On 5-8-09 we got 4 ducklings. We chose Khaki Campbells because of their egg-laying reputation. Here are some duckling pictures :
The duck's first outside (daytime only) setup
Ducks are almost as easy to raise as chickens (once grown, they are very hardy when it comes to cold weather). They do have the additional requirement of needing some water to wash out their beaks. A bird bath or other small container of water works fine. As adults it’s nice to give them a swimming tub or pond.
In addition to egg-laying, they love to eat slugs and other bugs in the garden. They will not scratch like chickens, but they will stomp on small seedlings.
They love to “drill” in the ground where a puddle has formed, such as around their water tub, so you will end up with some holes in the ground.
Later a friend gave us a small ornamental pond which we left above ground in the orchard for the ducks to swim in. In the warmer weather Mike changes the water in the duck pond once a week or more…he siphons off the scummy water with a hose which then goes slightly downhill into the garden – muck becomes fertilizer!! (the ’stacking functions’ of permaculture). Fresh water is then added to the pond.
We didn’t know the sexes of the ducks when we got them (that’s more expensive, but maybe worth it) so we ended up with 3 males and 1 female, not the ratio we had planned. So on September 5 we had…2 ducks for dinner. We followed the directions here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlcdGJpHbdY
Butchering the ducks was not the favorite thing we’ve done at Running Hen Microfarm. Shall we be vegetarians? We’ve not taken that step. But at least those two ducks (we purposely did not name them) lived happy lives and did not get old and sick.
90% homegrown duck dinner
AND we did enjoy the dinner. Here’s a picture…homegrown salad with carrots, mashed potatoes, duck & gravy.
So, now we have simply Mr. and Mrs. Duck, who seem most happy with each other, and Mrs. Duck lays an egg EVERY DAY (which is good because the chickens, as of late December 09, have been taking a break from laying).