I’ve added some new questions to the Q&A page.  Mostly sugar related but there is a new one on Indian Runner Ducks.

Are all indian runner ducks the same color when they are babys?

Is raw sugar as bad as white sugar?

Is raw sugar low glycemic?

If you have a simple living question, the answer to a question, question the answer or have additional information to add just type it into the comment box.

Curious about something? These are actual questions I get through comments and site searches. Some can be pretty strange. If you have a question or an answer just send it through the comment section of the Questions and Answers for Simple Living page or any post page.

Critter Queries

Q. How old are chickens when they go broody?

Q. Can I keep chickens in the garden?

Q. How long should my runner duck sit on her eggs?

Q. How old are Indian Runner ducks when they lay eggs?

Home and Health

Q. Can i put straight apple cider vinegar (ACV) in my ear?

Q. Can I leave ACV in my hair?

Q. Do the voices in my head bother you?

Learn and help us and others learn about homesteading, farming, gardening, critters and living the simple life. Post your question or answer today.

I know what you’re thinking, “Oh no, not another post about ducks!” I’m sorry this is what I wanted to write about today. It’s better than not writing at all! So, if your thinking of getting some ducks, here’s a few things that come to mind about their care.

Ducks are quite easy to care for and keep healthy. They are naturally disease resistant. Much more so than chickens. They need security from predators at all times as they have no effective defenses of their own. Predators may include raccoons, foxes, and hawks, dogs and cats.

Ducklings have no natural oils and when incubated they don’t have any oil from the mother duck so their feathers can become water logged. For ducklings water for swimming should be very shallow and easy to get out of. Full sized adolescent ducks have died from exposure because they couldn’t get out of a kiddie pool. I am using a lid from a large plastic tote. If you tilt it a little it even has a deep end and a shallow end.

A small group of adult ducks would only need a mortar mixing pan or kiddie pool to have enough to swim in and keep their feathers clean. A pond is not necessary. They need water deep enough to rinse their entire head to keep their eyes and nostrils clear .

In addition, they need room to forage and exercise. They need plenty of areas to look for bugs as well as to eat the grass itself. Access to shade is a must year-round. And they need a dry place to sleep at night that is predator proof and protected from wind, but not too air-tight.

Runner ducks love the cold but must be able to get out of the wet when needed. They should have plenty of clean dry straw to nest on and lay their eggs. The straw helps to keep the eggs clean. Ducks tend to keep their mess around their water. So if you keep their water a distance from their nest it will be easier to keep it clean.  They always always need water with their food.

I feed ducklings a home mix of starter feed. I also supplement their diet with milk, yogurt, scrambled eggs, veggies, chicken scratch, oatmeal and other goodies.
Home Mix Starter Feed
Corn Meal
Bone Meal
Chopped Alfalfa
Kelp Powder
Wheat Germ
Wheat Bran

They are free range so they forage all day for grubs, worms and insects.

Ducks should not be fed medicated chicken food (their livers do not process it as well as chickens). In my opinion chickens should not be fed medicated food either.

The long awaited day has come! Yesterday, the duck eggs started hatching. By bedtime we had 4 ducklings. There was one more when I went down to check them this morning. I’ll give the remaining 2 eggs until Sunday to see if they hatch.

Red looked up at me like, “Are these really mine? No wonder it took so long. Man, I’ve been sitting on these eggs for 28 days!” That’s a long time to sit in one spot with only periodic leg stretches and bathroom breaks.
The ducklings look very healthy. They are sticking close to Mama Red and the nest. I have given them fresh water and a home mix of starter feed. In the days to come I’ll be supplementing their diet with milk, yogurt, scrambled eggs, grubs, worms, insects and some other goodies.
Home Mix Starter Feed
Corn Meal
Bone Meal
Chopped Alfalfa
Kelp Powder
Wheat Germ
Wheat Bran

The eggs came from the mating pair of Indian Runners we got from Pat. She told me that they had the genes for producing offspring of all colors.

I apologize for the poor photos. If you click on them you’ll get a better view. I hope to post some better ones this weekend. They’re so cute!

Meet Bonnie and Clyde from Swanannoa. A mating pair of Indian Runner Ducks that are the latest additions to River Rest.

Ducks in general are excellent foragers. Known as insect, snail and slug exterminators. Runners lay more eggs per year than chickens. Duck eggs are also about 25% larger that chicken eggs. They are great for baking and taste pretty darn good too. Runners are also meat birds making them dual purpose.

Runners have a very unique appearance. They have been described as a wine bottle with a head and legs. They also have a more smooth running gait rather than waddle.

We  picked up Bonnie and Clyde last Saturday. We enjoyed meeting Pat and her son Darius(who actually named them). They have quite a menagerie including; ducks, chickens, goats, miniature donkeys, dogs, cats and a pair Capybara. Each one was a rescue animal. I could tell that they both have a good heart and are very good to their animals.

Along with the pair of ducks we came home with 9 fertile duck eggs. One of our hens, Red, went broody again. She just successfully raised a clutch of chicks. Since we no longer have a rooster we thought, hey let’s sit her on some duck eggs. I’ve read where a chicken hen will raise duckings so we decided to give her a chance. We gave her 7 eggs (kept 2 for breakfast). Duck eggs take about 28 days to incubate (chicken eggs take 20-21 days) so Red has about 21 days to go.

It’s going to be interesting to watch a chicken raise a flock of ducklings. Charley mused the other day about how Red might freak out the first time she takes them to the creek for a drink and the ducklings jump into the water!

You may ask, why we didn’t let Bonnie have the eggs. Well as far as I can tell she is not feeling broody. If she wants to take over raising them after they hatch then that’s between her and Red. Right now her job is to provide us with eggs for our table. It’s Clyde’s job to make them fertile so we can raise more Runners. They are very loving to each other and seem to like having the chickens around. They are very shy around us and it’s been hard to get good photos of them. I’m hoping that they will eventually warm up to us.