too much protein and fibers at once i guess and as always Blanca Duck could handle it! Maybe she has a landfill in her lineage?

Hillbilly. You have the damndest luck with duck.

 

[duluthralphie]

Psst. fake Eilleen and hillbilly...

If your having trouble with dux choking issues, I am willing to see if I can help...

 

[Texag87]

@WannaBeHillBilly I need Blanca Duck to live in my house for a while. The rain the other day has caused the scorpions into the house. We have killed two in three days after not seeing one the first six months in the house. I saw one in the coop when we first moved here but I thought we must have brought it from my parents

 

[Mimi13]

Oh man you were talking about slugs the other day...
I have had so many slugs here in the past it's insane. I truly believe the ducks are keeping the population down these days.
We still have them but not nearly the numbers we used to have. My first baby call ducks found a slug one day that was dam near as big as they were at the time.
Of course the fight was on and one of them ended up trying to gobble it down whole and nearly choked to death!
Slugs are just as hard to hang on to trying to pull one out of a baby ducks throat as it is trying to pull a worm out of the ground.

I guess it was the spring of 2018 I went crazy and got 25 new chicks (added to my 4 girls) that it was like a horror show here after a rain. At night, I could go out onto my back deck and they were literally EV-ER-Y-WHERE! My master bath and closet are add-ons and have white siding. These things were all on the walls, the eaves, the gutters, the deck, and of course all my new plantings. It was war and I wasn’t winning. I bought salt to pour on them. Kind of got the same feeling seeing them shrivel as I did watching fire ants die.

Our back deck is about 2’ off the ground and it is nasty as hell under it. No person has crawled up under it. You couldn’t pay me to. It mostly stays wet simply from all the flower watering, water play, cooling off, etc. on the deck. Obviously this is where the slugs bedded down AND overwintered. That summer (2018) my 29 chickens decided they liked it under the deck. My two dogs had been staying under there during the day to escape the heat as well. That next summer (2019) I barely saw any slugs at all. Every once in a while I will see where a slug has been up on the deck after the dog food, leaving their old slimy, iridescent trail behind.

Once I decided I wanted ducks, I have been worrying about under the deck. I know that that will be the CHOSEN duck hang out unless I fence the whole thing off to all critters. I can’t and won’t be Easter egg hunting for duck eggs under there.

I’m really kinda torn cause I liked the chickens and dogs getting under there, keeping all other varmints run off or eaten. I guess I’ll choose the lesser of two evils when the time comes.

 

[Mimi13]

So far i never had a problem with choking with my ducks. They seem to know very well what fits through their throats: Whole mouse fits through after it made some crunching noises.
A large toads needs two ducks working as a team, pulling it apart from the back legs on.
Almost returned my lunch when i observed this for the first time…
The only exception is - as always - Blanca Duck who tried to swallow a snake whole: Quack! Dear good people from BYC!

Are ducks more inquisitive with possible food than chickens? Are they as quick as a chicken?

I remember tossing a frog to my first four chickens before. I think after all was said and done they each had a quarter. I asked them if it tasted like chicken. They just stared, waiting for another. Now that they all free range, I’m sure they all get their fill of frogs, if they happen up on the frog’s resting spot during the day. My chickens do not bother toads at all.

I’ll have to read about Blanca Duck’s snake adventure.

 

[DuckGirl77]

I guess it was the spring of 2018 I went crazy and got 25 new chicks (added to my 4 girls) that it was like a horror show here after a rain. At night, I could go out onto my back deck and they were literally EV-ER-Y-WHERE! My master bath and closet are add-ons and have white siding. These things were all on the walls, the eaves, the gutters, the deck, and of course all my new plantings. It was war and I wasn’t winning. I bought salt to pour on them. Kind of got the same feeling seeing them shrivel as I did watching fire ants die.

Our back deck is about 2’ off the ground and it is nasty as hell under it. No person has crawled up under it. You couldn’t pay me to. It mostly stays wet simply from all the flower watering, water play, cooling off, etc. on the deck. Obviously this is where the slugs bedded down AND overwintered. That summer (2018) my 29 chickens decided they liked it under the deck. My two dogs had been staying under there during the day to escape the heat as well. That next summer (2019) I barely saw any slugs at all. Every once in a while I will see where a slug has been up on the deck after the dog food, leaving their old slimy, iridescent trail behind.

Once I decided I wanted ducks, I have been worrying about under the deck. I know that that will be the CHOSEN duck hang out unless I fence the whole thing off to all critters. I can’t and won’t be Easter egg hunting for duck eggs under there.

I’m really kinda torn cause I liked the chickens and dogs getting under there, keeping all other varmints run off or eaten. I guess I’ll choose the lesser of two evils when the time comes.

Good luck with keeping them out! A while ago there was a horrible snail year here, every time you walked outside they'd crunch under your feet Then I got ducks, who ate them ALL throughout the year and then proceeded to cross the street to look for more! I had to watch them like a hawk to make sure they'd stay in the yard. This year they've been better, I guess they've forgotten about snail-ville across the street.
On the plus side though, ducks usually lay in the mornings - I never have to go egg hunting with mine because they lay before I let them out. May depend on the duck though