Ducks!

[baymule]

I just ordered 17 Pekin ducklings, straight run, for a future date with Freezer Camp. I also ordered 3 fawn and white female runner ducklings for eggs, giggles and grins. I have a shipping date of March 3, a week before our grand daughter goes on spring break. I can't wait!

 

[ninnymary]

Wow Baymule, that's really expanding. So, what other animals do you have?

Mary

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

So are you planning on using the Pekins for meat or just for the fun of watching? Ours are surprisingly good egg layers.

It's nice to see somebody else getting into ducks, they're not that popular.

Enjoy the ducklings while you can, they grow fast! Oh, and don't let them anywhere near your squash plants. Our first group of 20 stripped our 12 squash vines clean of leaves within an hour, it was kind of disappointing, but fun to watch.

 

[Smart Red]

I enjoyed watching my SILs ducks march through the yard eating mosquitoes in a straight line. Eggs and mosquito elimination would be my reasons for trying a few, but my MIL lived on the river for 65 years and we all learned to dislike those messy nesters. I'll stick to my chickens. Unless or until my son builds the pond he's talked about out back then ducks will be top on my wish list.

 

[baymule]

I am getting the Pekins to raise for meat. I ordered Pekins because they grow fast and are ready to butcher in 7-12 weeks. I have a small backyard and don't have room to keep them for long. I ordered the 3 runner ducks because I think they are funny and maybe, maybe I can handle 3 of them.

I currently have 20 chickens and need to butcher 3 old hens to make room for the new chicks I'll get in the spring. My garden is in the front yard, because the back yard is too shaded. I also have 3 horses, 1 mule and 1 donkey we keep on 16 acres about 3 miles from town.

 

[Jared77]

If they were not so messy I'd have some. They foul up their drinking water so fast the extra work isn't worth it. I love duck though they taste great when cooked properly.

 

[baymule]

After all the nasty weather, SNOW!! and ICE!! storms, which are highly unusual for our area, our grand daughter came for the weekend. Saturday was overcast, but not cold, so she and I built a chicken wire enclosure for the baby ducks. It still needs more work before they get here, but at least we got a start on it. It will be a temporary set up, so I didn't want to build something I couldn't easily take back down. Making ducky progress! Sunday turned out cold, rainy, windy and just plain nasty. Glad we got to go out and play at least one day!

 

[lesa]

I love those runner ducks. I could watch them all day! I will be looking forward to hearing about your experiences with the ducks. Would love to have a pond and some ducks....someday.

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

If they were not so messy I'd have some. They foul up their drinking water so fast the extra work isn't worth it. I love duck though they taste great when cooked properly.

We have had a flock of over 200 ducks at one time. (Mostly accidental Muscovy ducklings, they are just too good at making babies. We still had a sizable population of Pekings, also geese.) We don't actually change the water entirely during the winter as it makes too much ice. We just make sure that we keep the water touched up so none of the bowls turns completely empty. We used to change the water completely during the summer but now only change the largest tub once a day and keep the other bowls touched up, things get too wet already in my area and if it gets too wet then dry you'll get a hard-pan. They are very hard to correct and nothing will grow there for years.

Muscovy ducks are a lot cleaner and bath less than other ducks. The meat is also way better with a taste of sirloin steak. They are not great at laying, that's why we have Pekings. I don't know exactly where you are but you'll have to see if these are legal in your area, they have established feral populations in the warmer parts of the south. I at least know that they are illegal in Texas.

 

[baymule]

My duckies shipped today!! I am hoping they will be here tomorrow!