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Here are some pics I took the other day…
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I thought I would share some “babies” with you for Mother’s Day weekend. The ducklings are new here, they were donated to the farm by two lovely young ladies at SUNY Cortland.

Now is the time for me to start talking to you all about why you DON’T want to buy your child a bunny, duckling or Chick this year. They are cute…oh boy are they cute. But they are also living, breathing creatures who give and receive love. Little children may look precious holding a baby, but you know what? It is stressful to the baby animal and the truth is that baby animals are very germy creatures. And since little ones aren’t the best at hygiene admiration from a distance is most likely the best way to “experience birth”, or “learn” about farm animals. Better yet? In a few weeks we will have an open house and you can bring the little ones to see what it all is REALLY about.

I’m sorry for the semi harsh, wee bit sarcastic tone but if I had a penny for every time I heard the classic “we got the kids a chick, but they must have handled it too roughly…it laid down and died…they were crushed”. Or another favorite…”we fed it grass and kept it on our porch, I don’t know why it died…the kids were crushed”. And my personal favorite…”It was dirty and it pooped on the kids so we let it go in the back yard.”

I’ll stop now because I can feel my blood pressure rising…

Do you see yourself making any of those comments? Do you know what your zoning laws are? Do you know what the dietary requirements are for the critter you choose? How about proper housing and veterinary care?

Here is a previous post for those of you considering ducklings. And if you are able to and want to provide a loving home for a baby animal this Easter and you have questions please feel free to email us!

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Ducks are unique, adorable, very smart and probably the messiest creatures on the planet. When we made the decision to raise ducks we knew they would be companion animals here at the farm, rather than meat ducks. There are several excellent farms locally that produce wonderful quality meat ducks so we were free to focus our energies on the breeds and the eggs they produce as eggs were my primary focus from the start.

Why Duck eggs? I find them to be the perfect egg for my pasta, which is made at least 4 days a week here. We love it and once you try it you’ll swear there is no other pasta for you. As as eating egg, they are wonderful. They are richer in taste and have a deep yellow yolk that is almost shocking in color. I’ve had many people write to me and ask me what my secret is for cooking my duck eggs as they dislike the texture at times. In my opinion, ducks eggs should be cooked gently over a lower flame and for less time than a chicken egg. This results in a luscious silkiness that you won’t find in other eggs.

Some other pluses and minuses to consider when thinking about raising ducks are:

Ducks eat creepy crawlies like spiders, grubs, snails and slugs
Ducks love tomato plants, flower gardens and shrubs
Ducks look lovely floating on a pond
Ducks turn pond edges into slippery, muddy and stinky ski slopes
Ducks lay those great eggs
Ducks only lay an average of 100-150 eggs per year and not often in the winter
Ducks make great lawn ornaments
Ducks ruin any patch of grass they walk across…including your neighbors grass
You can keep ducks in your yard with fencing
Some ducks fly…really well too
Some other things to consider are feeding, because it is a very important issue to consider. Our yard is treated with absolutely no chemicals and has been tended organically for nearly 10 years. The ducks are supplemented with Certified Organic feed, which is very pricey these days at $25 per 50 pound bag. Ducks eat lots of food, and that means that your costs will be high. They also need strong protection from the elements and predators with a considerable 6 square feet per duck for sleeping area. We feel at least 10 square feet is better.

Now let’s talk about breeds. There are several and all have very unique qualities. I won’t get into detail about the Muscovy or the Pekin as these are primarily meat ducks and we don’t use them here. They are also flighted and we chose not to keep flighted species. Please bear in mind that all ducks are indeed flighted and can and will fly. The breeds we have here all have been bred over hundreds of years to have smaller wings and heavy bodies. This keeps them more anchored to the ground, but they love to try and fly!

We have the Cayuga, Blue Swedish, and Indian Runner ducks. The Cayuga have fast become my favorites here, they are smart with kind temperaments and excellent laying capabilities. They are also a “local” waterfowl species and are on the a threatened species listed with the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. The ALBC has a wonderful description of the breed here

Contrary to popular belief, ducks don’t need a pool or pond to swim in. However, I warn you now…if you don’t plan on allowing swimming don’t ever get them in the water. They are so absolutely adorable when they take that first swim, and they love it with all their hearts. We could not ever imagine not letting them have pools to swim in.

That being said…

If you have pools for them they will need to be large pools. Ours have 8 foot round plastic kiddie pools. Next, plan on emptying and refilling those pools daily…ducks make a mess of their swimming areas and use the pool water as a drinking hole. That means you’ll have muddy ground all around the pool and sloggy stinky duck water to deal with. This is perhaps my single biggest word of caution to anyone considering keeping ducks. You’ll need to address this issue right off the bat and it isn’t a small one so think long and hard about it.

After the pool issue is the bedding issue. Ours use last years horse hay that is leftover. They love the natural feel of it and I love the compost-ability of it. Some people use wood chips, others straw…some substances are not good for ducks, especially pine so be wary of using pine shavings as bedding. I also like how easy hay is gather, it’s no harder than mucking horse stalls. Ducks have VERY slimy, smelly poop so you’ll need good washable flooring in your sleeping quarters. Ours have big custom made floor pans we can pull right out and hose and clean.

Speaking of hoses…

You’ll want to be sure that where ever your ducks are housed has easy, year round access to running water. Really, I’m not joking. I don’t think there is an animal on the planet that goes through more water than the duck. Those little bodies need lots and lots! Access to fresh water is VITAL for the duck!