Guest Post – Domestic Ducks

BJ Hedahl is a driving force in the Sustainable NE Seattle group and advocate for domestic ducks.

From the beginning, I knew I wanted ducks. My first ducks roamed an acre of land up in Woodinville. In the summer I would go into the small fenced vegetable patch and stab slugs with a two-pronged knife and fling them over the fence. My ducks would dash to the spot and one would take the slug in its beak and take off with the others in pursuit. Until the slug was completely swallowed the others would quack indignantly; until I threw another and the whole thing would start again. All I had was a small wading pool for them to splash in. Within a year they got wind of a large home-made pool about four houses away and no matter how many times I brought them ‘home’, they made their way back. After a discussion with the owner of the pond (and half a dozen ducks of her own) my ducks were no longer mine.

Now I have Khaki Campbell and Indian Runner egg-laying ducks in a much smaller backyard, with a shed and smaller pen for night-time. On average, they each lay about five eggs a week. The eggs are white and slightly larger than chicken eggs. That is where comparisons between the two kinds of poultry stops! Backyard ducks and chickens cannot be compared to each other anymore than goats and pigs, or honeybees and mason bees, or kale and lettuce.

But just to make a point I will go down the list: First is housing, which is only really there for one reason, protection from predators. Ducks don’t need a roosting place and can bed down just about anywhere, although I have heard a few chicken owners say the same thing! Ducks are much more resistant to hot, cold, and/or wet weather, diseases and parasites. Ducks forage much of their food without scratching down to the dirt like chickens do. Consequently their store-bought feed can be lower overall in cost to get a larger egg, and ducks have a higher number of egg production years. I won’t even get into comparison of duck meat to chicken except to say it’s all dark! Even the feathers and down are more useful than that of chickens. But the crowning glory, in my opinion, is that Ducks love rain! What could be more fitting in Seattle!

Now I won’t avoid negatives, although I have personally not experienced very many myself. One is the noise, as I have heard that some breeds can be noisy, although one breed is mute! My girls are noisy around feeding time and have a lot to say when they think I am late putting their organic pellets before them. This happens about twice a day, for mere minutes which stops when their beaks are full. Another problem is their poop is wetter than chickens, but this is from a person that kept her ducks in a pen 24/7 with her chickens. So, ducks that are given a much larger area to range than chickens will forage and fertilize as they go, unlike chickens that tend to scratch down to dirt with negative results. Many times I have let my gals in my vegetable patch to probe around in the earth with very little interest in nipping at leaves, although they did take out my broccoli starts once, when I forgot.

And then there are the assumptions. Ducks don’t need a pond. I have a large wading pool that I re-fill with a portion of water from my rain barrels about twice a week. I use the ‘dirty’ water as fertilizer on different parts of the yard, sometimes filling a watering can and using it in the greenhouse or on planters along the driveway. And then I also have a water container about the size of a casserole dish which I change about two or three times a day, usually when I am feeding them. Ducks need this water to clean the vents in their beak and to wash food down.

My gals are handsome. They are spoiled with scraps of veggies and fruit. They entertain with proud silliness; one looks up in the sky; they all look; then I look and there is nothing there! When they are alarmed it is impossible to not giggle as they put out their wings like full skirts and dash for the enclosed pen shrieking like debutants.