Chickens versus Ducks

[Shar]

After researching ducks and chickens I chose to buy eggs and hatch out Rhode Island Reds and Rouan/Khaki Campbell crosses. The ducks were specifically chosen as a high yield layer, rivaling some of the better laying chicken breeds. They could double as a meat supply from surplus males.
The eggs hatched out within a week of each other and I've gotta tell you... at eight weeks the ducks were a good weight and size while the RIR's were still very small. The chickens have just started laying and all of the duck hens have been laying for two months steady. The ducks are not spooky and come in to be shut up at night along with the chickens (safe from coyotes, foxes, owls etc.). They ate very little purchased food, rather they pigged out on the duckweed on the pond. My turkeys, chickens and ducks all eat the heck out of it. Between the duckweed, insects and foraging I'm not needing to fill the food dispensers but every other day. The ducks are better scavengers than the chickens.

Overall, if you don't mind the "thickness" of the duck eggs and don't mind the meat ducks may be a viable alternative to chickens for people near ponds. And, speaking of ponds, duck weed is the best thing to happen to our pond too! The water is clearer than it's ever been and even in the drought the duckweed greatly reduced the evaporation of the pond water.

Shar

[Taz Baby]

Nice post and I like both chickens and ducks. I prefer to have both as a change of taste. Duck eggs are much richer than chickens but if you normally eat 2 chicken eggs for breakfast then you will only need 1 duck egg. If anyone has a pond you have to have duckweed too, they just go together like peanut butter and jelly. Will have to look up that breed of duck as I know nothing about them. Are they a all weather bird or do they only do good in 1 area? RIR's in my opinion are the best all around chicken you can have. Great meat, egg layers and brooders you can have. If you have 1 hen sitting, you can put any kind of egg under her and she will hatch it and think it is her baby. They are not mean and love to be held.

[helomech]

I have black australorp chickens, kahki cambell ducks, peking cross ducks, toulese geese, and turkeys. The peking ducks are the best layers I get a egg from each female every day. All of them put themselves up at night. I think the geese are the most social, followed by the turkey.

[realist]

We raised mallards until I left home. If it were not for those eight ducklings that my dad brought home I do not know how we would have lived. We grew up on duck eggs, they were blue with bright orange yolk. The meat was OK but you can only do so much with it. We routinely would butcher about 80 plus a year. If I had them now I would grind them up and use them like we do ground turkey. We would have eggs overflowing the refrigerator so my mom would freeze them and we would use those for cooking. One thing that I will suggest to all is ducks and geese which we had are the absolute best watch dogs. They will wake up the dead when something comes in the yard. Helo regarding your Peking ducks, some SOB threw one over the fence one year and it took us probably 10 years to breed that guy out of the flock. They are prolific......

[helomech]

Helo regarding your Peking ducks, some SOB threw one over the fence one year and it took us probably 10 years to breed that guy out of the flock. They are prolific......

We are not interested in pure breed ducks. They are good meat ducks and they lay wonderful eggs every day.

[Shar]

Speaking of duckweed, I'll have to get a picture of the deer walking IN the pond grazing off the stuff! It's a joy just to sit and watch them. We have the room for ducks, chickens, turkeys and an old guinea and I enjoy them all. My guinea is 13 years old and when she goes I might just have to get some more. I'll miss her a lot. She keeps the rest of the flock in line.

[4suchatimeasthis]

Love this thread, ants! We have himmed and hawed about getting some ducklings in the spring, we have a pond. I just don't want my dog to go after them, he's half Lab.

Those of you who have eaten duck regularly, how do you prepare it? I've had duck once in my life, my uncle shot one and brought some over when I was about 10 yrs old. I thought it was the most horrible thing I had ever put in my mouth, including dog food. But, he's not exactly the worlds best cook either. I know that venison can be awesome or nasty, depending on how old the deer was, and how it was prepared, maybe duck is the same way?

[helomech]

My wife cooks the duck at our house. I have never eaten tame duck yet, but will in the next day or two. She pot fries it, and serves it over rice with gravy.

You will have to train your lab to not kill or chase the ducks. My puppies killed a few of our chickens and ducks, but I think we have that taken care of now. You will have to show the dog that the ducks are yours and you will not allow him to even stare at the ducks.

[Sniper-T]

I've never raised ducks but have hunted them for many years. And yes, they can be good or bad, like anything else. Easiest way it to just breast them, and then cross cut the breasts into thin slices, stirfry as you would chicken.

By cross cutting it, you are taking a fairly tough cut of meat and cutting it in the most tender way.

Duck is also very good done in a crockpot, with whatever sauce that you would typically use with pork or chicken.

If you want to stuff a whole duck, make sure you have something in the cavity that contains moisture, as duck is quite dry to begin with, and a standard stovetop will suck any moisture there is out of it. I personally like chunks of green apple (peeled/cored)

Beer can duck turns out very well!

[Shar]

So it looks like I'll be butchering about 5 young roosters tomorrow. I have too many and the people who asked me for the RIR roosters had until Monday to get them. I can't keep subjecting my hens to overzealous males and I'm tired of waiting for people to come get them. One is going because he's brazen and will charge me. He hasn't done that since I picked him up by the neck and stared him in the face! The others are really nice to people and each other but they are harassing the hens nearly to death.

On the other hand I have three male ducks who all get along and who do not harass their girls. They'll all be staying since the girls have decided for themselves which male they like.