8 Reasons NOT to Have Ducks on a Homestead

ducks duck house duckie bunkie free range organic orchard homestead farm. 8 Reasons NOT to Have Ducks on a Homestead #ducks #homestead #duck
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[@merriebadham6701]

I knew a woman who's son had a pet duck when he was young. The woman told me this with a deadpan face, "do you know that ducks poop every time they quack?". It cracked me up.

[@L6FT]

Thanks for the pros and cons videos on ducks.

[@itsthatguyphil]

My Runner Ducks definitely go back to eat any dropped food. They love food. LOL!

[@catherinejones6481]

All that stinky mess creates thee most awesome fertiliser for the garden. I have a routine where their bedding gets put on the compost pile and the water bowls get diluted into watering cans for the veggies and fruit trees. I do it daily so it works. As for my 14 idiot Indian Runners who think I’m the enemy, they are stupid, but they do put themselves to bed which I guess is a bonus. But their babies that I hand raised are exceptionally friendly and follow me everywhere and bring me so much joy.

[@shemer00]

I have 6 mallards and 5 pekins. I absolutely love them, even if they are messy 😂I have them all named and banded. They are very spoiled. In my experience with them, mine are as much work as taking care of my chickens.

[@doriskuhberger8559]

WOW that is a lot of ducks. One of your dogs seems to herd them to their pen at night. Well done.

[@VeronikaBelskaya]

Thank u for the interesting video! I'm from Russia, and I watch your videos to improve my english skills. Thank u for your understandable language and pronunciation, I appreciate that😄))) And I enjoy birds🥰

[@ellenlefavour628]

All you say about ducks is true. I have a mix of 18 Pekin and Muscovy ducks. Cleaning up after them and my goats is just part of daily life on my little homestead. I make a special treat food of cooked rice, lentils, corn, nutritional yeast, oats, barley, fish oil, hemp hearts, flax seed, and black soldier fly larvae, which they love. As soon as they hear the pan clanking and the call “ducks, ducks, come quick”, they run into their enclosure to gobble up their treat. I also provide them with pet carriers filled with straw that they make nests in and that is where they lay their eggs, which are usually very clean. If one gets laid or kicked out of the carrier, all bets are off and serious washing is required. I love ducks. I live in rubber boots. I love water and don’t mind getting wet. I even have a couple of ducks that let me pick them up and pet them - but they are definitely not the norm. Most of them will hang around my feet and walk around with me trying to trip me because they think I have a treat for them, but they don’t want to be touched.

[@leonafaryna7617]

Oh no, no, no, no, …….not for me! But I’m so happy that they are for you and that you share them with us! Has the heat hit your way yet? Is the smoke in the distance away from you? I think about you both often and wonder if you have to worry at all. Have a wonderful week🙋‍♀️

[@ohaidere]

Really appreciate this video. Based on our setup and the behavior you show in this video, ducks will not work for us! So wonderful that you are giving people an honest overview so they don't make a mistake and put ducks in an environment that won't be fair to them :)

[@dijiola7127]

Helpful ideas for me just starting God bless you

[@mamarockshomestead]

Great info!!! Much appreciated ❤

[@Backyard_Chickens]

I have two ducks and that is enough, lol. Thanks for the great information.

[@dianas9161]

Everything you say is so true ;-) but we love them anyway! I laughed so much when you said they think you're the axe murderer.... mine are very skiddish too, but they're also so much fun! I got 51 ducks - Pekins, Rouens, Silver Appleyards (which are more trusting) and added some Runner Ducks (total nutcases, they constantly are running away and making a lot of noise, I wouldn't recommend them unless you get to hand tame them) and Khaki Campbells (nearly as skiddish as the Runner ducks). Now I got a few Saxony ducks just hatched and they're just so mellow and sweet! Ducks are so addictive. Luckily they're very good at fertilising the lawn, and just being so much fun to watch. I can't wait to try and eat some, haven't had the heart yet to dispatch them. But they do need a lot of feed.... still better than chickens, our chickens are just lazing by the feeder although they can freerange. The ducks are taking care of all the bugs :)

[@bevlower6793]

I agree with everything you said. I have khaki campbells & just added a couple Welsh Harlequins. I used to have all Welshs but thought I'd switch to KCs to try. Welshs are about a pound heavier than KCs but that pound makes all the difference at harvest time. You can get the job done quicker if you skin the duck but then you don't get the beautiful & crunchy roast duck. A pond is really not that hard to dig out just with a shovel. I had to use a pick because my ground is full of big lava rocks...actually, mostly lava rock but I have dug out two ponds here & i'm a nearly 70 yr. old lady so...oh, & my ducks eat pelleted feed & I keep it at least 20 feet from the pond and in the nearly 10 years I've been doing this, I've never seen a duck choke. THAT would save you a lot of bucket filling AND the HORRIBLE smell of poo, feed, fly filled water! PS Ducks can be trained to drop their eggs in a certain spot using ceramic eggs but they'll never get as good at it as chickens. I love your content. Thank you.

[@raycatlin3554]

Good post ! 👍

[@eyesea123]

Awe, they are so cute. Nature is amazing!

[@mindie72]

All good points. I love my small flock of khaki campbells but would not want more because of the mess. The ducks are so fun to watch though!

[@bc-guy852]

I saw the other video just after I spotted this one and I chuckled. I already watched the other video and after consideration of the water needs (I have to truck water in) and a couple of other factors (dirty eggs anywhere and having to corale them at night - I'll pass. But I'm loving the chickens I tried for the first time last Spring. Our first (Canadian) Winter and so far, so good; El Niño making it a breeze so far, (no power at the coop for a heater - so I built insulated).

[@SelfEvolutionHypnotherapy]

great video - thank you !!