Raising Ducks

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

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.

You don't raise ducks, you shoot them!

I got no idea.

I can hardly grow beans. lol

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.

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

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

Get Muscovy Ducks, NO noise, fantastic meat, great eggs and they are broody as heck if you want to raise more!

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.

"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.

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!

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.

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.

Hahahaaa me too.

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.

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.

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.

local sale barns sale duck and chicken eggs ducks always bring more