We had been planning to get a couple more chickens once we got our chook run finished. Molly is a bit of a sporadic layer, and the silkies are even less reliable. We figured a couple of good layers would shore up our egg supply so we’d never need to buy any more.
Sarah had seen some ducks somewhere, and asked if she could get a pet one. I did some research and found that some breeds (like Indian runners) are very good layers, giving over 300 eggs per year.
After scouring the web for a local duck seller, I eventually found a guy down at Nowra selling Indian runners. When I rang he had two young females left – perfect! So we drove down on the weekend and bought them.
Since we already have a Molly in our menagerie, the ducks were named Milly and Mandy. They are yet to produce an egg, but we’re hoping they’ll start laying soon with Spring arriving.
They are now installed in their new pen, complete with duck house and a paddling pond. They seem very happy, and will soon be joined by the chickens once I get their hen house built. In the meantime, we’ve put the chicken ark into the vegie patch, and the girls are digging it over and fertilising it for me. They may as well do something useful if they’re not going to lay eggs!
Comments
11 responses to “We’ve Got Ducks!”
OOOh I’ve always wanted ducks! Good Luck they look adorable!!!
Nice ducks. And great handy work!
Now when you find any slugs you can put them to good us to feed your ducks.
They are really nice-looking, although very timid. They were raised by a breeder, so although they were well looked after they aren’t really socialised to people. They’re gradually getting used to us (with the help of a little food bribery!). Never thought I’d say this, but unfortunately we don’t get many slugs and snails to feed them! I think it’s because of all the lizards we have.
I’ve also heard both good things and bad points about ducks. I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts in a few months – especially what you think of their eggs (once they start laying) compared to the chicken eggs.
Just something to keep an eye on… my neighbour put ducks in with her (previously prolific) chickens and they stopped laying. Although it was also last April/May so it may have just been the cooler weather.
@Gail: I’m looking forward to the eggs. My grandmother was excited at the prospect of duck eggs – she reckons they make the best cakes you’ll ever taste. Might have to give her some and get her to put her money where her mouth is :-).
Oh lovely, I have always wanted ducks but I think I might be pushing it in the ‘burbs of Sydney – 8 chooks is probably enough.
Do duck eggs taste different from hens eggs?
BTW – laundry powder seems fine, not so good on grubby football socks but I don’t think the normal stuff is either without Oxy stuff added.
@Greenfumb: Yeah, that’s a lot of chooks. The ducks would be OK (they’re actually pretty quiet and easy to look after), but I think at some point you need to limit the total numbers of poultry you’re keeping on a suburban block! 🙂 People have told me that duck eggs have larger yolks compared the similar-sized chicken eggs. They’ve also said that the whites have a stronger smell when raw. I’ll be sure to report back when we get one. Oh, and thanks for the feedback on the laundry soap.
Fantastic Darren … we want to get a couple of ducks sometime in the next year or two. Id be real interested in hearing how your ducks and chickens manage to get along together. Ohhhh, if you are short of snails and slugs your could always bring them over to happyearth for a brief holiday 🙂
@Happyearth: Hopefully we’ll be putting the chickens into the run with the ducks this weekend. I’ll report back on how it goes.
Darren, what a lovely duck pen you have here. By the way, are you considering to rear some geese as well?
@Wilson: Thanks! No, we won’t get geese here in suburbia. We don’t really have enough grass for them to graze, nor enough space for them to roam. I think they’d possibly get too noisy, as well. Maybe one day if/when we get a large property.