I'm hoping to start raising some livestock in the near future.Which would you chose out of ducks chickens or rabbts?
I'm hoping to start raising some livestock in the near future.Which would you chose out of ducks chickens or rabbts?
I'm hoping to start raising some livestock in the near future.Which would you chose out of ducks chickens or rabbts?
Chickens > ducks >>>>>>>>> rabbits
Frick rabbits, they are positively foul
Chickens and ducks are infinitely more fowl than rabbits.
If you're thinking of chickens, I've heard quails should be a bird to consider depending on your living situation. (Quieter, less feed, need less space, produce eggs sooner)
I have about a half acre of grass and weeds I can rotate the animals on.
I kind of want a bird because killing and skinning rabbits just seems like a lot of work for not that much meat. At least birds are always shitting eggs out.
In a perfect world I would choose ducks but I heard they're really fricking dirty. But duck eggs are hard to find and expensive so I kind of want them.
You can peel a rabbit like a banana if you know what you're doing.
Ducks are tough to clean on account of the pinfeathers, if you're doing a bunch of them you'll either want to get set up with wax or just skin them, but you'd be missing out. They also require water to be changed constantly.
Chickens will probably be easiest for you to get set up on.
Rabbits are by far the easiest to process and can be fed off the land for free the easiest. Chickens don’t really get any nutrition from green stuff, they need grain. My layers get very little food in the summer when theres bugs to eat, but half the year they're just eating feed and scraps.
I do lots of broilers every year and plucking them by hand is a major asspain compared to a rabbit.
If you want to eat chicken meat like you’re used to, you need broilers, which you cant reproduce on your own, and you cant keep them around for eggs. Regular breeds will taste completely different and have a way different texture than you expect, although i personally prefer it. Old hens make great soup too. Unless you hate eggs, definitely get at least a few chickens, they’re the coolest.
The only reason ducks havent been exterminated is because their meat is nice. The fat from them is amazing, although personally I can’t get used to their grassy tasting eggs. They are truly the dumbest fricking creatures to exist, I hate raising them, I constantly long for the day I get to slaughter them. They’re cute for about 5 days, but after that I can’t fricking stand these worthless shitbrains. They’re also the worst animal on earth to process, as they have a nearly infinite supply of fuzzly little shitfeathers, and they're damn near waterproof, so scalding is difficult. By the way, anyone who tells you to just skin poultry of any kind is a wasteful moron, do not listen to them.
Geese on the other hand are cool, smart creatures I enjoy having around. Unlike the worthless homosexual that is the duck, geese walk around grazing on grass, and you barely ever have to feed them at all. Nice red meat, almost like beef/venison, although you have to do some convincing to stuff them full of corn if you want them to have any fat on them. Can be a bit aggressive, but if you’re a little pussy who’s scared of a 10lb bird, they’re showing you as much respect as you deserve
Thank you for the in depth response. So the general consensus is that ducks suck. I knew that deep down but I just wanted confirmation, especially since I have a nice small pond I don't want them to completely ruin.
>Chickens don’t really get any nutrition from green stuff, they need grain. My layers get very little food in the summer when theres bugs to eat, but half the year they're just eating feed and scraps.
That's the same thing my neighbor said, also that they spend more money on chicken feed than they save from the eggs they get. But also they only have half a dozen chickens and never let them out to forage in the woods.
How long we talking to process a duck? I got some fat looking tasty ones. Just started last year.
I think the eggs are fantastic. More yolk than chicken eggs. The cook faster, fluff up lighter.
They are totally moronic, but in a good way. Duck antics are top notch.
It just the plucking that’s any different than a chicken. Wife and I can get ~40-50 broilers from live to bagged in a day, probably working about 8 hours. I figure it takes us 2-3x as long to pluck ducks nicely. If you’re gonna do it a lot, consider investing in some wax, seems to be the only way people can get them plucked nice without going insane.
Certain breeds of rabbits are extremely easy to raise, but for the first time starter, just raise chickens. Frick quail.
Whatever livestock you choose be sure to feed them about 1-2% biochar. It will help to increase their average weight gain, improve digestion, decrease instances of diarrhea, and improve their manure as a soil amendment.
ducks but only if you promise not to hurt them
Speaking purely practical, rabbits are easier to kill, just hold them by the neck until the straighten out, whack them in the back of the head, bang, dead
For waterfowl like duck or geese, cut a hole in a bucket, get you garden shears, when it pokes its head out... snip snip
hind legs, not neck, sorry im drunk
Turkeys would be cool, but I already get a lot of wild turkey visitors so probably not the best for me, they'll get territorial. Ducks sounds cool too. Unless you're just going for maximum egg profit then chickens obviously going to win that one.
Ducks because I like their meat. Never raised birds before but how much harder than goats could it be? Do not goats, they're always up to something.
My neighbors have goats.
They come up to me and go "baaaaa" when I walk by and pretend I have food
Why do they pretend that you have food?
I do not know the mind of the goat
Don't goats neigh? Sheep Baaaa
Neither, goats bleat
I cross breed dogs goats cats and chicken together to create a monstrosity. I use it to not only get my meat but also relieve my sexual tensions
You jest but a family member used to have a rapist rooster that would frick anything he could get his grubby lil spurs on. One time i walked out in the yard and saw him trying to frick a b***h in heat. Needless to say he didnt live much longer.
He would play dead to make birds come down and try to frick them. Weird creature. He liked to dance to guitar music and breed his harem
Chickens with a rooster are good at managing pests. They like to clear insects and mess up rodents. Consequently, they're also likely to be aggressive with you. If you're going to dual purpose them I would say chickens for the eggs and meat. If you wanna do straight meat get rabbits, but call me a softie I never liked having to kill an butcher them. Haven't had a meat rabbit for thirty years now. Very productive though in terms of what kinda feed and time input they require. No experience with ducks.
I like cayuga ducks
Eggs are a good source of cholesterol, the building blocks of testosterone. Rabbit meat,while tasty, doesnt have enough fat to live on
Build a pigeon dovecot