In this video, I give you my 10 reasons why not to keep ducks? I have been keeping ducks for over 10 years and now it’s time to get rid of them for good and these are the main reasons why.
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Self Sufficient Me is based on our small 3-acre property/homestead in SE Queensland Australia about 45kms north of Brisbane – the climate is subtropical (similar to Florida). I started Self Sufficient Me in 2011 as a blog website project where I document and write about backyard food growing, self-sufficiency, and urban farming in general. I love sharing my foodie and DIY adventures online so come along with me and let’s get into it! Cheers, Mark 🙂 #duck #homestead #poultry
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THE DUCKS WILL BE HAPPY YOU ARE NO LONGER BUTCHERING THEM.
I'm surprised you didn't just eat the ducks.
It surprises me that english doesn't have a word for these guys separate from the ducks like donald duck. We don't even think them as the same, just similar. Always thought of ducks more like geese, I don't know why. You rarely see those donald duck like white ducks here, but these guys are common sight near waters. I actually never see them outside ponds/lakes, so maybe that's part of the source of your problems? It seems like they like to be in their own group separate from other species, although they seem to like to be near human habitated areas like park ponds (I bet they love the stuff people drop). And the males have so beautiful colors.
In the nature these guys are very nice, you don't experience these negative features when you just see a group of them in the shore, swimming in the pond or sleeping in the shore, walking with the ducklings and so on. They actually let you decently close here even wild in the park, although they do like to keep their safe distance. But it's a magical thing to walk around the park late at night in the darkness of Finland in the fall, and bump into a big group of these guys sitting right next to the water sleeping with their head in their armpit. Or to see a mother duck and 7 little ducklings walk in a row right in front of you.
Kelvin Hart was right, Australia is scary.
your right mine are gone to
My Dad was pretty cross with his ducks as they kept draining his man made little pond for them. But also Mark, I really liked the editing on this episode! Keep it coming!
Thank you! I was considering getting ducks to deal with slugs, you changed my mind 🙂
My neighbor had 2 ducks but they would chase and bite them. They liked that they kept the bug population down. When one of them bit their grandson, the ducks disappeared. They never had ducks again.
You really quack me up Mark. Some people might duck for cover when they see your show but not me, I'm quackers over the show. You probably named the drake Francis?
Most of Your reasons are so true : )
But I find them way friendly : ) The Muscovy ducks being my favorite : )
I raise 12 ducks with 12 chickens and 1 goose. They all get along very well. I have 3 drakes and they aren’t mean to the chickens. They all sleep in the same coop and they free range on 1 acre. I have a small pond and the ducks and goose stay in the pond most of the day. The chickens even stay near the pond and hunt bull frogs. I enjoy my ducks but I can see why someone doesn’t like ducks.
We tried duck eggs twice from a local farmer. They were way too, rich for our taste. Even tried them scrambled and just did not like the super rich flavor. We are not a fan of them either. Some people love them because of their large yokes. Maybe we are just too used to eating chicken eggs.
Good post! With the info you've provided I've turned my mind around on ducks. Thanks for saving me the ten years!
I keep the water feeder elevated and suspended on a long length of wire so when the ducks try to get their bill in and push, the water dispenser gets pushed off. Also have a tub for them to get their feathers and bill wet. Being by the river, they can always go in for a drink of water of they don't get enough. Also not keeping them in a small pen helps with the smell.
For what ever reason they come to me when I call out. Peee! peee! Peee! And they come out of where they are hiding. I was told that's the calling signal by the pet shop and it works.
Kings Pair for 2 ducks in the 2 innings of a test match.
Even the chickens are singing, happy the ducks are gone! Ducks are nasty!
My neighbours have ducks and chooks.. The ducks are noisy buggers! Even at night!!
I’m glad you’ve decided to keep the friendlier, tidier, more considerate bird!
Chicken eggs better than Duck eggs what??? I can understand if you're a boring person who only eats farmed meats and Isn't into Game but They're so much richer in flavour I'd love the room to keep Ducks for the great meat and eggs
Love you ma
You are TOTALLY RIGHT ABOUT DUCKS!!! We began keeping chickens about 8yrs ago, and early on we tried out ducks and had a horrible experience for the reasons you mentioned. Many years passed and my husband was super curious about giving ducks a go again "just to see". This time we hatched runner ducks and we totally spent time with them as babies and hand tamed them and held them. But once they were big enough to go out to the chicken run ALL the weeks of training and holding them evaporated. They were SO skittish they began making our younger pullets scared of us. The second we came out the back door the ducks were already hiding out of sight before we even got near the run at the end of the yard.
Our first ducks we raised as babies were cayugas. The cayugas were more friendly than the runners even when grown, but goodness did they eat a TON being meat ducks! The ducks just trash out the chicken run too even if they have their own coop and it was annoying putting up with an animal that is terrified of you that won't go in at night when you take care of it day in and day out.
My friend had her favorite rooster killed by a horny drake. My dad ended up with 6 drakes after buying straight run ducklings from a feed store…I warned him that was too many males and he needed to do something about it. My stepmom didn't want to cull the drakes or sell them. The drakes matured and they spent all day raping each other. Eventually they ganged up on the smallest drake and raped him to death. After that my dad FINALLY sold off his ducks for meat!
If you aren't a fan of regularly eating duck and duck eggs, then you probably have less interest in keeping ducks in the first place. They're a bit less versatile but on a completely different level of tastiness than chickens, especially roasting/grilling(like peking duck and various bbq) or stewing(including curries). and salted duck eggs? what an incredible ingredient to have on hand, especially the oily yolk for coating anything for deep frying. and then there's the rendered duck fat for frying potatoes. OMG it's so good.
if you have rice/lotus/zizania/taro paddies or other shallow water areas that needs weed and bug control, you'll be happy to have ducks around. crawducks to get rid of pests, grass carp to filter decayed matter, and crawdads to go through what the grass carp missed, and you end up with 3 great foods to go with whatever you're growing in the paddies.
One word – Muscovy, yes poopy, horny etc, but placid, chook friendly, QUIET, and we have no problem processing them for food. Eggs are good for lots of things, combine with chook eggs to make them go further.
My duck live in my livingroom. Moscovian ducks don't honk. And you need a flowing source of water.
Lesson 11: you can only farm in a worthwhile manner where you can sustain yourself if you have access to land and money, any other reason and you’re burning your already limited resources away trying to pretend to be a homesteader on the prairie.
Nothing left but pessimism & minimum wage
You are the sweetest and most kindest person who accomplished stuff that kids can yearn to start, and be inspired by. Thank you so much, Sir.
10:38 chad smashing on the left