Tag Archives: Pekin ducks

Ducks! Ducks! Ducks!

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Donald and Daisy enjoying the sun and water!
They love the water until the snapping turtles arrive and then they live in the mountain stream that feeds our ponds.
These young things joined the farm on the 7th of March from my brother who lives in Franklin County. He bought me two ducks and two drakes because he didn’t have the water he knew they would love. The two in the back are the hens.
They had never seen so much water!! The first day I kept them in the duck house and the second day we led them to the water feeding little piles of feed along the way. It didn’t take anytime for them to know where home was, where the feed was and more importantly where the water was. It’s so much fun watching them. In the evening before dusk hits we get a couple cups of corn in a plastic bucket and when it rattles they know it’s the last meal of the day before the shut away from predators of the night.
And their gift to me for having them on the farm are these beautiful eggs that go in our bread and other baked goods.
Good grooming after a dip in the pond!!
Strolling along like all good ducks do!!
Donald is still king of the flock and the young drakes know it!
And Sadie wonders why they don’t like to play with her. She and Donald have always been good wrestling buddies!!

Still Looking for Ducks

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Donald and Daisy are the only ducks I currently have.

I’ve had these two ducks for almost three years and Daisy has given me beautiful eggs almost the entire time. She currently is in winter hiatus, I believe. I’ve been looking for more Pekin ducks for over a year with no luck.

Daisy lays beautiful large white eggs and I use them in all of my baking when I have them.

If I don’t find 3-5 more by spring I will raise some and hopefully the majority of them will be ducks and not drakes.

One duck eggs is equal to two large chicken eggs or three medium chicken eggs.

So spring will find me bringing new ducks, chickens and turkeys to the farm. With all this poultry and the greenhouse, I should be a busy but very happy farm girl!!

Donald and Daisy

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Daisy and Donald are the only ducks on the farm at the moment.

Daisy has been laying one large egg for me since the spring of 2019. He took one 20 day break during the month of January 2020 and has been going strong ever since.

Her eggs are beautiful and twice the size of a large chicken egg.

A bowl full of duck eggs going into a pound cake. I just have to wait for one more to have the five I need for the moistest pound cake you ever put in your mouth!

Donald is becoming a little aggressive with the adult people on the floor by trying to lead the way when you’re trying to walk somewhere. He seems to hate shoes and pecks any near him. We thought he was being aggressive with Sadie but we now know they are quite chummy! He will come up to her face and lay his head against Sadie’s neck! They chase each other in and out of the pond and if Sadie is laying out in the sun napping Donald climbs up on her back, then the chase is on.

Sadie is tolerant of him I think because she has no one else to chase and play with it.

I’m in the process of looking for a couple more female ducks for him. I think Daisy wants to set but Donald keeps breaking up her nests.

So, the word is out, Rita is looking for three or four Daisy’s to add to the farm.

Donald is all puffed up trying to show everyone he is the master of his domain!
Resting by the pond

Addition To The Farm

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You would think that I have enough to do on the farm but alas NO!!  I have a friend that had a big flock of ducks and she had been giving me her duck eggs because they don’t eat them. They butchered most of their flock and asked me if I wanted the what was left over.

I got seven full-grown ducks from Nikki & Eddie Garey and I appreciate them so much.

I got two drakes and five hens and what a beautiful addition to our farm animals.  It only took one day for them to get use to their new owners and home.    They’re very easy to tend to, all I do is put out feed which is usually whole corn and maybe some leftover biscuits crumbled up for them.  They get water from the pond and in the winter I will keep a trough of warm water out for them to drink.  They don’t like being cooped up, so they’re free to range the farm as they wish!

I’m very lucky to have them because I love to bake with duck eggs and they are awesome when making French toast, cakes and pies.

I’ll be making lots of beautiful and mouth-watering pound cakes for hubby.

Last night I made two egg custard pies, my favorite! The duck eggs helped to fill the deep dish pie crust up to the rim!!  I am getting two eggs a day now and will be using the next ones for making my loaf bread and rolls.

From left to right, duck egg, white chicken egg and brown chicken eggs. Most all of my chicken eggs would be considered large if bought in a grocery store.

This is the last carton of beautiful duck eggs given to me and I stuck a brown chicken egg in the carton to show the difference in size.

These are American Pekin Ducks and the Pekin duck is a domesticated duck used primarily for egg and meat production. We will have them for their egg production and beauty on our pond.

They love the pond and love grazing the lawn around the pond and through the garden searching for night crawlers (WORMS). It’s very entertaining watching them playing in the water and noodling around the pond edge searching for food.

They’re resting now after a good swim and cleaning. I think they’re one of the best birds at cleaning and oiling themselves, especially after a run through the garden. They come out with their breasts brown and yucky and just a few minutes in the pond and they’re snow-white!