Which should you get, chickens or ducks?
So I have been mentioning for a while that I intend to do an actual homesteading post and it seems rather overdue. The question I want to address is one that I see on a lot of different homesteading blogs and I really wanted to put my two cents in.
Which kind of bird is better/easier to keep, chickens or ducks?
First of all, these are two very different questions with very different answers.
Which one is easier? Chickens. Hands down. They are easier to feed, easier to keep clean, their eggs are easier to find as long as they have nesting boxes they like, you can use the deep litter method in their coop, the list goes on. Chickens are easier.
Ducks, being waterfowl, are wetter and smellier which means much more frequent bedding and water changes. They have to have water at all times and while many people say they only need to be able to submerge their heads I can’t even fathom how miserable my girls would be if they couldn’t swim. They crammed themselves into their heated water bowl all winter and went nuts with joy as soon as we refilled their kiddie pool this spring. Splashing is their favorite sport and they will find a way to do it with any water distribution apparatus that you can throw at them. If you put water in their coop at night (which you should), good luck finding a way to keep it from ruining at least 2 square feet of bedding. And if you do find that way, please tell me….
They are also dirtier. Their pool water(for those of us who have yet to dig a pond) becomes a lovely murky brown after a day, and after two you need to change it — for your sake as well as theirs. Ducks stink. They are not easy. I’m not even getting into what they were like when they were in the house as babies. That is a two month period I would just as soon forget. (That sweet fuzzy duckling phase? A brief dream that rapidly turns into a nightmare of finding somewhere to put incredibly awkward looking creatures that outgrow their brooder every other day. )
That said, if I had to choose between giving up my chickens or my ducks, the choice might be a little hard, but the hens would be the ones shipping out.
Ducks are better; they are adorable, hilarious, and they earn their keep. During the cold winter months when the hens went on strike, my three ducks put out at least 2 eggs a day even though they had just started laying. Now that days are longer we get 3 duck eggs every day to 1-2 chicken eggs. Also, duck eggs are amazing. They are bigger, better for you, and they taste incredible. The first time I made a frittata with just duck eggs, I nearly cried it was so good.
Just one thing: make sure you aren’t allergic to duck eggs before you decide to get your own flock. I found after I ordered my girls that it is not uncommon for people who can tolerate chicken eggs to have quite severe allergies to duck eggs. On the other hand, I’ve heard it said that people who are allergic to chicken eggs can, sometimes, eat duck eggs without issues. (I would definitely talk with your doctor before you experiment with that.)
Ducks also seem to be a fair bit tougher (not counting the zombie chicken who, I am starting to believe, will probably survive the apocalypse.) The harsh Maine weather doesn’t seem to faze them at all. We never had to put a light or a heater into their coop even during this unusually cold winter. We just added some extra straw and they did fine. So far our chickens have had more health issues than the ducks (knock on wood), which goes with the popular notion that ducks are more disease resistant.
Just a few things you should know before you get ducks: Do not put their run anywhere that collects standing water at any point of the year unless you plan on digging them a pond. If you do not dig them a pond, they will try to do it for themselves by drilling holes in the mud with their beaks to collect water.
You also should not fall for the whole, “ducks are more social” bit. They will come if I call them by name, but only to where they can see me. They do not see the human hand as their friend. I’ve been assured by many owners that I did nothing wrong, that even “house” ducks want nothing to do with the human that raised them once they are outside with their own.
Oh, we also don’t free-range the ducks. In a world of fox, eagles, and owls you will quickly discover the root of the expression “sitting duck” if you don’t provide them with a secure COVERED run.
At the risk of sounding like a crazy bird lady (which I think I probably qualify as at this point), I’d recommend getting both. We don’t have ours in the same coop but have recently joined their runs up and it works really well. When it’s time to change out the ducks’ straw we simply leave the duck coop door open and the chickens do the first part of the job for us. They also turn over the straw in the run, allowing the deep litter method to actually work (it’s not really successful with just ducks). It’s also pretty fun to watch their different personalities, seeing them interact, and being able to give friends and family mixed cartons of duck and chicken eggs when the lazy hens actually produce enough.
