would indian runner ducks destroy garden?

[chickengr]

hi,

I saw a video about indian runner ducks taking care of vineyard pests. I wonder if they can do the same thing in vegetable garden or they would destroy it.

 

[chickencheeper]

No, they wouldnt, ducks are highly prized for their ability to take care of garden pests without destroying your garden

 

[chickens really]

First it depends on what you grow in your garden ....Mine would have my garden torn to shreds and rooted up in no time...

 

[austroberta]

My 3 ducks trample seedlings, but don't hurt my larger plants. I found an old rotating fan that someone had thrown away and I saved the curved dome part to cover any seedlings I have. They'll tramp all over the fan dome, but my seedling stay safe.

 

[BaJa]

Like chickens really said, it largely depends on what kind of food you grow. If you grow their favoriet veggie food in there, you can count on them eating it. They do take care of insects very well, though.

 

[chickengr]

maybe I ask more precise question: what can I grow that the indian runner ducks will not destroy? or: what are the veggies the indian runner ducks would destroy?

I can get organized as long as I get the right information on time. another question: can they live together with geese?

 

[Miss Lydia]

My Runners live with 2 geese and they all get along fine. They do have separate houses for night though.

Runners as with all poultry will trample down young plants so best to keep them out of the garden till the plants have gotten tall enough to withstand them. Ducks love some herbs they love greens too kale, Romaine lettuce, cabbage are big hits here. Tomatoes the fruit they love but should not eat the green part or potato plants and skins.

I'd put a small fence[2'] around the garden to keep them out until the plants you are growing are big then with supervision let them in to eat bugs if that is your goal.

 

[CarleeAnn]

My two ducks seem to enjoy grabbing the leaves and shaking the plants, so having them debug my garden is not an option. I think they figured that bugs will fly off or fall to the ground. They dabble at the roots too, but you could put a few rocks down to deter this.

 

[Krazyquilts]

Mine, especially one of our Cayuga girls, also loved Borage, which was cool with me since while it's a pretty herb that attracts bees and repels tomato hornworms, it also reseeds like a weed. So I let the ducks harvest as much as they wanted of it.

My main problem with ducks in the garden is that they walked all over everything, which meant they pooped all over everything. That was our first year with ducks, and my husband said that the ducks owned the garden lol. The next year (this past summer), we sectioned off most of the garden with chicken wire and only allowed the ducks access to it once in a while, which meant that they were too focused going around the outsides of the raised beds looking for bugs to bother getting up in the beds for th most part.

 

[chickengr]

My Runners live with 2 geese and they all get along fine. They do have separate houses for night though.

Runners as with all poultry will trample down young plants so best to keep them out of the garden till the plants have gotten tall enough to withstand them. Ducks love some herbs they love greens too kale, Romaine lettuce, cabbage are big hits here. Tomatoes the fruit they love but should not eat the green part or potato plants and skins.

I'd put a small fence[2'] around the garden to keep them out until the plants you are growing are big then with supervision let them in to eat bugs if that is your goal.

nice to hear from you @Miss Lydia

unfortunately I don't have muscovy ducks any more. due to lack of space I kept a few females only till something (fox or dogs) killed 2 of them. so I rehomed the rest.

the good news is I am selling my house and plan to move to a bigger place. I will have muscovies again and I will add indian runners as well. good to know they can be with geese as I have already booked a small flock of germane white geese (rhine geese), 1 male and 3 females. of course my muscovies will be on their own.