My duckies

[MamaSheepdog]

Last year I bought a trio of Magpie ducks, who have not yet raised any ducklings of their own... but my "rabbit partner" (or other spouse as Hubs calls her!) has a runner duck and a black "mystery duck" who were constantly laying eggs and setting. So I brought my drake to her place for a couple of weeks for a conjugal visit, and lo and behold, before too long the runner hatched out a passel of ducklings, a couple of which belonged to "Ducky" the mystery duck.

Well, Ducky did not like the ducklings at all and actually killed a couple, plus my friend didn't want them anyway (we knew this before hand), so I brought them home soon after. My ducks accepted them right away, I am pleased to say!

They have now grown into big healthy ducks, in an amazing variety of colors and patterns! Many of them will soon be off to freezer camp, so I thought I would share some pictures of them before their demise. Maybe I'll add some pics of roast duck to this thread in the future, lol. :twisted:

Here they are wanting to enjoy their pool, only to find it is already occupied:



Thankfully, the water is emptied daily so the dog doesn't reek like a duck pond!

This is my Magpie drake:



Here are two drakes that I was trying to sell on Craigslist rather than eat since they are so handsome:




The drake (one of Ducky's sons, the other of which we are keeping) I gave to my friend so Runner and Ducky can make more ducklings for me:



And just a couple miscellaneous pics:

 

[SA Farm]

They're so cute! Love ducks I think we may be having duck for Thanksgiving... :twisted:

 

[MamaSheepdog]

They're so cute! Love ducks

Aren't they? I wasn't too sure about them before we finally convinced them to free range (by taking their pool out of their pen) because even with only the original three it reeked like a pig sty.

I think we may be having duck for Thanksgiving... :twisted:

Yum! We are having one of our turkeys for Thanksgiving. Maybe we'll have duck for Christmas...

 

[MaggieJ]

Pretty duckies, MSD!

That's something I have never tried raising--ducks. I've loved having the Pilgrim geese though... Too bad only Elsie is left. She hangs out with the free range chickens.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Pretty duckies, MSD!

Thanks, Maggie!

I've loved having the Pilgrim geese though... Too bad only Elsie is left. She hangs out with the free range chickens.

Poor Elsie- but at least she has the chickens. Our turkeys live with the ducks, so it seems that as long as there is a flock of something, they are happy.

I may try geese next, in addition to the ducks.

I thought that ducks were good in the garden, but they have been eating all kinds of stuff. Squash plants, tomato leaves and fruit, our blackberry leaves, etc. I thought they only ate weeds, only to do a bit more research and find out that no, it is GEESE that are the good weeders!

 

[MaggieJ]

Some geese are supposed to be good weeders, but I have to tell you that I would never have trusted mine in among the veggies. On a lawn, now, they'll root out every dandelion they can find.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Oh. Well, drat. There is no lawn here, but we are planning on fencing off access to the garden anyway to keep the ducks out, so geese may still be in my future!

 

[cmfarm]

Very pretty, I really like the white ones with small patches of black. They look nice and plump too, I bet they will be tasty.

 

[Zass]

That first picture with the cat, dog and ducks all together.

 

[caroline]

I thought that ducks were good in the garden, but they have been eating all kinds of stuff. Squash plants, tomato leaves and fruit, our blackberry leaves, etc. I thought they only ate weeds, only to do a bit more research and find out that no, it is GEESE that are the good weeders!

I have ducks in my garden but have LOW portable netting around the beds which keep them out of where I don't want them [unlike chickens that fly everywhere].
I LOVE my ducks!
Here's my list of why:
easier to keep out of the garden than chickens
The eggs are bigger AND richer
no crowing roosters [we do have laughing ducks however]
easy to herd & happy to be penned @night with just a little scratch for enticement
VERY entertaining when they parade

As for geese being good weeders, They will eat the garden too and can reach over the same fence that keeps the ducks out.
In my experience they are MEAN to the ducks, so my ducks stay away from my geese.

BTW MSD I think your mystery duck must have some Blue Swedish in her.
That's how my blue Swedish looks, with the white triangle on the throat.

