Let me start out by saying ducks are my favorite! I just love watching them waddle around and play in water. Each duck has its own personality, playness and they can be quite lovable. When I see baby ducks at our local feed store I just can’t help myself, the little fluffy ducklings are just to adorable!! Here’s 6 reasons why you must add ducks to your homestead today!
Ducks Personalities
If you have never watched a duck swimming in some water you are missing out on some great entertainment! It’s so relaxing to sit out and watch the ducks play in their pool. The way they try to dive down into the water and flap their wings, if your to close you might end up with a bath yourself though! When their pool gets filled up all of them get so excited! They shake their tail feathers while they are waddling over towards the pool, usually a few of them start quacking to! Depending on the breed of duck you have their personalities can range from “nervous nellies” to calm as can be. Ducks are usually extremely gentle with children. They tend to just walk away when they get scared or if they had enough interaction. I can’t say the same for a few roosters I have had over the years. I have been raising ducks for over 5 years now and I can say not a single one even the males have ever been aggressive towards me. Even the mommas hatching her eggs out, while she definitely gave me some attitude I wasn’t pecked at like with my chickens.
Ducks are easier on plants and gardens!
While I have tried numerous times to let my chickens out to eat bugs out of the garden, it normally ends with lots and lots of lost tomatoes at the very least. This isn’t the case with ducks. They love to eat slugs, worms and even mosquitos! This can save you money on feed if they can forage for their own food! If you have any plants in your garden set up with a trellis, put the ducks pool under them for shade. When the ducks go in for the night, simply water your plants with the ducks water. Not only are they helping with bug control they are also fertilizing the plants!
Ducks are easier to care for in the winter!
Before winter sets in I have always had to close up the chicken coop and usually give them a light to help keep them laying. While the chickens will go out in the snow sometimes, they just aren’t as hardy as the ducks. My ducks are constantly out in the snow and cold temperatures. Other then at feeding time they hardly ever are inside their house and they still continue to lay. This will definitely help save you some money, if your like me and spoil your birds!
Ducks aren’t as noisy
The female ducks are typically the ones that are doing all the quacking. The females are usually a lot more talkative than the drakes. Drakes normally make more of a hissing noise, which is much better than a rooster crowing. This makes it easy to keep a breeding pair on the homestead. Especially if you have neighbors close by!
Hatching out babies
This is probably by far the best things about raising ducks. All the baby ducks that I have hatched out, the mother has sat on them. While I don’t mind using the incubator ( I do for chicken and quail eggs), it’s nice to have double the opportunity to hatch out some baby ducklings. In my experience my ducks are more broody then my chickens so it does make life easier when we want some babies hatched out!
Duck Eggs
If you have never seen a duck egg before they are typically about 1 1/2 times bigger than a chicken egg. They are richer in taste, especially when fried or scrambled. Most people who are allergic to chicken eggs can eat duck eggs no problem. Any baker will tell you that duck eggs are an excellent choice because of the richness of the egg. Currently duck eggs are making the most money! Selling them roadside in my area or at the market can bring in from $3-$8 a dozen, compared to the $1.50-$3 chicken eggs are sold for.
We love our ducks and hope you start raising them to!!!
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