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Raising Ducks #7732679
12/02/22 02:53 PM
12/02/22 02:53 PM
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 1,614
Livingston, Texas
S
Sheepdog1 Offline OP
trapper
Sheepdog1  Offline OP
trapper
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Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 1,614
Livingston, Texas
for eggs and meat. yall give me the info on what it takes. I can deal with chickens, Never messed with ducks other than helping an elderly fella when i was 7 or 8 years old. didnt absorb much then. yall give me the low down

Re: Raising Ducks [Re: Sheepdog1] #7732684
12/02/22 03:08 PM
12/02/22 03:08 PM
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 25,429
Georgia
warrior Online content
trapper
warrior  Online Content
trapper

Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 25,429
Georgia
All I know of ducks is either total dry ground with strictly controlled access to water or free range to your local pond, no in between.

They'll make their own mudhole if given the opportunity.


[Linked Image]
Re: Raising Ducks [Re: Sheepdog1] #7732685
12/02/22 03:09 PM
12/02/22 03:09 PM
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 7,954
On Georgian Bay, Ontario Canad...
H
Hutchy Offline
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Hutchy  Offline
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Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 7,954
On Georgian Bay, Ontario Canad...
You don't raise ducks, you shoot them! grin

I got no idea.

I can hardly grow beans. lol

Re: Raising Ducks [Re: Sheepdog1] #7732686
12/02/22 03:10 PM
12/02/22 03:10 PM
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 25,429
Georgia
warrior Online content
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warrior  Online Content
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 25,429
Georgia
And like chickens your better layers are lighter weight and your meat birds not as good a layer though not to the extreme as chickens.


[Linked Image]
Re: Raising Ducks [Re: warrior] #7732692
12/02/22 03:16 PM
12/02/22 03:16 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 11,294
East-Central Wisconsin
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bblwi Offline
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bblwi  Offline
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 11,294
East-Central Wisconsin
We got fertilzed eggs from a person and incubated 9 with the idea of raising ducks for eggs and meat. We butchered them all in the fall! Messy creatures and for some reason we lost more ducks to predation than our free range chickens. Don't know why and yes to the mud puddles which is why we got swimming pools to move around. Ducks went first and then the chickens. I miss the eggs but not the cost and the mess. We let our chickens roam outside most of the year. They got in th habit of hiding their eggs which really cut down on their value to us. We did one year with more enclosure type housing and then butchered them out.

Bryce

Re: Raising Ducks [Re: Sheepdog1] #7732722
12/02/22 03:56 PM
12/02/22 03:56 PM
Joined: Nov 2022
Posts: 112
PA
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hickoryridge Offline
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hickoryridge  Offline
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Joined: Nov 2022
Posts: 112
PA
raise for meat and ducks, mostly rouens . . they free range but we do have a pond and a creek on the property . . I just throw them some cracked corn or laying mash once in awhile . . love duck meat, can a bunch of it too . . the eggs are supposedly better for you than chicken eggs, more protein, vitamins, minerals, etc . . if you raise them in a pen you'll have to change their water out multiple times a day, I dont recommend it, gets real annoying

Re: Raising Ducks [Re: Sheepdog1] #7732741
12/02/22 04:29 PM
12/02/22 04:29 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,563
Worley, Idaho
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Machias Offline
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Machias  Offline
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,563
Worley, Idaho
Get Muscovy Ducks, NO noise, fantastic meat, great eggs and they are broody as heck if you want to raise more!


When things are Grim, become the Grim Reaper!
Fred Moyer
Re: Raising Ducks [Re: Sheepdog1] #7732766
12/02/22 04:50 PM
12/02/22 04:50 PM
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 16,512
Oakland, MS
yotetrapper30 Offline
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yotetrapper30  Offline
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 16,512
Oakland, MS
I have had several breeds of ducks. So far my favorites by far have been Magpies.

I don't do much with them. They are 100% free range, usually choosing to sleep on the pond. I feed them a pan of cracked corn once a day, and that's it... they forage the rest. I DO have dogs though that patrol the yard... without them, I imagine I would lose more to predation. My biggest losses have been to young ducks... between snakes and turtles. The adult ducks are pretty much carefree but the little ducks are a pain...

They are MESSY to keep in a pen... no matter HOW you give them water they WILL find a way to get most of it on the floor, causing the pen to be a mess and you to have to water more frequently. I much prefer to let the hens set in the spring and hatch their own ducks... although even that's a pain trying to keep the snakes and other critters away from the nests until they hatch.


