We Hated Our Ducks, THEN WE DID THIS!

Ducks are so messy and they escape like crazy, but then we started to raise them like THIS!
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We are a better together family of 6 living in an 800sqft Shed to House Conversion and currently converting a 336sqft shed into a tiny house for our new studio! Oh yea, we are doing our best to build a sustainable homestead in central Texas raising pigs, chickens, and rabbits…. and hopefully more!!!!!
#familycow #buildingahomestead #chickens

[@BetterTogetherLife]

If you enjoyed this video and wanting learn our road map how to could afford to move from the city to the homestead, check out our book: GetOffYourTail.com

[@mommyandmegardening9076]

I started giving my ducks meal worms by hand every day. Now they follow me around. It works wonders when they associate you with their favorite treats.

[@AdAstraLabs]

Aren't you afraid of them becoming pets and having to eventually process them?

[@mommyandmegardening9076]

@@AdAstraLabs I don’t plan to process my girls. When they stop laying, we will probably keep them as pets. We processed 4 males and I cried for days.

[@AdAstraLabs]

@@mommyandmegardening9076 Do you have Heritage/Heirloom breeds?

[@ourwholesomehome4967]

Your wife seriously has the best voice-over voice! I love watching, but also love listening when she narrates everything! Learning a lot from you guys - you remind us of our situation---we've just got to pull the trigger!

[@BetterTogetherLife]

Yup, her voice over voice is SOOOOOO MUCH BETTER than mine!!! 🤣🤣🤣 Kelly is so good that I’ve hired her as voice over talent. So I guess you could say she is a pro! Lol!!

[@ourwholesomehome4967]

@@BetterTogetherLife Too bad there isn't a "laughing" button like facebook! LOL Keep up the awesome work you guys!!

[@blackpepe]

i spanked my monkey to the voices

[@2-1inffwa97]

Finding that first duck egg while dressed up for Antarctica was hilarious You southern folk are a hoot

[@BetterTogetherLife]

hahaha!!!! Yyyyyyup!!! We can more easily handle the 111 degree summers....but if it dips below 30 here in Texas we lose our minds! lol!!! Thank you so much for the comment and for watching!

[@birage9885]

I have 8 Welsh Harlequiin ducks, and I use their poopy pool water to water my plants and garden, and everything thrives. What I like about the duck poop is that it is watery, and assimilates readily into the ground. In the past three years I can only think of a few times that I actually had to rake out any poop from their pen. As opposed to chicken poop which is what they call a 'hot' poop, solid and high in nitrogen, which requires the poop to have to be raked, and aged before adding to any plants.

[@BetterTogetherLife]

We want to try a different duck breed for sure. Not a fan of the runner ducks.

[@birage9885]

@@BetterTogetherLife Welsh Harlequins are nice, good layers and calm. Runners are neat, but skittish.

[@BetterTogetherLife]

Absolutely!!!

[@Darmok_onthe_ocean]

Runner ducks are the most skittish. My Cayuga ducks are basically domesticated cats. I didn’t sign on for that, honestly. But they are so darling. They never got the memo that they are outdoor livestock.

[@jenniferpangelinan2667]

This was so cool! Ducks are definitely on my list for when we move to a larger property.

[@BetterTogetherLife]

Yay!!! So glad it was helpful! Thanks Jennifer!

[@ridingvenus]

Hand feeding my ducks totally turned them from disappointment to just what I wanted…ducks that dont run from me usually…ok to hold and will follow. I will add a KZbin of it after I am done with the 1st bird house.

[@dodgesportsman772]

My ducks don't like me but I love them so much and spoil them daily... They are getting better

[@richl2723]

Those aren't mallards. They appear to be Appleyard's. So they are someone's pets.

[@BetterTogetherLife]

Yea we have no idea where they came from! So bizarre!

[@shannonvanderhoof4810]

Beautiful. Thank you. 🕊

[@BetterTogetherLife]

Thank you!!!!!

[@danachoate5361]

I am one who can't eat chicken eggs but I CAN eat duck eggs and they're delish! ❤

[@BetterTogetherLife]

YES!!!! I LOVE duck eggs!!!! So much richer than chicken eggs for sure!!! Thank you Dana for the comment!

