Raising Ducks or Chickens?

1. Ducks are generally healthier. Because they spend so much of their time in the water, ducks tend to be far less susceptible to mites and other external parasites than chickens.  Any parasites that might be tempted to latch on will drown.   Ducks also have hardier immune systems, tend to stay in better general health and are less likely to contract disease than chickens.

3. Ducks are more heat-tolerant. During the hot and humid summer months here in Virginia, our chickens stand around panting, crowded in front of the fans I have set up in our run. Meanwhile, the ducks paddle about quite contentedly in their pool. Ducks handle the heat quite easily by merely taking a dip to cool off.

4. Ducks are quieter. Maybe hard to believe, but our chickens actually make more noise than our ducks. Chickens cackle and carry on after they lay an egg, before they lay an egg, and for no apparent reason at all.  Female ducks on the other hand, although they will quack loudly when agitated or excited, normally just quietly chitter-chatter.  Roosters, contrary to popular belief, don’t just crow in the morning.  Here on our farm, it is pretty much nonstop crowing when we’ve got a rooster or two in our flock. Roosters seem to feel compelled to communicate their dominance especially when another male is present. In contrast, drakes (male ducks) don’t quack at all. They make only a soft raspy wheeze and don’t have the same dominance issues that roosters have.

6. Ducks lay more regularly. Our ducks consistently outperform our chickens even through the winter without any supplemental light in their house. We average 3-4 duck eggs from four female ducks daily (an admirable 75-100% rate) year round, contrasted with only 8-10 chicken eggs from 20 laying hens (a mere 40-50% rate) in the winter.  Many breeds of ducks are also very unlikely to go broody (broodies don’t lay eggs, so they are detrimental to your egg production).

7. Ducks adhere to a far less aggressive ….