Why The Chickens Have to Go
It is the end of an era. For the first time in a very long time I am chickenless! Yes, after keeping laying hens for several years I got rid of my entire flock today…by choice. And unless it’s ranger meat chickens, I will not be getting anymore. I know some of you are like WHAT?! How in the world could I do such a thing? Blasphemy! Chickens are ultra trendy right now, so of course me going against the grain on this one may be looked at with some skepticism. But please, let me explain!
I have been raising laying hens for several years. For years when I lived in PA and then when I moved to Mass, and I have always let them live freely and happily. Not restricting them to a run, or only allowed out when supervised. I open the door to the coop in the morning first thing, and shut the door at night. They run out and take on the day, and then put themselves to roost at night on their own. They can go wherever they want and under the watchful eyes of my roosters they’re truly free.
We have acres of property for them to roam and forage on, and they do. But, they also cause a ton of destruction close to home. They will go into my goat barn and fly up into the loft and crap all over my organic hay, fly up on our brand new John Deere tractor and poop and scratch and peck it, fly over the electric fence surrounding my garden and wreak havoc, and the greatest of all sins? They have pecked several spots of my 220 year house down to the bare clapboard. We are having the house repainted next month which is an extremely expensive project and I am not going to just let it all get pecked off by birds!
So, this has really only left me with two options. 1. Keep them contained in a run or 2. Get rid of them. Now, I will be frank here and say I don’t particularly care for chickens. I know, some people think that’s blasphemy but it’s true. Yes, I care for them in the sense that I give them food, water, and shelter, but I don’t particularly like them. The longer I have kept them the more I have grown to dislike them, but I have kept them and taken care of them because they give us eggs. Because, pasta. Despite these feelings, I still would never confine them to a run. These birds have all lived their entire lives being free, running around, and just being chickens. I would truly feel terrible seeing them shut in a run pacing back and forth dying to escape. So, that leaves me with option 2, which is to get rid of them. This is something I have no problem doing because as I said I don’t particularly like them, and I am very pleased I found someone who was willing to come take my entire flock roosters and all.
Enter the Ducks
I added ducks to my existing flock of chickens about two years ago, and I love them! They don’t scratch everything to death, fly up in my hay or onto my tractor (can’t fly at all actually), and most importantly they don’t pay the slightest bit of attention to the siding of my house. It’s like it doesn’t even exist. Did I mention they are great layers? And they’re just cuter with their quacks and waddling? Yes folks, there is more to the world of eggs than just chickens.
The ducks I have stick together along with the goose, and while the chickens are off wreaking havoc and destroying something, the ducks are off in a puddle swimming or taking a nap in the tall grass. They have never caused any issues around here.
With the switch to solely ducks I can continue to allow them to live as they should, waddling around free and nibbling on grass without having to worry about everything getting destroyed. They are also more winter hardy than chickens, the breeds I have are prolific layers and can even outlay production chicken breeds, the eggs are larger and richer, and they are just all around easy keepers. For us, this is a no brainer.
I am very much looking forward to life around here post chicken, and not having to cringe every time the garage door accidentally gets left open scared of what the tractor and my husbands work bench is going to look like. Or, having to worry about my brand new paint job on my house getting pecked off. I totally get why people like chickens, I’ve had them for almost ten years! But, I fell out of love with them long ago and it was time for us to part ways.
So, I’m happily entering the exclusive duck era and looking forward to all of our hard work around here not being destroyed by the beaks and talons of my chickens. I am also looking forward to just enjoying the birds I have again, and not having to constantly chase them away and off of things they shouldn’t be in. The one thing that I truly will miss? Not listening to the sound of a rooster crow everyday. That is going to take some serious getting used to.
What kind of ducks did you pick? Could you add just one rooster to your duck Flock or would it not do well as the only “chicken� I know you don’t want it pecking at your house but just curious in general if one rooster would be okay with ducks.
I have a blue swedish, another unknown (was given to me), and I just picked up 6 khaki ducklings which are fantastic layers. I think a rooster with the ducks would be a bad idea. I have had issues with my roosters mounting my ducks and without hens around that would definitely happen.
This is brilliant! I have had chickens and loved the eggs, but they destroyed the gardens and would poop all over the porch. How do you house the ducks? Do they need nest boxes? If you let them free range, how do you collect the eggs?
So I house my ducks in the same coop as they were in before with the chickens. They don’t “need” nesting boxes, they certainly will lay in a nice corner of the coop buried under some bedding. But, mine actually use the boxes! I think they learned it from the chickens. They do free range and they will go back to the coop and lay. Ducks do *typically* lay in the early morning around the same time though as opposed to chickens that produce an egg every 25-26 hours. But, this isn’t always the case necessarily. I will say though, every morning I go and let the ducks out they almost always have already laid their egg for the day! They’re great.
I really appreciate this post. I found it at a time when we were considering how to grow and raise our own food. Knowing that ducks are more hardy than chickens before we have either is great. Goes to look for local ducklings…
Everyone has a different experience with them, and this just happens to be mine! I still haven’t regretted the decision, don’t miss them in the slightest (or the new paint job being pecked off my house). Good luck finding some ducklings!
interesting post, we are looking at ducks too. Do you have to call them into the coop at night? Are dogs a threat? We have a small stream that I would like to situate them near, however we do have neighbours nearby, but don’t want to fence them, how far do you find they free range? You mentioned yours don’t fly, is that true for most homestead breeds? Thanks and it would be great to see pictures of your duck coop/area.
Thanks for your posts!
Getting ducks in is very much like herding cats. You just kind of walk behind them and escort them back in. Our ducks go all over the place because they can. We don’t have any close neighbors, and we have never restricted them. Sometimes I come across them in the woods! domesticated breeds can get up off the ground and what I call glide, but they certainly can’t get up and fly. They can get a couple feet off the ground and maybe make it a couple of feet before they come back down. Our coop is absolutely nothing fancy. It’s just a bump out of our shed, with a ramp down to the ground. Super simple and low tech!
Kate, do you have a pond or any body of water for them to swim/splash around in? I have two ducks and while they seem content enough waddling around and grazing, they go nuts when I fill up a kiddie pool for them. The kiddie pool is unsustainable though and I have been considering installing a pond, but I’m hesitant to shell out the cashish for it. Wondering if you have an alternative solution. Also PS love your posts!
We do have a small pond but it’s on the other side of the pasture and they never discovered it. We keep a kiddy pool out with water, and they seem quite content with that! Then when it rains there are some good low spots they go crazy for that fill up!