Out of all the animals you have ever raised, what was the easiest?

[Straw Hat Kikos]

Yeah you have both sides saying they are better, of course. lol I like both ducks and chickens but I do like chickens more and I only like ducks now if they are for meat. That's a long story.

 

[boykin2010]

i might have to change my answer and add geese, waterfowl are either dead or alive, they don't really get sick (unless its a production strain of pekin ducks) there easy to tame, a good duck produces more eggs in a year than a chicken, extremely entertaining just need some water deep enough to dunk there heads in and a little bit of food with no special supplements or anything and they come in such a variety

I find that hard to believe, sorry . While i will admit we dont have good layers THIS year (new flock) but we had our ducks, and they were horrid layers. They were campbells, if that makes a diff.

As for the geese - (dont take this offensively ^^, its purely a joke) Really? I want to see goose who you dont need to feed in 3 feet of snow ! Thats AWESOME!!

I have had Khakis that laid an egg every single day. Some ducks do lay better than chickens, and it's a bigger egg.

I agree. You cant beat my Pekins. Although I have never tried Khakis

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

Wow! Look at all the comments. A lot of bird comments. Maybe, just maybe, someday we will have a pond and I will investigate into the world of ducks. I went to a friends house this past weekend. She has some and they were a riot to watch if I do say so.

 

[greybeard]

Got rid of both my geese yesterday and don't regret it. Too much goose poop to deal with, they run the dog off his water and waddle around in it even tho they have both a big farm pond and a smaller garden pond to play in. (my wife had significant input on this decision as well) I think I'll just build duck boxes to place on the trees around the big pond and try to attract wild wood ducks instead of getting anymore domestic waterfowl.

 

[manybirds]

The easiest to raise? It would have to be geese. You don't need to do anything with them. If they have water then they will survive. You don't really need to get them shelters or give them feed. They love the rain, but if it gets to hard then they just go under something, like a tree or anything they can find. They don't need feed because they just eat grass. They are very easy. Just buy 'em and turn them out!!

i might have to change my answer and add geese, waterfowl are either dead or alive, they don't really get sick (unless its a production strain of pekin ducks) there easy to tame, a good duck produces more eggs in a year than a chicken, extremely entertaining just need some water deep enough to dunk there heads in and a little bit of food with no special supplements or anything and they come in such a variety

I find that hard to believe, sorry . While i will admit we dont have good layers THIS year (new flock) but we had our ducks, and they were horrid layers. They were campbells, if that makes a diff.

As for the geese - (dont take this offensively ^^, its purely a joke) Really? I want to see goose who you dont need to feed in 3 feet of snow ! Thats AWESOME!!

it is hard to believe for most people but true. the things with ducks vs chickens is with ducks u need the right breed/strain. a good strain of khaki's is known for good laying and taisty duckling meat. and lol it depends on where u live, up here in north WI we do feed our. one of the biggest things with waterfowl is proper housing. i here many people say they don't like there geese but those are the people with improper houseing. you must keep them contained if u don't want your yard to have goose poop or them to wander on the road you have to fence them in just like a goat or a horse or a cow or a duck or a chicken. thats what people don't understand they are animals and just like all other animals they need to be penned if you don't want them in your yard. we get hog pannels for fenceing and then lock them up at night in various forms of housing.food and water don't make to big of a mess (though it does make a mess) if you place it right, we put food/water on seperate sides of the pen and we place the water somewhre where it can run downward or run into the drive way wehre the gravel will help. also don't forget that flavorful meat and big eggs and the fat and wonderful down and entertainment and those wonderful sweet ones! ok now i'm done contaminating ur thread with boring facts! (my waterfowl our my babies so its hard not to defend them!)

 

[CochinBrahmaLover=)]

i might have to change my answer and add geese, waterfowl are either dead or alive, they don't really get sick (unless its a production strain of pekin ducks) there easy to tame, a good duck produces more eggs in a year than a chicken, extremely entertaining just need some water deep enough to dunk there heads in and a little bit of food with no special supplements or anything and they come in such a variety

I find that hard to believe, sorry . While i will admit we dont have good layers THIS year (new flock) but we had our ducks, and they were horrid layers. They were campbells, if that makes a diff.

As for the geese - (dont take this offensively ^^, its purely a joke) Really? I want to see goose who you dont need to feed in 3 feet of snow ! Thats AWESOME!!

it is hard to believe for most people but true. the things with ducks vs chickens is with ducks u need the right breed/strain. a good strain of khaki's is known for good laying and taisty duckling meat. and lol it depends on where u live, up here in north WI we do feed our. one of the biggest things with waterfowl is proper housing. i here many people say they don't like there geese but those are the people with improper houseing. you must keep them contained if u don't want your yard to have goose poop or them to wander on the road you have to fence them in just like a goat or a horse or a cow or a duck or a chicken. thats what people don't understand they are animals and just like all other animals they need to be penned if you don't want them in your yard. we get hog pannels for fenceing and then lock them up at night in various forms of housing.food and water don't make to big of a mess (though it does make a mess) if you place it right, we put food/water on seperate sides of the pen and we place the water somewhre where it can run downward or run into the drive way wehre the gravel will help. also don't forget that flavorful meat and big eggs and the fat and wonderful down and entertainment and those wonderful sweet ones! ok now i'm done contaminating ur thread with boring facts! (my waterfowl our my babies so its hard not to defend them!)

Cool to know. I loved my goose, but he was just a wee baby when the fox got him.

Lol, i know what you mean!

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

greybeard, that would be really cool if you could attract some wild life like that. No responsability in regards to anything, just offer them a place to hide. If you build them...they will come!

 

[EllieMay]

I have to say the "easiest" for me are my sheep - by far.
And, of course, I have hair sheep; so there is no shearing at all.
I just turn them out onto pasture and that's it.

I want to get a pig to run with the sheep eventually, so I'm hoping a tame pig would be easy to keep.

Chickens are easy, but more maintenance. You have to make sure feeders/waterers are filled and lock up the coop at night.
I use a deep-litter method in my coop, so there's no cleaning involved for me, but I still like to rake the litter on occasion.

I'd like to get ducks or geese, but am still learning about them and will need to figure out a way to keep them and their poop away from the house.


This is a great thread.
I'm actually reading it in order to find other "easy" animals to add to my farm!