[nitesit(+ an e)]

We have a couple dozen ducks which aren't for meat but are for the eggs. One of nature's perfect foods. They free range pasture land and have a 1/2-acre pond to swim in. Happy birds.

 

[nitesit(+ an e)]

.... how do you keep them there?

Keep them happy and fed and satisfied. Daily feeding to supplement their foraging. Coyotes occasionally get one but that is the circle of life.

When we kept them pasture raised but kept within a large fenced pasture, a coyote would occasionally dig under the fence and grab one, so there really isn't too much difference between fenced in and free ranging.

 

[nitesit(+ an e)]

Probably born from wild genealogy but they are not not wild, instead they are carefully raised from one-day old and nurtured so they are pretty much domesticated and they are very flock oriented so unlike chickens, our ducks are tight knit and they stay put when they have all they need.

 

[nitesit(+ an e)]

@klmmicro

We started out with ten Khaki Campbells hens and within one year we got twenty more which were ten Russian Blues and ten Buff hen ducklings. All of them were one day old when we got them. And all of them are female so no fertilized eggs to incubate. How the hell the breeder can tell at birth if they are male or female is astonishing to me.

We have lost a few to predation but they sure lay some of the most delicious eggs on the planet. Totally free range duck eggs are amazing. Ask French and Japanese master chefs.