What are the benefits of keeping ducks? What do you do with them?

[Kelly G]

This is a real question. I love ducks - and would love to have a wood duck! But do they lay eggs like chickens? I'll have to do a little justifying to convince my tolerant husband...so I was just wondering about all this

I want one!!!

 

[greenthumb89]

think that wood ducks are purely ornamental and used for showing if anything. now ducks like the pekin, swedish blue, khaki campbell, and even muscovy are used for eggs and their meat. and just like chickens some are better at certain things then others

 

[Wifezilla]

Wood ducks are the tea cup poodles of the duck world. Really cute but kind of useless for anything but looking adorable.

I have a khaki campbell drake, a buff hen, a runner hen and 2 ducklings. I get an egg a day from my big girls. Their job is to make me breakfast, eat bugs and weeds and keep the grass trimmed. They earn their keep.

I just have the drake around so if I want to hatch more eggs I have that option. Actually I have 4 eggs in the incubator right now

 

[Kelly G]

Darn it!!! They look like living pieces of art!

 

[Kelly G]

Do the eggs taste different than chicken eggs?

 

[gritsar]

They say duck eggs are better for baking.
I'm with you. I want a few ducks so bad. My SO won't take me anywhere near an Atwoods store this time of year. I'm not brave enough to go there by myself and pull a surprise honey!

 

[mazdacrzy]

Wild wood ducks here in Georgia are the one of the most favorite ducks to hunt. From what I hear they are very good eating.

 

[Wifezilla]

Duck eggs have very large rich yolks. Not a lot of difference in flavor between duck and chicken eggs, just a little richer.

 

[wasatusay]

I love the wood ducks that I photograph at Swan Lake. But never have thought about them other than being beautiful wild ducks. I have Peking’s and yes the eggs are great for baking. I don't eat the eggs because I do find they have a taste all their own and they have a smell I can only describe as smelling like duck. I know that doesn’t help,
I also find that if I break up duck eggs (boiled) to feed back to the chickens and ducks they seem to be more acidic to my hands, where boiled chicken eggs don’t. I have not found anything online about this, this is from my own experience. Even though I have my chickens and ducks I have never been a big fan of eating eggs. Go figure. I send plenty of duck eggs with my Hubby to work for friends that like them and they say that they make an excellent western omelet. Apparently the peppers and onions don't over power the egg like they do with chicken eggs.
Ducks verses chickens are like dogs verses cats. I find my ducks as interesting as my chickens but 100% flip side to the coin. If I had to compare them, chickens are like dogs, friendly and can be pets, where as ducks are more independent and not so inclined to handling. But there are always the exceptions with both, same as dogs and cats. I guess you have to know your ducks and spend more time with them to get to know them? They entertain me to no end and have their own personalities as do my chickens, they are just harder to get to know. I can say that this household has one yea on ducks and Hubby on nay..But I have had my ducks for a few years so I guess I win!

 

[Tweeza]

Quote:
My daughter has some skin ailments and had a blood sensitivity test done. Turns out one of the many things she is sensitive to is chicken eggs but she can have duck eggs.