Last week we picked up 50 laying ducks from the post office. All but one made it through two days of traveling safely, but in the first two days home, we lost 4 more.
You may ask why we need more ducks when we already have 100 out in the pasture laying eggs right now. Fifty of those birds just started laying this year, and the other 50 of them are about four years old and will be culled this fall. They are still laying eggs now, but at age four, they essentially quit laying eggs in the winter. Last winter, we tested out if it was true, and yes, it is. We fed 50 ducks for most of the fall and winter that provided us with very few eggs. Since they stop laying completely around the age of seven, it is not worth keeping them.
If anyone wants to come to cull the old birds and use them for something, they are yours! They don’t have a lot of meat on for eating, but they would make great bone broth. If we do not get any takers, they will just go in the trash. It is not worth our time to do it anymore because we have so much bone broth on our shelves. We would love to donate our supplies and knowledge to let someone else make some amazing product.
These new ducks will get moved outside in a few months, and be introduced to the new flock in about 5 months. They won’t start laying until around early September which is when the old birds will be culled.
If you still have not tried duck eggs, come by the ranch, and buy some off the porch. They are amazing.
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