Ducks and geese often arrive as an add-on to chickens: you got a few, and then it turned out you can’t run them on chicken numbers. Eggs come differently, feed goes differently, and the bedding turns into a swamp. Here are the differences that most often catch people out.
Eggs: when and how many
A duck starts laying at about 5–6 months. Egg breeds such as Indian Runner and Khaki Campbell give 250–300 eggs a year, meat breeds noticeably fewer, around 100–180. Ducks lay early in the morning or at night, and eggs often turn up on the floor or in the water. Collect first thing, and don’t call the day finished until you have.
A goose is another story altogether. She is a seasonal layer: from late winter into spring, with only 30–50 eggs a year. So a monthly laying percentage makes no sense for her, but eggs per goose per season is just what you want. Use the formula from how to calculate egg production over the laying period, not the whole year.
Feed
| Bird | Feed per bird per day, g (adult) |
|---|---|
| Laying hen | 110–125 |
| Laying duck | 150–180 |
| Goose, in winter | 250–350 |
These are guidelines, and they drift. In summer geese graze, grass covers a good part of the ration, and compound feed use falls. That’s why goose costs are better counted by season than as one yearly figure. Ducklings and goslings grow fast in their first weeks and eat a lot, so plan their feed with a margin.
Water is more than a drinker
A duck needs to dip her whole bill to drink, or she can’t clear her nostrils and eyes. And a deep drinker turns the floor into a puddle in a day. Three things follow:
- put the drinker over a drained grate or outside the resting area;
- change and top up bedding more often than for chickens, or humidity and ammonia climb (see house climate);
- a pond is nice but not required. What is required is plenty to drink.
Incubation
A duck egg takes 28 days, a goose egg 28–30, a Muscovy about 35. The eggs are large and need higher humidity than chicken eggs. The details are in home egg incubation.
Health
Waterfowl are generally hardier than chickens, but they have weak spots of their own: legs from damp bedding, eyes from dust, and above all mold in feed, which can cause aspergillosis. Chicken vaccination schedules don’t apply to them. Ask a vet which vaccines your species needs in your region.
Records in one place
In EggPulse ducks and geese are separate types of bird with their own feed-norm tables. Eggs, feed, mortality and costs are kept apart from chickens, while the farm-wide picture builds itself, so you never have to convert duck numbers into chicken ones.
