The Trouble With Ducks

Okay before we get to the problems let me first say that our ducks are awesome and I wouldn't trade them for anything. They have some really good traits:

First of all they are like the garden crew I can't afford to hire. They eat weeds and pests like slugs and turn kitchen scraps and garden waste into rich manure (and eggs of course) that we can use as fertilizer in the garden. I mean seriously I could pay someone $10/hour to pull slugs off our broccoli or I can let the ducks run around in the garden. Another great thing is that they don't dig dust baths in the garden like our lovely little hens!

Secondly they're quite friendly and a blast to watch. No one can resist the cuteness that is ducks in a little pond. As an added bonus since we plan to open our farm stand this summer our animals will be an additional attraction for customers and their kids to come watch and enjoy them as we do.

So now for the not so good:

1.) Ducks are much louder than you'd imagine. Our ducks, especially Fili and Kili, have a tendency to burst out in loud quacks whenever they get excited or scared. It doesn't bother us and thankfully our neighbors haven't minded but if you live right next to someone it's definitely a consideration.

2.) They're messy. Their coop needs to be cleaned much more often than the chicken coop and if you don't have the ability to free range them like we do they will quickly muddy their yard.

One of our solutions to their messy tendencies was to create a two level floor in their coop with their food and water dishes on a smaller bottom level.

3.) They may be great foragers but they also eat a lot. Since we get a lot of snow here in the winter this means that the grain bill goes up. That's also true for the chickens of course.

All year round we supplement with kitchen scraps and are experimenting with growing some of their feed here on the farm. Last year we tried sunflowers but both the chickens and ducks pick around them even when we mix them in with their regular feed. We're stumped as to why. Any ideas?


Please note that we keep our ducks as pets and do not advocate for the harm or death of any animals. Nor do we believe that animals should be used for any purpose other than friends.