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Chickens or Ducks, does anyone here keep both?

starsevol

starsevol

Cohabbing is cruelty...
A couple of weeks ago I started a thread about chickens because my town has finallly lifted its ban on keeping poultry. I have always wanted chickens for eggs and can't wait to set up a tiny little flock.
Anyway, on the drive to work each morning, we go by this house and the people there have ducks. Only about 7 or 8 of them, and they are always laying on the lawn in the sun. They are sooo cute!!! There are 2 white ones, a couple of brown ones and a couple of brown and white ones. I don't know what breed they are.
Anyway, I researched just a little today and found out that a duck breed called Khaki Campbell is a great layer and can rival even leghorn hens as far as production.
So, now I am tossed up as to what to get.

Here is what I have so far....

Chickens - pros - They are friendlier than ducks
Their poop is drier and not as....well....much.
They tuck themselves in at night.
It is easier to find the breed you want locally.

Chicken cons - They will eat ripe veggies out of the garden as well as pests.
They don't lay much after the first 2 years.
Have a pecking order and can be nasty to newcomers.

Duck pros - Tend not to go over a 3 foot fence so can easily spend the
day in the garden.
Dont get the parasites or disease that plague chickens.
Very hardy and cold tolerant.
Can be tractored like chickens.
Cute as heck.

Duck cons - Messy messy messy.........
Need to be herded to their pen at night.


Can anyone add anything? I love both!!!
 
I have had both. Ducks really are messy but mine put herself to bed at night. I just let her free roam and she never ever left the yard, she would pick out a place to nest and always went to it at night. Her quack was loud and obnoxious, but so is a rooster. Now, with my chickens, never really had a friendly one, just super aggressive and would snatch food from your hand, even peck my dogs and cats to take their food. I've always had a soft spot for ducks, if you can stand the mess. Watching her waddle after a bee was a riot.
 
I've had/have both. The chickens are great but I'd loved my ducks. Sure they are messier but mine were far more affectionate and friendly. They never needed to be herded to roost, ate tons of bug (especially Japanese beetles) and produced eggs like mad. If you don't like noise get males. They don't quack, well not anywhere near the volume the females achieve. It more of a raspy sound. If you hatch them yourself they follow you around too. The chickens I've hatched don't seem to imprint as strongly. Hatching is so easy. Especially if you already have an incubator for hatching snakes.
If you don't want to have both why not try chickens and a goose? A neighbor has one with her chickens and it's a doll baby. She comes right up to you and begs for treats. And if you try to ignore her, she'll hop right up and sit in your lap!
Either way it's a fun hobby.

Terri
 
My family has about 150 chickens and we have a few ducks and sebastapol geese. With chickens we breed heritage breeds: we have bantam and large fowl polish (white crested blacks, buff laced, silver laced, blues, cuckoo, chocolate etc) as well as now having the largest flock of tolbunt polish in the country. We also breed and show silkies and ameraucana, and finally we have a mixed free range flock of about 45 birds that give us our pasture raised organic eggs which we sell locally. We have some incredibly friendly birds, particularly our ameraucana. They will follow us around, climb up in our laps, eat out of our hands, and our chicks will run from one end of the brooder to the other and jump up to be picked up. Even the 'roos. They dont really smell bad, the hens and pullets aren't particularly noisy, just the roos. Ducks on the other hand sttiiiink. And are dirty and noisy LOL. Plus, most breeds really do need a good water source. I know a lot of people keep them in tractors with kiddy pools but most breeds dont really thrive this way. They are adorable however :) My favorite are indian runners.

I have to say, I am totally in love with our Sebastapol geese. They have the cutest personalities! And their funky feathers are awesome. We are hoping to get some colored sebastapol soon. My mother is really the big "fowl lady" but I adore them as well.

There are lots of chickens that will stay on the ground and wont hop a 3 foot fence. Silkies especially come to mind. They dont even perch, but rather sleep in a big huddle on the ground (it looks like a giant tribble its adorable). They even nest in the shavings rather then a nesting box.

Finally- are you looking for eggs to eat? Ask yourself which kinds of eggs you prefer, chicken or duck eggs. Duck eggs are obviously large, and they do have a little bit of a different taste. They are higher in fat and cholesterol and have a lower water content, but also have more omega 3 fatty oils and additional vitamins as well. Khaki's DO lay a lot more often then most ducks, but they are still not as regular as a good egg producing hen. It also a lot harder to sell/give away extra duck eggs versus chicken eggs because a lot of people dont like eating them (They are actually quite delicious!)

