Before getting a dozen Peking ducklings for raising for meat, I visit my friend Ray (Peking duck breeder) to learn more about the breed and how to brood them. Laid Back Living: bit.ly/laid-bac...
Ducklings are so cute! We have a pair of Mallard's that have started living in the pond in front of our house. They just hatched out 10 ducklings. It is so cute to see them swimming around the pond.
I am so happy that there's someone in your life who is as passionate as you about homesteading. All I see is success in your partnership and both kids are enthusiastic about the farm.
Harvest time should be hard. It shows that you respect the lives that are given to provide food for yourself and your family. It's what's missing from the "factory farmed" "store bought" people who look down on the homesteading way of life. Loving seeing your videos again Dan and the joy you are experiencing sharing it all with your new partner is easy to see. Good job, the pair of you.
Love the ducklings! Thank you for taking us along to meet Ray and for sharing some much insight. I'm really looking forward to the journey. Your mini brooders are right up my alley and I can actually see a future in them. Keep it going Dan! You've got this!
@@TheGrassfedHomestead Dan I just viewed this video and was just about to mention that tote is way too small for the number of ducklings. Also the breed of duck is a Pekin , while Peking is a way to serve up duck for the dinner table! I have been breeding and raising Pekins for over 20 years. This breed are decent layers for about 3 yrs and they hatch in an incubator really well. Glad you have livestock on your homestead again. You look much happier too!
We had some pekin ducks. Used them for both meat and eggs. We were very pleased with them. Will certainly raise then again in the future. Best of luck with yours. Thanks for sharing. Take care, see ya :)
1st off, I love your videos. Pekin ducks are cool. Some things we learned over the years with ducks: Hint for water: take a 1 gal milk jug or something similar and cut a hole in it so all they can get in is their head to drink. Cuts the mess down tremendously. For incubator hatched ducks, you need to wait for at least 10 days after birth to let them swim. The reason is that ducklings without a mother lack the essential oils that keep them insulated, dry, and warm in the water. Keep in mind ducklings and goslings should not be fed a medicated starter-grower feed. Medicated starter feed includes amprolium, a coccidiostat which is not approved for use with ducks or geese. ... Ducklings need niacin in their feed as they are not as able to convert it as baby chicks. Also heard Muscovy ducks have a wonderful maternal instinct. But, here on our farm, had a Pekin and Bourbon Red turkey lay eggs in the same nest then would tag team sitting on it & occasionally both would sit at the same time. Had 7 ducklings hatch but not poults. Pretty cool. They all free ranged together along with the goats. Video idea: I'd like to find out how to remove all the tiny down feathers when you butcher. Have friends that want the skin intact but want the down removed. Hope you can do a video on the butchering. Take care and enjoy your new friends. Betty
Man, that lamb baa at 6:45 took me right back to my lambs last year. They were great, and are delicious. My desire to shirk the mainstream has me more interested in ducks than chickens. Thank you for the video!
They are a family!! Dan is a good man and GOD sent them to him to bring him back they are blessed and there’s happiness and love your doing great Dan I love how your adding to the homestead keep up the great work brotha!!!
My precious Grandson has wanted a duck since he was 2. He just turned 3 a few wks ago♡ He just got 2 pet ducklings today & is over the moon! I'm thinking about getting him 2 of them for here too💝 I can't wait to add these adorable animals to our family❤️ great & informative video!
Put water in the long green feeder. It allows for the whole beak to go in water but doesn't let them get their feet and body in the water. We just hatched a goose and a duck. So much more cute then chickens!
That's because I uploaded it last night before I went to bed and it published before I woke up. I can only set the video popup thing after the video is uploaded. Sorry about that!!
@@TheGrassfedHomestead I'm a fan. It just amused me. No worries at all. Total aside: glad to hear about dance partner's roommate. I was under the mistaken impression she was living with you...
Please watch the recent video at Living Traditions Homestead. Kevin has lots of experience raising ducks and has a cheap duck water solution that prevents the mess.
