Our Decision to get Ducks (and Geese)

*This post is the first in series about raising ducks and geese.

My husband and I first started talking about getting ducks years ago. If you haven’t noticed, ducks are adorable, and are reputed to make good pets. However, we were living in town and having even one or two ducks wasn’t an option for us at the time.

Fast forward seven years to buying our homestead. 

Last year, when we put in the garden, I didn’t really know what to expect. Until then, I had been gardening in raised beds that had been filled with a garden soil/compost mixture from the local sand company. Things grew alright here for a first year in-ground garden with no amendments.

Then the beetles came.

Cucumber beetles. Hundreds of them. So many that going out multiple times a day and knocking them into a cup to feed to the chickens didn’t even make a dent.

They ate the beans. They ate the cucumbers. They ate the pumpkins, and squash, and pretty much everything else in the garden. Most of the warm weather crops we grew last year were only suitable for chicken feed.

Enter ducks.

For those of you who don’t know, ducks like to eat bugs. Apparently, more than they like to eat anything else. There are even ducks that have been specifically bred to eat bugs in the rice paddies in Asia. (Runner ducks. They walk upright like penguins, and are SUPER cute in addition to being great foragers.) 

After thorough research (I’m one of THOSE types,) and talking with my husband, we decided to get a small, mixed flock of ten ducks. Five of our flock are runner ducks, and the other five are a mix of two golden layers, two cayugas, and a rouen. We settled on ten due to our garden size and the fact that we didn’t want to spend too much money feeding ducks as we plan on overwintering them.

After some more research on keeping free range ducks a bit safer from hawks, we decided to “impulse buy” two goslings as well. While having birds to guard birds is not the best situation, we were needing an animal that was more likely to keep an eye to the sky and warn the flock of flying dangers. Our neighbors around us have enough large guard animals, that we don’t have an issue with land predators during the day.

It also helped that geese are supposed to imprint hard on their owners and can be amazing pets and alarm systems. And let’s face it. They’re SO DARN CUTE!

We ended up going with two female Pilgrim geese. Pilgrim geese are known for being docile as well as being a threatened breed. While we are not planning on breeding our geese at this time, by choosing this breed, we are at least helping create a demand for them. You can learn more about the breed at The Livestock Conservancy.

When they’re full grown, the ducks’ main job will be policing the garden for bugs and hopefully keeping the beetle population under control. The geese will not be allowed in the garden during the growing season. Their secondary job will come a bit later in eating down cover crops in preparation for the next year. Additionally, they will give us a lot of lovely manure and bedding to compost as well as being part of our plan to fix and improve our pasture.

So in January this year (2020) we put in an order for ten ducks and two geese from McMurray Hatchery to be delivered the second week of June. We would have enough time to prepare for them and build infrastructure. Being on summer vacation, we would have more time to spend with them, and the weather would be warm enough for them to go outside sooner.

If you are thinking about getting ducks or geese, I recommend doing your research first. There are many different breeds depending on your purpose. We chose breeds that are good foragers as well as decent egg layers. Temperament was also part of our decision process as we have always wanted ducks that were pets in addition to farm animals.

Stay tuned for part 2 in this series – DIY Duck Brooder Water Solution