All poultry are wonderful creatures, but different species usually equals different care and attention needs. If you're contemplating the question, chickens or ducks, I'm here to help and share my experience of both poultry species with you.
Now, I do not have any experience with either adult chickens or ducks. I got both my ducklings and chicks from a company called 'Rent the Chicken', so I only had them for one to two weeks before they went back to the farm, but there is still quite the difference between the two, even when they're still quite young.
Chicks
We're all familiar with our infertile grocery store chicken eggs, which are generally brown or white, but there are dark brown and even green eggs that some chicken breeds lay (such as the Olive Eggers and Maran chickens). Most of my seven eggs were white and brown, but I also had one huge green one.
I surprisingly had a 100% hatch rate for my chicken eggs. I was preparing to interfere with the chick in the green egg, because his beak seemed stuck and I wasn't sure if he could get out of his shell, but the next morning he hatched and I thankfully didn't need to intervene with any of my eggs (I'm thinking the other six chicks who had hatched were trampling his egg and perhaps helped him break his shell). I was surprised about them all hatching, because generally the average hatch rate for chicks is around 55-75%.
My chick eggs incubating:
Once their feathers were all dried up, it was time to finally move them to the brooder! They had been inside of the incubator for a little while now, because I was waiting for Arrow (the chick in the green egg) to hatch and dry. They certainly didn't seem very fond of the small incubator, considering there were seven of them.
In the brooder I showed them their food, water, and heater. I added an extra heat plate on one side of the brooder, and they really seemed to love the extra warmth, since it was probably quite the shock to be removed from the nice, warm incubator, as squished as they may have been in there. After a while, they became extremely curious about everything- for example, when I shuffled their bedding, they came running to my hand. I attempted to train them that when I did that, it meant that I would be hand-feeding them, but I'm not sure if they came to me because my training was successful, or if they just liked the motion. I spent quite a while with them for the first day, and I'm very glad that I did- a few days later, when I took them out of the brooder for a short period of time, they followed me around wherever I went.
But then, after about a week, they got a little too curious. First, they started flapping around and escaping the brooder whenever the bottom flap was opened. It started with one, then another, and eventually, all seven started escaping. And then, they started flying out of the top flap, which was quite high up.
They also poop. A lot. Which is a bit of a downside to handling- they always poop on my hands and clothes. And to top all that off, at night, when the brooder is covered with a towel and I'm upstairs, they start chirping extremely loudly.
In my experience, chicks are certainly quite a handful, but overall, I really enjoy keeping them. They're so affectionate and adorable, I must say that I can't help but forgive them for all of their faults.
Ducklings
All my duck eggs were white, but some species lay pale green eggs, such as the Indian Runner Duck. Duck eggs usually have a 50% hatch rate, but just like my chicks, all of my duck eggs hatched. I was very worried at first, because the incubator's time was off and we didn't realize until three of the ducklings made an external pip on day two- I hadn't even started lockdown yet! What I did was (and this is certainly not recommended- I was panicking and didn't know what to do. Keep in mind that this happened before I joined these amazing forums) take my five eggs out of the incubator, remove the tray, place on the water reservoir cover, put the eggs back in, and shut the lid. I did this all VERY quickly, but I was still so nervous when this happened. After I did the early lockdown, there was nothing else I could do but wait, so I told myself not to panic and everything turned out okay in the end.
I did have another scare with the duck eggs, though- after four out of the five that I had hatched, one of the eggs also seemed as though there was another shell stuck on to it (perhaps because the other hatched ducklings kept pushing shells around and smothering the unhatched egg), and I was worried that the duckling couldn't get out, but luckily they all safely hatched without any interference, just like my chicks.
Large pip in one of my duckling's eggs:
On the first day, they were adorable. They fell asleep on my hand and chirped quietly, and they seemed to enjoy food- being hand-fed in particular. They were absolutely perfect. But of course, that all changed by day two. They pretty much became completely different ducklings- instead of the quiet little sleepy babies they were the day before, all they wanted to do was run, eat, and peck. After a few days they even started to climb me (which wasn't very fun- I never knew that ducklings had such sharp nails). And I thought chicks were messy- the ducklings literally tried to swim in their water- a lot of times I would see them with a soaking wet head. And there was poop everywhere. On the wall behind their brooder, in the hallway, in their water. And they went through a lot of water. It was changed at least three times per day, because they somehow managed to make it brown in about an hour.
But they loved coming out of the brooder. Whenever I took them out (for what we call 'recess'), I set up a mat for two reasons- one, because the floor could be a little slippery, and two, because they somehow poop even more than chicks.
When they were let out onto the mat, they seemed to get a sudden burst of energy. First, they would run around excitedly, then I would lay down next to them and they try to eat my clothing and hair (once one was chewing on my hair, and when I pulled it out it was wet).
Just chilling on the 'recess' mat.
They also seem to eat and drink more than chicks. And I can definitely say that they grow a lot faster, too. But as much of a nuisance as they can sometimes be, I must say that they are a lot cuter than chicks, in my opinion. Sometimes I would just take one out of the brooder and they would love the warmth of my hands and clothes so much that their energy would fade. At times they would even be calm enough to fall asleep on my lap. All in all, I love ducklings as much as I love chicks. Both poultry so hilarious and adorable and curious, and as much of a handful as they could both be at times, I couldn't say enough good things about them. Personally, after experiencing both, I am still unable to decide which birds I like better, but hopefully this article helped you come to a conclusion which poultry is better for you and your household. Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have an eggcellent day!