We are have onion Stuffed roasted RABBIT for thanksgiving. No turkeys here
And Pilgrim goose for Christmas. Both my geese hatched goslings this year
I have someone who is going to harvest them for me in a trade.
I HATE PLUCKING FOWL!!!! I've been spoiled by the ease of skinning rabbit

 

[JessiL]

"laughing ducks" - that's a great description of the sound they make!

I think the mystery dark ducks might be Cayuga, or Cayuga crosses. We were the lucky (??) recipients of a few of those the other day, and I must admit, we are really taken with them. Very handsome, laying well, and settled in instantly among our flock of Ancona and Indian runners (with a few odd Welsh harlequin and Metzer's white hybrid layers... what can I say? people randomly give us ducks!).

We also have geese, and they are alternately protectors of and worst enemies of the other poultry/waterfowl. They will protect their little buddies when there's a threat, but if a smaller bird is in the way of whatever they might want, the geese will just grab them and throw them out of the way. I've also seen them pin down and discipline/dominate/rape?? ducks that have managed to get them angry. We plan to pen the geese separately from everything else during breeding season when they are likely to be particularly grumpy.

 

[mystang89]

Very cute How do you keep the ducks from flying away? Silly question I know.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

That first picture with the cat, dog and ducks all together.

I know... is that cute or what? We have all manner of critters co-existing together, but I still think it is cute.

The eggs are bigger AND richer

We have baked with the eggs, but haven't really just had them as omelets or anything yet. The dogs seem to think they are delightful, though, since they steal them at every opportunity! :angry:

 

[Zass]

MamaSheepdog, if you aren't really eating those duck eggs...shame on you. They are delicious in their own right. Even fried, my family prefers duck eggs to hens eggs.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

How do you keep the ducks from flying away? Silly question I know.

Not silly, really. They are too heavy to fly. They can get airborne, but it is more like "leaping with style" a la Buzz Lightyear...

You should add some ducks to your menagerie! They are really fun to have. But you need to let them roam around, otherwise they stink to high heaven.

MamaSheepdog, if you aren't really eating those duck eggs...shame on you. They are delicious in their own right. Even fried, my family prefers duck eggs to hens eggs.

Alright, alright! I will try them if I can snag any before the dogs eat them.

 

[caroline]

How do you keep the ducks from flying away? Silly question I know.

Not silly, really. They are too heavy to fly.

Some of my ducks are NOT too heavy to fly.
A month or so ago something scared them and several flew OVER the 2 story barn

We call them the FLYING WALEND-UCK-A BROTHERS

 

[Phacelia]

I guess I've lurked on here long enough.

I'm a bit of a heritage breed aficionado, and the Magpies caught my attention. Rare breed! Did you order them from a hatchery or find them locally?

I'd be curious to know how well they lay. We raised Silver Appleyards this year. We just butchered a few excess drakes for the freezer.


And yes, duck eggs are AWESOME!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Some of my ducks are NOT too heavy to fly.
A month or so ago something scared them and several flew OVER the 2 story barn

Really?!? :shock:

Well, actually, you would think the Runner ducks would be able to fly since they are lean compared to the Magpies... but I have only seen any of them "fly" a distance of about 15 feet, with a height of about 3 feet at the peak of their arc. :lol:

And speaking of Magpies...

I'm a bit of a heritage breed aficionado, and the Magpies caught my attention. Rare breed! Did you order them from a hatchery or find them locally?

I got them locally from a lady that breeds lots of heritage poultry. She is also who I get my turkeys from. She was breeding the (heritage breed) turkeys, but now has started just ordering chicks because it is more cost effective.

I guess I've lurked on here long enough.

Indeed! Glad to have you come out of hiding :hiding: at last!

...even if it was for ducks, not rabbits. *Sniff!*

 

[Phacelia]

Indeed! Glad to have you come out of hiding :hiding: at last!

...even if it was for ducks, not rabbits. *Sniff!*

Lol. Haven't had rabbits long enough to really contribute anything yet.

 

[caroline]

Lol. Haven't had rabbits long enough to really contribute anything yet.

NOT TRUE! NOT TRUE!
I notice that we all learn A LOT for the struggles that others go through.
You don't have to know how to "do it right" or have a lot of "experience"
to have something worthwhile to share