Wow, Dan.. ducklings are soooo cute... we raised 9 pekins but we probably waited too long before processing (we did not know what we were doing) But the males became so aggressive with the mating... two males practically drowning a female in the pool.... It was not peaceful! We finally separated the males and that worked, but they are so messy!! We processed them by hand... labor intensive! BUT I also love duck meat... I'll be interested to see how the processing goes for you. How to time processing to make it easier to get those feathers out. When will you introduce your Dance Partner by name? I enjoy how comfortable she is being filmed. Your farm is progressing... thanks for sharing your life with the world, Dan!
@@TheGrassfedHomestead Actually, DP (Dance Partner) is quite cool for a nickname for this wonderful person in your life, Dan. I'll think of her as "D"...
We haven't raised meat ducks only layers but there's a video I think on Fit Farmer channel of duck processing at Joel Salatins and apparently there's a specific window of age in weeks you want to hit for the feathers to pluck easier for processing... Might be worth a watch
My observations on raising ducks: They feed so much different than chickens it takes a different mind set. Chickens scratch look and peck. Ducks stick their bills in the water, grass or mulch and feel for the food. When you move the ducks out. try putting them on the ground the pigs have torn up and fill a hollow with water and sprinkle the feed in it. Any whole grains they miss will grow and make more food when mature. The next feeding make another puddle and repeat. When the children take the ducks for a walk in the garden train them to look for bugs and slugs in the mulch by sprinkling feed into it and watch them stick there bills and heads in and feed on what they find. I have been using bird feed mix to do this with male Muscovy ducks for slug control. Chickens will feed on new growth after ducks move on so my be part of successive rotational grazing.
I have 4 ducks, 2 peking and 2 runner - they are 3 years old now. I get about 6 eggs from each every week but I can't eat them, I am allergic (but I can eat goose and chicken eggs just fine!)
'deliberating going on whether we should get egg laying ducks for the homestead' Duck eggs are _amazing,_ but in an ideal world I would want both ducks _and_ chickens on any homestead (except maybe no chickens if it's a total swamp, or no ducks if one is in the desert without water rights and they have to truck in water from Off-site) They have similar yields but distinct ecological niches and do different work for the homestead ecology.
Yeah son...She's a 'KEEPER'. Once you learn how to mitigate and optimize the mess AND smell of ducks yer 'golden'. Rather than dumping/discarding the nasty water in MY ducks' 'kiddie pools', I use a Harbor Freight solar pump to collect it into 275 gallon totes. Depending on temperatures, I let it 'ferment' for 3 to 7 days before I introduce it to my gardens at a 10 to one ratio. WAY faster/better than compost. Hope this helps.God Bless....~Eli.
@@TheGrassfedHomestead ....Sigh....I'm sorry son. But I have to admit that I am an 'old techno dinosaur'. What I know about this computer, cameras, AND editing, wouldn't even fill a thimble. If I ever DO upload, I'll have to give credit to my youngest son. God Bless....~Eli.
I was hoping someone can help me here.. we have two pekin ducklings that are about 3-4 weeks old. One of them has a very pale purple tinted beak. Sometimes the duck seems to not want to walk. I got nutritional yeast in hopes that maybe it’s just a niacin deficiency that I can hopefully correct in time. Anyone have input ?
Question I need your help. My sister raises ducks and lives next to a huge lake and a turtle injured the ducks foot. My sister got it to grow back but the duck will not walk. Please help? She’s giving it veggies and niacin I believe but it still just sits there but will eat. Any advice at all?
Living Traditions Homestead just put out another great video about raising ducks. In a comment you said you just watched the earlier duck video of theirs Their ducks are three weeks old now, just a bit ahead of yours. They are now putting them out to grass. Great information for you. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-f_Y15zyEuxE.html Wishing you success. Dan
Ducks are cuter but, I can't eat duck. Found out the hard way. Now my 2 pekin ducks are laying on the nest. UGH! Anyone wants ducks possible ducklings. I'm in s.e. Ohio
I also saw this morning on another homesteaders duck video that the ducks shouldn’t go in water until they are 1 month old. They don’t the protective oil on them from their mother so they will get cold and maybe sick.
Don't eat them poor ducks stick to chicken pork and beef. Ducks are such awesome animals they look so happy when they're out scouting for food but we don't cage our ducks they just go roaming round the farm and down to the creek as for the chickens they are annoying little turds. I butchered a rooster for cockadoodledoing every morning at 2 am then plucked n gutted and seasoned it and put him in the oven for breakfast.