P.S: Here is another thread that may help you decide whether to get chickens or ducks: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/ducks-vs-chickens.1483327/
-Duckpip
Now, I do not have any experience with either adult chickens or ducks. I got both my ducklings and chicks from a company called 'Rent the Chicken', so I only had them for one to two weeks before they went back to the farm, but there is still quite the difference between the two, even when they're still quite young.
Chicks
We're all familiar with our infertile grocery store chicken eggs, which are generally brown or white, but there are dark brown and even green eggs that some chicken breeds lay (such as the Olive Eggers and Maran chickens). Most of my seven eggs were white and brown, but I also had one huge green one.
I surprisingly had a 100% hatch rate for my chicken eggs. I was preparing to interfere with the chick in the green egg, because his beak seemed stuck and I wasn't sure if he could get out of his shell, but the next morning he hatched and I thankfully didn't need to intervene with any of my eggs (I'm thinking the other six chicks who had hatched were trampling his egg and perhaps helped him break his shell). I was surprised about them all hatching, because generally the average hatch rate for chicks is around 55-75%.
My chick eggs incubating:
Once their feathers were all dried up, it was time to finally move them to the brooder! They had been inside of the incubator for a little while now, because I was waiting for Arrow (the chick in the green egg) to hatch and dry. They certainly didn't seem very fond of the small incubator, considering there were seven of them.
In the brooder I showed them their food, water, and heater. I added an extra heat plate on one side of the brooder, and they really seemed to love the extra warmth, since it was probably quite the shock to be removed from the nice, warm incubator, as squished as they may have been in there. After a while, they became extremely curious about everything- for example, when I shuffled their bedding, they came running to my hand. I attempted to train them that when I did that, it meant that I would be hand-feeding them, but I'm not sure if they came to me because my training was successful, or if they just liked the motion. I spent quite a while with them for the first day, and I'm very glad that I did- a few days later, when I took them out of the brooder for a short period of time, they followed me around wherever I went.
But then, after about a week, they got a little too curious. First, they started flapping around and escaping the brooder whenever the bottom flap was opened. It started with one, then another, and eventually, all seven started escaping. And then, they started flying out of the top flap, which was quite high up.
They also poop. A lot. Which is a bit of a downside to handling- they always poop on my hands and clothes. And to top all that off, at night, when the brooder is covered with a towel and I'm upstairs, they start chirping extremely loudly.
In my experience, chicks are certainly quite a handful, but overall, I really enjoy keeping them. They're so affectionate and adorable, I must say that I can't help but forgive them for all of their faults.
Ducklings
All my duck eggs were white, but some species lay pale green eggs, such as the Indian Runner Duck. Duck eggs usually have a 50% hatch rate, but just like my chicks, all of my duck eggs hatched. I was very worried at first, because the incubator's time was off and we didn't realize until three of the ducklings made an external pip on day two- I hadn't even started lockdown yet! What I did was (and this is certainly not recommended- I was panicking and didn't know what to do. Keep in mind that this happened before I joined these amazing forums) take my five eggs out of the incubator, remove the tray, place on the water reservoir cover, put the eggs back in, and shut the lid. I did this all VERY quickly, but I was still so nervous when this happened. After I did the early lockdown, there was nothing else I could do but wait, so I told myself not to panic and everything turned out okay in the end.
I did have another scare with the duck eggs, though- after four out of the five that I had hatched, one of the eggs also seemed as though there was another shell stuck on to it (perhaps because the other hatched ducklings kept pushing shells around and smothering the unhatched egg), and I was worried that the duckling couldn't get out, but luckily they all safely hatched without any interference, just like my chicks.
Large pip in one of my duckling's eggs:
On the first day, they were adorable. They fell asleep on my hand and chirped quietly, and they seemed to enjoy food- being hand-fed in particular. They were absolutely perfect. But of course, that all changed by day two. They pretty much became completely different ducklings- instead of the quiet little sleepy babies they were the day before, all they wanted to do was run, eat, and peck. After a few days they even started to climb me (which wasn't very fun- I never knew that ducklings had such sharp nails). And I thought chicks were messy- the ducklings literally tried to swim in their water- a lot of times I would see them with a soaking wet head. And there was poop everywhere. On the wall behind their brooder, in the hallway, in their water. And they went through a lot of water. It was changed at least three times per day, because they somehow managed to make it brown in about an hour.
But they loved coming out of the brooder. Whenever I took them out (for what we call 'recess'), I set up a mat for two reasons- one, because the floor could be a little slippery, and two, because they somehow poop even more than chicks.
When they were let out onto the mat, they seemed to get a sudden burst of energy. First, they would run around excitedly, then I would lay down next to them and they try to eat my clothing and hair (once one was chewing on my hair, and when I pulled it out it was wet).
Just chilling on the 'recess' mat.
They also seem to eat and drink more than chicks. And I can definitely say that they grow a lot faster, too. But as much of a nuisance as they can sometimes be, I must say that they are a lot cuter than chicks, in my opinion. Sometimes I would just take one out of the brooder and they would love the warmth of my hands and clothes so much that their energy would fade. At times they would even be calm enough to fall asleep on my lap. All in all, I love ducklings as much as I love chicks. Both poultry so hilarious and adorable and curious, and as much of a handful as they could both be at times, I couldn't say enough good things about them. Personally, after experiencing both, I am still unable to decide which birds I like better, but hopefully this article helped you come to a conclusion which poultry is better for you and your household. Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have an eggcellent day!
P.S: Here is another thread that may help you decide whether to get chickens or ducks: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/ducks-vs-chickens.1483327/
-Duckpip