[@edeltraudgrace5186]

Ah I love ducks. Beautiful video about your ducks.

[@robertmcdonald7805]

My ducks and chickens meet me at the gate everyday. Lol. They even shadow me when I'm changing water and cleaning up.

[@deedeeunkefer2270]

Same here

[@kallasusort2986]

Your channel is so interesting - Thank you!

[@willmartin9215]

Those other ducks, I don't believe were mallards. I believe that they were a domestic duck breed.

[@Bitsyhorse]

they look like welsh harlequins

[@mebeeingb2421]

Definitely look like welshies. To whitw for mallards.

[@et6493]

I live A lovely coastal Mississippi Region and have Muskogee water file they can be challenging from time to time but they are an excellent addition to the Homestead. Good luck!

[@CoffeeNo0b0514]

Runner ducks are naturally skittish, they arent typically though most willing to be handled. Though there are exceptions.

[@lunachic03dh]

Cute video!!!! Oh and cute 🦆 🦆 too!!

[@BetterTogetherLife]

Oh thank you so much Debbie!! 😁

[@marcelklein3879]

I have runner ducks. In the summer it was fun but now it's winter. They have been in the greenhouse for a while because it was freezing and there was snow. But after a while in the greenhouse they suddenly didn't want to eatd and drink anymore.

[@aubreyjohnson9234]

"so thanks ducks"... heavy with sarcasm ❤❤

[@BetterTogetherLife]

🤣🤣🤣 Well we are enjoying the ducks eggs now. But yea, they aren’t our most favorite homestead animal. But we love to watch them swim in the little ponds!

[@judylloyd7901]

@@BetterTogetherLife What breed are your hens?

[@cosmicroadshow3288]

Your video was great.

[@tonyarandall7849]

Those two ducks that showed up are Welsh Harlequin drakes by the look of it

[@karenmoffatt5104]

I have Welsh harlequins I agree, pretty sure they were harlequin drakes, they may return ! 😁😁

[@petgoosepaulringo33]

Look so cute

[@beebop9808]

Don't know how you'd hate ducks? Crazy funny birds. My dog may have hated them when they started playing tug o war with his ears, but then he would eventually grab one around the throat and they would run off squawking and leave him alone for at least the rest of the day. Or until they caught him sleeping again. lol

[@BetterTogetherLife]

I am assuming that you’ve never raised them.

[@beebop9808]

Long ago but yes. Grew up on a 40 acre farm with all the usual critters. We raised and grew all of our food for the family and some of the extended family.

[@nowirehangers2815]

Messy dirty and drakes kill ducklings

[@beebop9808]

Just like a bird. Yeah.

[@tiggercares]

My daughter is the opposite she gets sick on duck eggs but fine with chicken eggs

[@BetterTogetherLife]

Oh really?! Wow I haven’t heard to that. But everybody is different right?! Thank you for watching!!

[@cosmicroadshow3288]

Mallards come to our yard every April and stay all summer long.

[@BornAgainFarmGirl]

Very happy to see your experience has turned up an egg 🥚! Were your ducklings straight run ? We have done straight run at Farm and home and have only gotten one female the rest were Drakes. We also hatched two under a broody hen and they were both Drakes too! 🫣Having five Drakes and only one Duck has proven straight run is not measuring up in our favor so this Spring we have an order in for 3 Ducks and 1 Amden goose , evening out the girls against the boys 🥰 a bit. Wonderful video !

[@BetterTogetherLife]

They were a straight run. We got pretty lucky and are about half and half. Which we need to cull some drakes.

[@BornAgainFarmGirl]

My goodness you really did far better there then we did@@BetterTogetherLife , Runner ducks are known for being skittish so we went with Roan , welsh harlequin , khaki Campbell’s and Cayuga to add some chill to our flock. The Guinea fowl have raised the alert levels at bit higher then we’d like 🥹.

[@judylloyd7901]

@@BornAgainFarmGirl Don't geese mate for life? One goose alone is sad 😟😟 Btw, I think you mean Embden...??

[@BornAgainFarmGirl]

@@judylloyd7901 we have several ducks

[@TS-xi7qy]

Those are Welsh Harlequin males and likely belonged to someone... ;-)

[@2famous-]

😭😂😂🤣”i really hate these ducks”

[@BetterTogetherLife]

🤣🤣🤣 Yea, we did not like them at first. Lol!!!

