Thinking of Raising Ducks? Then You Need to Watch this Video

Raising ducks–whether as a pet or part of your poultry farming system–is not only fun, but a very rewarding experience. Ducks are very low maintenance creatures. You don’t need to spend a lot for their shelter and daily care is way easier compared to chicken and other birds. Plus, they get along well with most other animals and hardly get sick.

That said, ducks have a few very specific needs that are, nonetheless, easy to meet. In this video by Mike Dickson (a.k.a. The Fit Farmer), he shares why ducks need to have a bigger, deeper water source compared to chickens. He also provides an easy solution to making this possible by combining two materials that are already available in most farms and houses with bird pets.

“Wherever you buy chicken equipment–livestock or whether it be tractor supply, online, wherever it may be, you see chicken feeders and chicken waterers everywhere. However, what you don’t see is waterers for ducks. Ducks can use the same feeders as chickens but they need something a little different for their watering system,” shares Mike.

He adds, “They need to be able to put their heads–submerge their heads–in water. That’s really good for their eyes and if they don’t have that, their eyes will actually crust over and that’s not good.”

This is the reason why Mike decided to come up with a simple yet ingenious solution to the problem. You can watch the full video below to learn more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5H1kYCMrZU

Another thing you need to know about ducks is that you should never feed them without water. Ducks need to dunk their food in water so they can digest it properly. So Mike’s neat invention actually solves not just one, but two problems. 

If you’re planning on raising ducks to make a profit, note that they lay eggs for a really long time and their meats can also be sold for a higher price compared to chicken meat.  As pets, they make for very intelligent companions and are really fun to be with, although please note that you should never raise a single duck alone because it is part of their nature to imprint on someone (usually their parent or siblings–anyone who they spend the first few hours of their life with) and needs constant companionship. So always have them in, at least, pairs. 

Mike Dickson is a former professional bodybuilder and full-time farmer. He uses his YouTube channel to share information about health, fitness and farming, as well as to show everyone how fun farm life is in their 700 square feet yurt.