should I have ducks?

[KurtRyanGrehlinger]

Should I get ducks? I have 9 Easter egger chickens. But I’m intrested in why ducks are so more populaur than chickens are lately. How messier are ducks than chickens? Is it ways to reduce the mess. Are they louder or quieter than chickens. Do they eat and poop less than chickens. How messy are they. How big do they get. Are they loud. Do they attack you are they protective of chickens. Will they fight with chickens. What are pros and cons on why or why not i should keep ducks?

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Only you can honestly answer the question as to whether you should gets ducks or not because it's truly a personal decision. I love them but some folks don't. I love my chickens too. I believe ducks are WAY messier than chickens, especially when they're ducklings. That really adds to the work. I know I was cleaning out the brooder daily and it sometimes it needed to be done twice a day. Now that they're adults, my ducks spend their days on my pond. They're locked up at night, so I have to keep their duck house clean but it's not too bad, as long as I keep food and water outside. As far as noise, my drakes don't cockadoodledoo, so that is a huge difference in noise level. My Pekin duck can seriously do some loud quacking and she is very chatty, but I still think they're more quiet than my chickens. If I had all pullets/hens, the noise level might possibly be comparable, but I don't know. My drakes and ducks aren't aggressive at all. They don't like being held and one of my drakes will bite whatever he can get in his bill if you're holding him, but seriously, it's more like a pinch and it isn't hard. He immediately stops as soon as you put him down and does not even attempt to nibble any other time. My ducks are gentle as well and even being medicated twice a day for over a month, she's only lightly pinched me once but I had just finished trying to get pus out of her foot and then giving meds. The are more gentle than my chickens, but they don't love affection. My drakes can get aggravated with each other and chase each other and pull at feathers, but they're nothing like some cockerels/roosters, from what I have witnessed. I don't see a future without chickens or ducks, but if I couldn't free range them on the pond, I don't know how I would feel.

 

[KurtRyanGrehlinger]

Only you can honestly answer the question as to whether you should gets ducks or not because it's truly a personal decision. I love them but some folks don't. I love my chickens too. I believe ducks are WAY messier than chickens, especially when they're ducklings. That really adds to the work. I know I was cleaning out the brooder daily and it sometimes it needed to be done twice a day. Now that they're adults, my ducks spend their days on my pond. They're locked up at night, so I have to keep their duck house clean but it's not too bad, as long as I keep food and water outside. As far as noise, my drakes don't cockadoodledoo, so that is a huge difference in noise level. My Pekin duck can seriously do some loud quacking and she is very chatty, but I still think they're more quiet than my chickens. If I had all pullets/hens, the noise level might possibly be comparable, but I don't know. My drakes and ducks aren't aggressive at all. They don't like being held and one of my drakes will bite whatever he can get in his bill if you're holding him, but seriously, it's more like a pinch and it isn't hard. He immediately stops as soon as you put him down and does not even attempt to nibble any other time. My ducks are gentle as well and even being medicated twice a day for over a month, she's only lightly pinched me once but I had just finished trying to get pus out of her foot and then giving meds. The are more gentle than my chickens, but they don't love affection. My drakes can get aggravated with each other and chase each other and pull at feathers, but they're nothing like some cockerels/roosters, from what I have witnessed. I don't see a future without chickens or ducks, but if I couldn't free range them on the pond, I don't know how I would feel.

Oh ok

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Oh ok

If you could find a home beforehand that will accept them, just in case, it'd be worth it to get 2 or 3, if you feel like you would like to add some to your existing flock. I remember reading posts here on BYC about folks that wanted to start keeping ducks but quickly found that it wasn't going to work out, and I've read posts the complete opposite. I didn't want ducks, but my daughter desperately wanted them and her dad showed up with them. For as long as I can remember, I've had horrible nightmares about not being able to properly care for an animal and it dying because of me, so of course I do everything in my power to care for any animal I am responsible for. I ended up falling head over heels in love with those messy quacking fluff butts. I have WAY too many drakes and I've found them a new home, but my ducks are being quarantined anyway, so I'll take them once the ducks are free ranging. I'm way too attached and I know it's going to hurt to send them to their new home, but I've got to do what's best for everyone and keep everyone healthy. This is the only way if I want to be able to free range my ducks. I wish you all the very best with your flock and any possible flock additions you decide to make. Stay well!

I am not good at short, simple replies, so please overlook me

 

[pauld3]

We were thinking of getting some ducks to go with our chickens also and had some questions, do the ducks stay in the chicken coop or do you need to get them there own, and do you feed different foods to the ducks than the chickens.

 

[Isaac 0]

We were thinking of getting some ducks to go with our chickens also and had some questions, do the ducks stay in the chicken coop or do you need to get them there own, and do you feed different foods to the ducks than the chickens.

Ducks will do fine in the chicken coop, but there are a few things that need to be done to ensure they use it, make sure there is little to no ramp going into the coop, there should be plenty of space for each species inside the coop or fighting may occur. Also, water should drain freely around the coop or it will be a muddy mess in no time, which can create a very harmful environment to your chickens.

For feed, most mixed-species owners will feed either an All Flock Feed or a Purina Rasier Feed, and oyster shells should be provided once they are of laying age.

 

[nao57]

The others have more experience than me, so their opinions can feel free to correct me.

The ducks are easier to work with for me than chickens. I haven't had them long and already I can get them to follow me around and I can get them in the cage at night easily without chasing them around. This part is super cool.

You can't train chickens.

And its easy. You just hand feed the ducks a few times after a couple days making them think their prison cell is safe. Eventually they start thinking food when they see you.

Its easier to tell if they are eating than chickens. With the chicks I can't tell how much they are eating because they scratch around with it.

But ducks use tons more water than chickens I've noticed. And so far mine are using more feed also. (Although I could pick a breed that's smaller and use less feed actually).

So far I haven't run into much noise. And the family really likes the ducks more than the chickens. (But one family member likes the chickens more for some reason.) The roosters crows are a huge drawback. But with ducks the males are quieter than the hens, so you don't have to worry about having males. This is a huge bullet point to think about because most town ordinances say no roosters and only X hens (typically 5 chicken hens).

I've read some people say that chickens will try to get out of pens more than ducks, but I don't know if that's true (when given that they have everything they need). (Maybe someone else can comment on this.)

One major point nobody else is going to bring up, that I really like is how much time I'm saving with either chickens or ducks compared to gardening.

With gardening when I'd go out in the yard I'd have to give an hour or two a day almost every day and basically have to fight with clay semi-arid soil (Southwest) that is really hard to get anything to grow in. And even then I might not get hardly anything. (Our soil is really bad and depleted). I have to put in lots of time to even get a plant to live, not just bear fruit.

With any kind of poultry, as long as I keep feeding it, the return is WAY higher than the effort for the garden. I don't have to spend hardly any time feeding either chickens or ducks compared to the garden time I'd have to spend. (Now some people may say they do better in gardens, especially if they are in the south, where you can grow a lot and have more water.)

The ease of getting something from the poultry for the amount of work you actually do is the most amazing part about this I think.

But its true some people are going to be turned off by smells, and also the cleanup. (But if they are outside you don't have to clean up too much but just rake it up and move it to the garden compost pile.)