Ducks or Chickens?

Hello,

Hubby and I are considering getting some poultry for the garden.

We will be first time poultry keepers. We are stuck between whether to get chickens or ducks though!

What we want out of the animals mainly is for them to be pets - some life in the garden, something interesting to watch. We'd like them to be able to run around free when we're in the garden.

I'd also love it if they helped us out with eating the weeds/bugs!

Eggs would be great but laying lots isn't a high priority.

I'm in my 20's and husband early 30's so plenty of energy, and we work full time but would make time obviously to look after them as we would any pet. Our garden is a good size.

I do love ducks, I find them so funny, but equally open minded to chickens.

Any thoughts, pros and cons of each very welcome.

Natalie

 

get some geese .... they are better 'watchdogs' than alsations or rottweilers, and are intelligent

 

ii would say chickens because although a duck can be friendly generally speaking they tend to be more indipendent and wild, fly away and their eggs taste weird and their meat is quite rubbery.
geese are ss dim says watchdogs but they can team up and be quite aggressive alsowith the owner. i don,t see them as friendly at all but you can use them for duvets.

 

Chickens.

 

Chickens

I thought ducks were supposed to be more 'open minded' than chickens.

 

You've got to get chooks

 

I agree with Loli , but I did used to have a pet duck she was fab my mother named her "Ducky" , loved eating the slugs plus never damaged the plants we had her for years , I do miss that duck we used to put her in the bath with plastic ducks , yes ok it was a crazy childhood but so much fun .
If you are going to have them as pets get some ex battery hens google battery hens they have pick up days to collect them all over the UK.

Spruce

 

I think chickens are easier to look after.

We had some geese years ago. They are cracking characters, and although they can get aggressive, usually not towards people they know well.

Anecdote alert: Years ago when I was a kid, we had two geese, a married couple (geese pair for life and are inseparable). We were all outside the allotment chatting to the man from next door, when suddenly he realised that his big, aggressive alsation had wandered off. Next thing, we heard absolute chaos coming from inside our plot. The geese were going mental, the dog was making loads of racket, and we could hear the sound of a frantic scuffle. All at the same time we ran in to try to save the geese. No need. The poor dog. The male goose had tight hold of one of the dogs ears and as the dog was running round in circles trying to detach said goose, the female was in hot pursuit behind biting the dogs tale and bum whenever she got close enough. We had to prise the geese off the poor mut, which wasted no time at all in leaving our garden once it was able to do so.

 

Growing up on a farm I've had experience with all three.
Chickens: yep you get the eggs, and more eggs without a rooster. If you get a rooster, he will crow at dawn when you want to sleep in. There is a large variety of chickens out there, some give such pretty colored eggs. Bad side, is you do need a protective chicken coop and gated yard to keep them safe, roof also. There are night time animals who love to eat them and their eggs. If you do get a rooster some are very mean, even to its owners.

Ducks if you can get them as wee babies they may bond with you and will follow you every where, they are kinda messy, and you will need a baby pond for them to mess around in. Depending on the breed their eggs can be a little stronger than chickens, not bad though. And again, they will need protection from night time animals.

Now the Geese, yes, they are a good alarm system to have. But they can attack their owners also. They also will need water to mess around in. Their eggs very strong, I think I avoided them. Will not need major protection except from the weather, so a coop is good, they can fight off most night time animals.


If I had to choose, I would go with chickens, BUT, would find interesting rare breeds, with unique feathers etc. They even have chicken shows. For any chicken you'd have to go through the same process of building a chicken coop and safety features, might as well get some fancy breeds.

Good luck to you.

 

Never had either, I can tell you that ducks do need water to swim in, but they do make a real mess of it, so I would also suggest chickens. (and call one "Bob")

 

i love them all

With Black pepper sea salt crystals and sweet chilly

 

I have 13 chickens (bantams and ordinary) and I have 9 ducks ( 2 are ducklings). My dh and I were talking about this just this morning. This is how we compared the differences.

~ Cleaning up the duck house is more work than cleaning up the chickens.
~ Chickens are noisier when they lay their egg.
~ Ducks get their laying over and done with by 8am (chickens can be anytime between sunrise and late afternoon)
~ Ducks make less mess in the garden. Chickens scratch up the lawn and make deep dust baths where they fancy (a necessity for them to keep mites at bay)
~ Ducks do not *need* a pond, but it is only fair to their nature to provide somewhere for them to have a splash about. Some people use a children's paddling pool.
~ Chickens go broody more often than ducks. Broody chooks do not lay eggs.
~ Duck eggs make the most amazing cakes (but are good all rounders too) Many of the people my dh works with had never tried duck eggs before - he regularly takes some in now and is very popular as a result (duck eggs sell for more than hen eggs )
~ Chickens are more "delicate" than ducks and can appear healthy one moment and very ill (or even dead) the next.
~ Ducks require less health attention than chickens (saves £ on preventatives and treatments)
~ Housing/protection for my chickens cost a lot more than for ducks
~ Ducks sound like they are laughing (some chickens can have an ear splitting, high pitched sqwark sound)

Overall, we came to the conclusion that ducks beat chickens from out point of view. But, we love all of our birds equally

Be very clear about what it is you want from them. Then you can decide if ducks fit the bill (no pun intended) or chickens. When you have decided that part, then you can research the different breeds because different breeds have different qualities.

 

I must admit i fancy the idea of a couple of Ducks to go with my chooks but i was wondering if all hell would break loose....i have yet to read up on mixing the two ...When just mentioned to Mr Loli .....he nearly laid an egg himself....can't repeat what he just said but he's not keen on my chooks as it is...i adore them...so i feel heated discussions coming on
I've never baked a cake with a duck egg...so wouldn't know the quantities...but i wouldn't mind giving it a go...is there a specific 'easy' duck to keep.....
I should never have read this thread...i feel a divorce coming on

 

Too true! We've only got one 'good' chicken and the other four are incredibly naughty hens.