Getting Started with Ducks - Megan from Purple Dancing Dahlias

You might remember that last year I ran a few series of "getting started", where I interviewed other bloggers about how to get started with homestead/farm things, like a vege garden, chickens and a dairy animal. I had so much fun with that series, I decided to organise another round, but this time I'm asking about things that I haven't tried personally, that I want to know more about. After the turkey and the guinea fowl turned out to be so difficult for us to manage they made chickens look smart, I thought it might be a good idea to do a bit more research before we get any other crazy animals. Even though I do search through blogs for information, sometimes my questions just don't get answered. So I went straight to the source and asked the questions myself. I'm starting with ducks, but if this works out ok, I think I'll be doing a series on bee keeping and one on fruit trees. If you are keen to join in, just send me an email at eight.acres.liz at gmail.com. I will send you my "interview" and share your answers with the world!

Megan from Purple Dancing Dahlias very kindly responded to my requests for help with ducks. Here are her thoughts on getting started with ducks:

Megan: Our farm is Little Boy Blue Farm, Gardens, and Apiary and I blog at Purple Dancing Dahlias. We keep Jersey Cattle, Scottish Highland Cattle, Icelandic Sheep, pasture raise chickens/eggs, and bees. We also have two farm dogs, two cats, and a horse purely for pleasure. We have had geese and goats in the past. I grew up farming but we moved back home almost 6 years ago and started again.

Farmer Liz: Tell me about your ducks, how many do you keep and what breeds? What do you keep them for? (meat, eggs, other?)

M: Right now we have 8 Khaki Campbell. They are great egg ducks but we have found that they are not great meat birds. They will be going in the freezer this winter only because my husband and I have developed an intolerance to duck eggs.

We have also had Rouen Ducks for meat and they were excellent, both in meat quality and quantity. If we were to get more ducks next year they will be of this breed.

FL: What sort of housing do you provide for your ducks? Do they free-range? Do you have to lock them up at night?

M: The ducks have always free ranged with the chickens and have lived in the same space. When they were near the house we shut their door at night but now that they are at the barn they just go in with everyone else.

FL: What sort of water do you provide for your ducks?

M: They have a crab sandbox that is filled with water at the barn. It's big enough for them to swim and play in but not so big that we can't tip it over every day and give them fresh water. In the winter they have enough water to get their heads wet.

FL: What’s the best thing about keeping ducks?

M: They provide hours of entertainment and are really good in the garden. Last year the ducklings were in the potato patch and took care of all of the potato beetles but didn't harm a single plant.

FL: What do you wish you knew about ducks before you got them?

M: They are messy!!

FL: Any last advice to someone wanting to get started with ducks?

M: We have found that they are very easy to care for but again, are really, really messy!

FL: Now you've got me worried, can you explain messy?

M: They like to rinse their food before they eat it, so especially when they are babies, they splatter everything with food if you keep them in a small brooder area. If they are mama hatched and raise its not as bad.

We have to keep all of our water buckets and tanks out of their reach because otherwise they fill them with dirt and manure trying to separate the grain from the rest of the manure. As long as you take measures to keep them out of water you want to stay clean, then you are good to go.

FL: Thanks Megan! Its great to read that they really do help in the garden, I was worried that was one of those myths. Also surprised that you don't need to provide more water for them. Good to know about the messiness in advance.

Do you have any comments or questions for Megan? Head over to her blog to leave her a message. In the meantime, if you have ducks, bees or fruit trees and would like to answer some of my questions, send me an email eight.acres.liz at gmail.com.

Neem oil for insect control

** Sign up for my weekly email updates here , you will find out more about soap and our farmlife, straight to your inbox, never miss a post! New soap website and shop opening soon.... I also make neem soap, neem insect repellent and neem salve, all available in my Etsy shop .** A few weeks ago now I was watering the garden just after dark, torch in one hand, hose in the other, when I was attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes (mozzies). I could feel them biting me, but there wasn’t much I could do with both hands in use and I really needed to finish watering. When I came inside I found that I had several bites on each leg between the top of my gumboots and the bottom of my shorts. These proceeded to itch, swell and annoy me for several days. At this time of year, when the mozzies start biting, as I do have such a terrible reaction to the bites, I usually reach for my bottle of conventional insect repellent, typically containing DEET (N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamid...

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