Thread: Getting back to living off the land.....

Just beat the hawk from stealing my duck eggs again this morning. It was here by 6.50am. Stoked to get 8 eggs from 8 ducks. If you want consistent eggs you should look at ducks. They out-lay chooks, usually stop laying for a shorter period over winter, you don't need flash housing or high fences to keep them in, no mites to worry about. You only need a kid's clamshell paddling pool for a pond. and the water is an amazing nitrogenous fertiliser for green veges. Downsides? They can be noisy, they are messy, often the females are useless mum's. they eat about 1/2 as much again as chooks.

Originally Posted by bumblefoot

Just beat the hawk from stealing my duck eggs again this morning. It was here by 6.50am. Stoked to get 8 eggs from 8 ducks. If you want consistent eggs you should look at ducks. They out-lay chooks, usually stop laying for a shorter period over winter, you don't need flash housing or high fences to keep them in, no mites to worry about. You only need a kid's clamshell paddling pool for a pond. and the water is an amazing nitrogenous fertiliser for green veges. Downsides? They can be noisy, they are messy, often the females are useless mum's. they eat about 1/2 as much again as chooks.

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My parents used to raise ducks when I was a youngster, both for the eggs and meat and for sale. These days I only get to eat store bought duck, delicious but very pricey. The issue with duck eggs, as I remember, especially free range, is that, unlike hen eggs, they are much more likely to carry disease such as salmonella. Consequence of diet. So the eggs are never eaten other than well cooked. We ate them hard boiled or in cakes which they are superb for. Never as runny yolk breakfast eggs