[@echandler673]

Is there a way/solution to have a duck pond that is in a shallow water troth or something so you can clean it out more often? Where we live there's plenty of rainfall but I need something more versatile in terms of keeping the water clean. Will they use a shallow water troth if I make sure the edges are rounded and make a ramp or something to it?

[@BetterTogetherLife]

Oh sure. Many people use kiddie pools and the ducks LOVE them! We probably will get some for certain parts of our property.

[@judylloyd7901]

Trough* 😊👍👍

[@bygraceonly182]

We use a kiddie pool and shallow large concrete mixing tubs. Easy to tip and rinse and fill.

[@taylorkoster2986]

What were the reasons for why you didn’t like the ducks at first? Just curious because we’re considering getting them instead of hens

[@Darmok_onthe_ocean]

They are VERY messy. Some people can’t handle it. They need water sources and it takes a lot more effort to be creative with that and keep it clean. They lay somewhat less than some chickens. And runner ducks can be very skittish. BUT. The cleaning doesn’t bother me. It’s more effort than a chicken but not much more. ESP considering most duck breeds are incredibly friendly sweet. I was really surprised how different ducks are from chickens in every way. But it’s very fun.

[@jacobmauldin230]

I don’t think those are mallards. They look like Silver Appleyard domestic ducks.

[@place2liveblog]

Ducks are seriously cute.. I have 7 pekins now and they eat A LOT... They are still young though, it will take time until we see eggs here.

[@BetterTogetherLife]

Yes!!! They do eat A LOT!!!!!!

[@sallyeblen7032]

That was neat

[@BetterTogetherLife]

Thank you so much Sally!!!

[@IntegratedPestManagement]

We hear ducks are great at pest management 😎

[@BetterTogetherLife]

They are!!

[@gemofthewoods5802]

You've had them for a while now, what have you seen them "manage"? (I didn't want to say kill🤣)

[@tjens09]

Those aren't Mallards. They look like Welsh Harlequin drakes.

[@peterm.eggers520]

Most Runners are skittish. There are much better breeds for "pet" ducks, even lay well. Those were not mallards! The lack of eggs during winter is almost always a lack of sufficient light. Ducks always mix dirt and water. Better to separate water from dirt by any of several methods.

[@BetterTogetherLife]

We love the Pekin!

[@libturdcrusher1776]

I don't know why some people hate ducks? They are actually really good to eat when prepared properly.

[@familyaccount1213]

You not worried about hawks or eagles getting them?

[@chaoticdriver]

I did the same thing with my ducklings, moving them inside and out every day. It really stressed them out and they didn't trust me

[@JS-jh4cy]

What about duckweed from an wild pond?

[@BetterTogetherLife]

Sure. If you have access to a wild pond. It would be great!

[@fabriglas]

Getting accurate count of duck vs drakes 1 drake to 4/5 ducks ... too many drakes cause the ducks to lose head feathers and in extreme cases die or drown

[@srenghang5555]

cool

[@irmabronder]

Thanks to Justin Rhodes I am here. x

[@BetterTogetherLife]

Oh no way?!!! May I ask what video of Justin’s you found us from?

[@irmabronder]

@@BetterTogetherLife kzbin.info/www/bejne/hnrSe6akrZlnotE

[@ryleighfields7033]

I'm debating putting ducks off for next year.... this may have been the video that changed my mind

[@ryleighfields7033]

Great job on voice over and editing!!!! Just thought you should know..... thats gotta be a lot of work ;)

[@nataliejustis2227]

Those are NOT mallards those are either silver appleyards or Welsh harlequins those are a domestic duck species and cannot fly or survive in the wild they heard your ducks and came cuz they are hungry I hope you kept them ik its an older video but you never know maybe they are still there ❤

[@echandler673]

How often do you rotate poultry runs?

[@BetterTogetherLife]

Not often enough I’m afraid. Justin Rhodes rotates them almost everyday. We probably rotate them once a month which is not good for growing grass.

[@rupertgarcia8062]

Ducks are easy to take care of. They eat grass and vegetable leftovers like potato shavings and stuff.

