why do most people raise chickens over ducks? #homestead #chicken #homesteader

[mtnbkr]

I used to have a problem with mice eating my chicken feed, until the chickens discovered that they can eat the mice too.

[kaiserdostuff]

Keep few ducks, keep a lot of chickens. Ducks literally just Italian mob in that group.

[GangMember]

I’ve got about 30 chickens and I can confirm, they will kill and eat mice and snakes lol. I’ve seen my chickens swallow small medium sized snakes whole and I’ve seen them rip a mouse apart fighting over its corpse after killing it… they’re straight up small t-Rexs.

[annenyheim]

My beloved rooster defended his flock against a chicken hawk (hønsehauk) and scared it off! ❤
I heard noice and ran into the garden just in time to see the poor hawk completely panicked, trying to get away from my big boi. My garden was covered in feathers after, both hawk and rooster, but he was soooo proud of himself.
That was the only time I have seen him aggressive, always else he is calm, a gentle giant, and he loves sitting on laps getting scritches and cuddles

[gmkvmyu]

I remember when i was young. One of those big ass tarantula hawks landed in front of me. (Big wasp. Orange wings. Nasty sting. The stuff of nightmares). I already have a borderline phobia of bugs that can sting. So when that thing landed next to my foot, I was frozen. But then our rooster casually walked up to it, plucked it up right off the ground. Swallowed it. And casually walked off.

That rooster was my hero from then on.

[friendlyneighbourhoodbridg]

Fun fact: in Bangladesh (where it floods a lot), many chicken farmers have switched to farming ducks in recent years because, in catastrophic floods, ducks float

[Sola_The_Demon]

One duck bonus not mentioned- chickens will tear up a garden eating the vegetables you're growing. Ducks will focus on your pests rather then everything they can reach. Keeping a few ducks for garden control and chickens for general control is the way to go imo.

[shaeze]

depends on the snake. sometimes can make a snake problem worse, as a floridian, big snakes go crazy for chicken eggs. sometimes even chickens.

[TemFuzzy]

I remember back then when we have a chicken. It was so noisy at around 3am, cuckling nonstop, when we went to check, we found a freaking snake, eyes ripped off and dead. Our chicken was literally stepping on its head and was like "no fear humans, I've got rid of the problem" type o shit 😂

[Mikedeela]

You can mix them. You can even put geese in with them. The geese will help keep hawks from eating your chickens. Not necessarily 100% effective but very effective.

[Sunnybeeloved]

I have seen chickens eat entire frogs, toads, small snakes, mice and rip a rat apart in the struggle to be the one that has it.
I am so glad they are not any bigger

[pjsepulved]

Having had both. Ducks are really cool. Chickens are too. But the ducks are even more cool and beautiful

[Duck-cxqo]

As a Duck, You'll be hearing from our lawyers.

[levi]

My dad is a duck and chicken farmer. Kakhi Campbell ducks lay an average of 200-250 eggs a year. I've seen no difference in insect hunting drive between the two and a nice benefit to ducks vs chickens is that ducks won't dig up your garden like chickens and are generally more quiet. On top of that, ducks are really goofy.

[vladimirlagos]

My grandma used to have a big yard with egg laying chickens. One day she decided to add a few ducks to the family. Oh, how much did she soon regret it. Ducks are prodigious poopers, and their depositions are watery and usually sprayed out in force at all angles from behind. In just a few days we had poop sprays all over the walls, the cars, the garden hose, and yes, even on the chickens. Walking through the backyard was like walking through a minefield of sprayed smelly bird manure. We came to truly detest the critters and started avoiding them while we made our minds about having a duck themed Christmas dinner. Alas, it wasn't meant to be so. See, as I said, we had been avoiding interactions with the pesky quackers, and so we forgot to trim their wings. So one day, right in front of our eyes all five of them just spread their wings and took off never to be seen again. We watched them leave with a mixed sense of frustration at the missed retribution, and elation at feeling rid of them for good.

[genxrants]

Ducks also need a pond of sorts to be happy. You have to keep that clean.

[grovermartin]

Different pros and cons. Ducks will eat the bugs out of your vegetable patch; chickens will eat the plants, too. Duck eggs are rubbery as fried eggs, but a more delicious yolk. I personally prefer duck meat to chicken. Love them all.😢

[jaymcdude]

As a farmer whose been involved with aninal hisbandry his entire life. When you have cows, pigs, and other livestock. Chickens are a great bird to have around. As they go hard on the ticks.

[alden]

Even more interesting is how/why chickens lay so many eggs. Modern domesticated chickens are descended from a species of wild fowl from Asia. Their egg laying prowess was discovered to be tied to the relative abundance of food. When there was a lot of food available, the fowl would lay many eggs, and have lots of chicks. When fod was scarce, their egg-laying would cease. It was soon discovered that if the chickens were fed a steady diet of sufficiently nutritious food, they would just keep on laying the eggs indefinitely. Pair that with the fact that their meat is rich, lean, high in protein, and, perhaps most importantly, delicious, they were a natural fit for early agricultural settlements. They were also relatively easy to domestic, being simple to breed for desired traits, like docility,
egg-yield, hardiness (and, again, taste!).

[IN-tmmw]

Mighty Ducks looking at you like: "You wanna say that again to my face pal?"