Anyway, good luck in what you choose! I love them all :D
 
starsevol said:
A couple of weeks ago I started a thread about chickens because my town has finallly lifted its ban on keeping poultry. I have always wanted chickens for eggs and can't wait to set up a tiny little flock.
Anyway, on the drive to work each morning, we go by this house and the people there have ducks. Only about 7 or 8 of them, and they are always laying on the lawn in the sun. They are sooo cute!!! There are 2 white ones, a couple of brown ones and a couple of brown and white ones. I don't know what breed they are.
Anyway, I researched just a little today and found out that a duck breed called Khaki Campbell is a great layer and can rival even leghorn hens as far as production.
So, now I am tossed up as to what to get.

Here is what I have so far....

Chickens - pros - They are friendlier than ducks
Their poop is drier and not as....well....much.
They tuck themselves in at night.
It is easier to find the breed you want locally.

Chicken cons - They will eat ripe veggies out of the garden as well as pests.
They don't lay much after the first 2 years.
Have a pecking order and can be nasty to newcomers.

Duck pros - Tend not to go over a 3 foot fence so can easily spend the
day in the garden.
Dont get the parasites or disease that plague chickens.
Very hardy and cold tolerant.
Can be tractored like chickens.
Cute as heck.

Duck cons - Messy messy messy.........
Need to be herded to their pen at night.


Can anyone add anything? I love both!!!
Click to expand...
i have silkies.. they are very personable. and they are very clean.. do their buisness in certain areas.. they are pro hatching.. even other chickens eggs... they are sooo pretty and hang in the yard.. go in at dusk and come up in the morning when i let them out to scam some bread lol..
 
Lol my chickens all knew their names and would help with the gardening. They'd eat all the little buggies!
 
I keep chickens, ducks, peacocks, etc. If you like ducks then get some ducks. Just don't expect them to start laying as earlier as your chickens or as much. Pros on the duck eggs is that they tend to be richer and better for baked goods. Chicken eggs on the other hand will be much more prolific and can be had in wonderful deep red browns, greens, khaki, blues, whites, etc. So, if you like easter egg hunts then your kids are going to love you with some nice colored egg layers. I have some tolbunt polish which are absolutely gorgeous birds, but they lay white eggs and are not the best for meat. So much to choose from though....
 
Who in gods name is eating tolbunts???? We charge $85 for a day old chick here and $120 for a frizzled pullet. And we have waiting lists out the wazzo. Our hatching eggs are $20 each. That's like saying you don't want to keep palmettos because they aren't very good fried LOL. Good tolbunts are rare ornamental large fowl polish- not typically something you have around to produce the morning omlet or Sunday's chicken dinner.

If you'd like colored eggs get some ameracauna or Easter ethers (amer. Crosses) they lay anything from blue/green teal etc. Plus they are usually available at about $5 each and can be eaten as adults.

If you want cheap
 
heatwave said:
Who in gods name is eating tolbunts???? We charge $85 for a day old chick here and $120 for a frizzled pullet. And we have waiting lists out the wazzo. Our hatching eggs are $20 each. That's like saying you don't want to keep palmettos because they aren't very good fried LOL. Good tolbunts are rare ornamental large fowl polish- not typically something you have around to produce the morning omlet or Sunday's chicken dinner.

If you'd like colored eggs get some ameracauna or Easter ethers (amer. Crosses) they lay anything from blue/green teal etc. Plus they are usually available at about $5 each and can be eaten as adults.

If you want cheap
Click to expand...

So, your saying I should not be eating my frizzled tolbunt eggs? Next you'll be telling me not to eat my french black copper marans eggs. Though, if you want nice dark green eggs crossing those french black copper marans to a good ameracauna is the way to go for sure. Even darker green eggs can be acquired by breeding those dark olive f1 French black copper marans x ameracauna back to your French black copper marans.
:bang:
 
I'm saying it's a waste to eat the fertilized eggs of a developing breed such as the tolbunt. Now if your breeding hatchery quality inbred tolbunts with wry tails and crooked toes and improper coloring or overly frizzled then that's your call. We dont want them in the gene pool anyway. But it seems ridiculous to me to eat the eggs of a rare (in the US) heritage breed when there's literally THOUSANDS of other birds to choose from. As far as copper marans and Amaracauna go, eat away. We eat ours all the time, and sell their eggs for eating. They're common, developed breeds.

You're in NC- who did you get your tolbunts from?
 
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