What's easier to raise Chickens or Ducks?

[Kelciesducks]

Hi, I'm new to the forums. I've been reading but have never posted before. I grew up on a small farm and as a child we raised, horses, cows, chickens, dog, cat and crops. We got rid of all of the animals except the dog and cat by the time I was a teenager. Now that I have a family of my own and am an adult I want to get back into animals a bit. I have 2 + young kids and want to teach them about raising animals. As well as have some fresh eggs at home.

Last summer we got a few ducks and absolutely LOVED them!!! I live in MN and we didn't have anything for them to live in over the winter so I had to rehome them. We missed them All winter and are ready to get more and make them a building to live in in the wintertime. Last summer we had 3 cayugas, 1 white crested and a couple other breeds (not sure what they were). We absolutly LOVE the white crested we had...he/she (never did figure out what sex he was) had an awesome personality! And we also enjoyed the Cayugas as well. I've finally found a Hatchery that will let me order as few as 2 ducks to ship http://www.metzerfarms.com/index.cfm. So I'm going to get a few White crested and Cayugas...and maybe some others as well.

Really we only have the ducks for enjoyment....we don't eat them and never had them lay eggs. They just free range around the yard and pond.

I'm also thinking about getting just a few chickens as well. I don't want any more than 6 total. I want a Rooster as well so we can have some baby chicks. I found a pair of Brahmas and a pair of Polish Crested's as well that I could get started with.




Which are easier to raise Ducks or Chickens? And are Brahmas and Polish Crested's pretty easy going chickens to work with? I don't want to get some nasty chicken that's going to attack my kids when they collect eggs.

 

[AnimalLady123]

I'm just saying...But, I had a light Brahma pair and the rooster would always attack me when I went out to do anything!!(I had to re-home him

) But, Polish Crested are VERY docile birds and will let me get VERY close to them!!

 

[xC0000005]

In my opinion if you can raise one duck you can raise ten chickens. Ducks are filthy and put the foul in fowl. Cute and great personality but man, what a mess. Chickens were easy by comparison in my book.

 

[Kelciesducks]

Other than food and water and grit is there anything else I need to get for Chickens? Do I need to give them any medicines or shots or anything? Probly a dumb question but I want to make sure I know everything I need to before I get them.

 

[Kelciesducks]

What about upkeep as well. WIth the ducks I just let them roam all over so the only cage I'm use to cleaning out is the rabbit cage. How often does a chicken coop need to be cleaned out and new hay put in?

 

[PaintedWolf]

In my opinion if you can raise one duck you can raise ten chickens. Ducks are filthy and put the foul in fowl. Cute and great personality but man, what a mess. Chickens were easy by comparison in my book.

Agreed! Ducklings are cute as buttons, but I used to be a wildlife rehabilitator, and people would drop off boxes and boxes of wild ducklings. Duck poop and water make for one very stinky combo, even with constant cleaning! I find chicks to be much easier, at least as far as mess goes. I do love having adult ducks outside though...they are neat animals.

 

[tweetysvoice]

I'm raising both ducklings and chicks right now and the chicks are by far easier than the ducklings. Ducklings will need almost all the exact same requirements as the chicks (heat lamps, etc) except they also need more (niasin supplements and water to swim/clean bills). Ducks are so much messier and will need the shavings cleaned out a couple times a day because they get water EVERYWHERE. That's one of the reasons that it's not good to brood them together. The ducklings have much more personality, but now that my chicks are 3 1/2 weeks, i'm starting to see a lot more of their personalities now too.

 

[OldGuy43]

It depends on your situation. I have no experience with raising chickens from chick size, (We got ours as adolescents. but I will agree with everyone else. Ducks are messy. If both OldGal and I were both still working (Fortunately, I'm retired.) we couldn't have done them justice. Ours are now 3 weeks old and require almost constant care, and I'm of the "letting fowl be fowl" school.

 

[Chickiee]

We're raising "day old" 2 ducklings and 9 chicks as of this last week. The ducks are bullies if you don't raise them with the chicks. Get them all at the same time. We got 2 chicks at the same time we got the ducks... they were great together. Added the additional 7 chicks only 3 days later and had to triple the already roomy brooder size (literally threw it together within an hour of having them!) so the ducks would stop plowing over the chicks. Crazy duck dominant behavior. They are all getting together great now and all growing very fast. They will all coop together in 5 weeks. Check the articles on this site as well as the Tractor Supply website which has some really helpful videos. Go to your library too. I did a TON of reading before diving into this poultry adventure to be prepared. Not to pass judgement at all, but why/how did you get ducks last summer if you didn't have anywhere to keep them for winter? It's hard to get rid of animals you love so much.

 

[HetaChick]

I'm concurring with the above comments. I did a ducky rescue once and raised 3 wild ducklings running around terrified on a road. They were soooo messy (same with my goslings) but they are fun. Chicks are easier because of the water thing, although all of them tend to find a way to poop in their water anyways.


Chickens don't all attack either, it depends on breed and how much you tame them starting at chick stage. Roosters may protect hens and hens may protect eggs but unless the hen is broody, she'll get off her eggs anyways so it won't be hard to collect.

Easier: Chicks.

More experienced: Ducklings.

That's what I'd say, but I honestly love both animals. They're both a different experience. Geese are fun too.