~~Proud Ultra MAGA~~
Re: Raising Ducks [Re: Sheepdog1] #7732809
12/02/22 05:40 PM
12/02/22 05:40 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 2,463
ny
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gcs Offline
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gcs  Offline
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 2,463
ny
"Here", was the home of the Peking duck in this country, Millions of them, They originally had access to water as all the farms were on creeks, then they started raising them on the dry lots. At the stocking rate used they were stinking , messy birds. The farms are all gone now, put out of business by property values and state regulation....Good eating but very fatty. I second the idea of Muscovy ducks though, Large birds, will raise big broods and are a leaner meat, ugly as sin though and they can and will fly.

Re: Raising Ducks [Re: Sheepdog1] #7732896
12/02/22 07:31 PM
12/02/22 07:31 PM
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 252
idaho
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grumpa Offline
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grumpa  Offline
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Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 252
idaho
I second the Muscovies. I had a drake and 4 hens. They all nested, hatched and raised 88 little ones on the first hatch. My buddy and I cleaned everyone of them for the freezer. YUM!

Re: Raising Ducks [Re: Sheepdog1] #7732910
12/02/22 08:01 PM
12/02/22 08:01 PM
Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 8,865
Indiana
P
Providence Farm Offline
trapper
Providence Farm  Offline
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P

Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 8,865
Indiana
First thing fox really like them so keep the fox away. I don't like duck eggs they are more rubbery than chicken eggs. You can raise then with a kid pool if you don't have a lake but the mess is not worth it to me. I much prefer chickens.

With chicken if you want eggs get egg layers if you want meat Cornish cross. Dual purpose are like an adjustable which it may work but does nothing well.

Re: Raising Ducks [Re: Sheepdog1] #7732918
12/02/22 08:07 PM
12/02/22 08:07 PM
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 10,787
Asheville, NC
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charles Offline
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charles  Offline
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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 10,787
Asheville, NC
Wife and I were in Europe this summer on a Danube cruise. We went by a goose farm. The farmer was walking through a fenced pasture and about 100 white geese were following every step. Europeans eat a lot of goose liver. I suppose they eat the goose as well. I woould.

Only owned one goose. Mean as heck. Ate it on a Thanksgiving. Its name was Gerdie.

Re: Raising Ducks [Re: Hutchy] #7732965
12/02/22 08:50 PM
12/02/22 08:50 PM
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 16,171
ny
U
upstateNY Offline
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upstateNY  Offline
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 16,171
ny
Originally Posted by Hutchy
You don't raise ducks, you shoot them! grin


Hahahaaa me too.


the wheels of the gods turn very slowly
Re: Raising Ducks [Re: Sheepdog1] #7732994
12/02/22 09:14 PM
12/02/22 09:14 PM
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 327
Caldwell, ID
K
KTMracer Offline
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KTMracer  Offline
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 327
Caldwell, ID
I've raised several hundred of them over the last decade or so. By far the best are the Muscovy for my operation. I just let them free range with kiddie pools around all summer. Dump them, spray them out, and refill every two days. Great meat and prolific layers. They multiply quick if you want them to. Most hens would set on and hatch 12-15 each time. Most would set a 2nd nest each summer. Quiet and easy keepers. I love the eggs.

All I can recommend is never consider geese. Just took seven of them to the butcher a couple days ago. Sure, they taste great, but the best part is the satisfaction of eating those noisy biting jerks after six months of dealing with them. Good eggs though.


"Not all who wander are lost" -JRR Tolkien

Just a man in search of all the old Pontiacs I can get my grubby hands on.
Re: Raising Ducks [Re: Sheepdog1] #7733069
12/02/22 10:35 PM
12/02/22 10:35 PM
Joined: Apr 2022
Posts: 93
Nebraska
J
Jkme Offline
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Jkme  Offline
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Joined: Apr 2022
Posts: 93
Nebraska
Khaki cambell ducks lay really well. They will out lay a chicken. Mine are 3 years old and take January and February off for laying. When they start laying in March I've had them lay 14 eggs with 8 hens in one day. They live in a pen with my chickens. You can't beat pekin duck meat. They fatten up in about 15 weeks and are tasty. Good rendered fat as well.

Re: Raising Ducks [Re: Sheepdog1] #7733141
12/02/22 11:41 PM
12/02/22 11:41 PM
Joined: Oct 2022
Posts: 21
Midwest
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Ruger10 Offline
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Ruger10  Offline
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Joined: Oct 2022
Posts: 21
Midwest
Khaki cambells are awesome lay well and eat well
Muscovies eat like beef and will take care of themselves including the young I used to raise hundreds a year.

Re: Raising Ducks [Re: Sheepdog1] #7733435
12/03/22 10:49 AM
12/03/22 10:49 AM
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 359
Iowa
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Joe1 Offline
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Joe1  Offline
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Joined: May 2010
Posts: 359
Iowa
local sale barns sale duck and chicken eggs ducks always bring more

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