[@dosdoggies]

Those were domestic drakes that randomly showed up. Not mallards and not wild

[@BetterTogetherLife]

Oh really?!! 😁😁 Do you happen to know what breed? We have no idea. They just look like the typical duck at a park pond in suburbia.

[@dosdoggies]

@@BetterTogetherLife welsh harlequins would be my guess. City parks are common dining grounds for Easter ducklings once parents realize they grow into big ducks.

[@tonyarandall7849]

@@BetterTogetherLife Those are welsh harlequins

[@srenghang5555]

cute

[@batpherlangkharkrang7976]

Hi.... Better life Together love watching your videos 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 👕🐔🐓🐣🐥🐕🐈🐄🐖🌱🏡🎥👍👍👍

[@euphoniahale5181]

I really like duck eggs. But haven’t the room for them.

[@sarahsher673]

Silver appleyard ducks

[@renablount4812]

👍

[@jjjackbird09]

And snakes is what keeps me from getting chickens and ducks. Terrified!

[@BetterTogetherLife]

Oh Jackie!! 🤣🤣 The snakes that they attract are not dangerous at all. Just rat snakes. You got this!!

[@izmazix2148]

Watch2End&Comment

[@RobertErnestLewis]

Ducks don't mingle with Chickens as well as most people think. Drakes will kill hens trying to breed them.

[@BetterTogetherLife]

We actually had really good interaction between the two poultries. They never fought. Just mostly left one another alone.

[@RobertErnestLewis]

Do you have Drakes with the hens ?? @@BetterTogetherLife

[@BetterTogetherLife]

We did!

[@priscillawagner6205]

As long as you keep only 1 drake on the flock, your chickens should be fine.

[@i1bike]

If you wont have a much bigger pond than that, do not have ducks

[@BetterTogetherLife]

But ducks don't need a pond.

[@i1bike]

@@BetterTogetherLife More than anything in duck life, ducks love lake. Duck would kill for a lake. So big pond that will not be a mud is the second best. Ducks like snails, snails like moist, make bigger and deeper pond. No snails no problem in garden. Greetings from europe

[@reneesfoxynews6652]

Ducks are very messy.

[@BetterTogetherLife]

They aren’t too bad for us. Now that we have way better ducks. 😁

[@2famous-]

Snakes? get u some cats, they keep snakes away. Lol they handle that.

[@BetterTogetherLife]

We do need cats for sure!

[@spencerjackson4171]

I just tried to check out ideal poultry and I think your crashed their servers

[@BetterTogetherLife]

Haha! Well this video wasn’t at all a sponsored video. But I can let them know they might get some more orders. 🤣🤣

[@tate5697]

From the title I thought they were gonna kill their ducks

[@bonnieleoen6189]

They are not mallards drakes

[@questionsq9031]

“Them are really cute !” Then killed them and eat ~

[@fowlwinds]

Animals shouldn’t have to "earn their keep".

[@twitterfree480]

Be careful letting the wild ducks mingle with your domestic ducks...this is how the bird flu is transferred to domestic ducks. The forestry department came in and made our friend get rid of all of her animals when some got sick...they will be more careful when they reflock their little farm.

[@libturdcrusher1776]

The government transmits the bird flu

[@FVWhimsy2010]

Really? You are surprised that raising a group of young animals will result in instinctual group behaviors? Instead? Try raising a few at a time...bond and spend time with them. It's an investment in your future time investment...and over time it will pay off.

[@BetterTogetherLife]

We’ve since learned that Runner Ducks are not very people friendly.

[@Darlings376]

Don’t claim homesteading life if you’re not going to hatch your own ducklings. It’s a shame you don’t incubate hatching eggs like us other homesteaders

[@backyardrebel2149]

Doesn't make a person less of a homesteader. I bought ducklings, like they did, and plan on letting them hatch their own when they're adults. I could say that's more "homesteady" than using an incubator but I know every "farm" does it in a way that works for them. 🧐

[@Madamoizillion]

Lol the gatekeeping.

[@KARENboomboomROXX]

😂

[@intothekey]

No true Scotsman

[@jenniferpangelinan2667]

This was so cool! Ducks are definitely on my list for when we move to a larger property!