Keeping ducks in your backyard is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have, but finding the right shelter for them makes all the difference. After spending months researching and comparing the best duck coops and houses for backyard ducks, I put together this guide to help you avoid the costly mistakes I see … Read more
Wet bedding in a duck coop is one of the most frustrating problems I have faced as a backyard poultry keeper. Ducks love to splash, dunk, and play in water, and the moment you set down an open bowl or a standard chicken waterer, that clean straw turns into a swamp within hours. I have … Read more
If you have ever watched a flock of ducks at feeding time, you know the scene. Feed gets flung everywhere, water bowls get tipped over in seconds, and the bedding turns into a soggy swamp within minutes. Our team has been raising ducks for years, and we have tested more feeders and waterers than we … Read more
I watched my first batch of Pekin ducklings wobble around the brooder and never gave a second thought to what was in their feed. Three weeks later, two of them were walking on their hocks with legs bowing outward. That was my introduction to niacin deficiency, and it’s why I’m obsessed with finding the right … Read more
Last spring, my Khaki Campbell hens went from laying 4 eggs a week to barely 1. The cause wasn’t disease or stress; it was nutrition. I had been feeding them generic chicken scratch because duck-specific feed was hard to find at my local co-op. Once I switched to a proper layer feed for ducks, egg … Read more
Last summer, I watched a duckling paddle frantically around my friend’s stock tank for almost an hour before she finally lifted it out by hand. The poor thing kept trying to scale the slick metal sides with its tiny feet and slipping back into the water. That single afternoon convinced me that duck ramps for … Read more
Goats are notorious for being picky about what they eat, but they are surprisingly good at self-regulating their mineral intake when given the chance. I learned this the hard way after losing a doe to copper deficiency that could have been prevented with the right setup. After that experience, I went deep on free choice … Read more
I have kept ducks for the better part of a decade, and I can tell you one thing from experience: ducks are not chickens. They are messier, heavier, and far more curious about whether an automatic door will actually eat them. When I started researching the best automatic doors for duck houses, I was surprised … Read more
Duck eggs are not chicken eggs. They run 28 days instead of 21, demand higher humidity through lockdown, and the shells are thicker and harder to lose moisture from. After our team watched three clutches die in a cheap still-air unit, we spent the next 90 days running eight different waterfowl incubators through real hatch … Read more
Goats can turn a perfectly good flake of hay into bedding before you turn around. The best hay feeders for goats to reduce waste control that natural tendency by keeping hay contained, clean, and slightly harder to pull out. I compared eight practical designs for , including hanging racks, multi-sided racks, slow-feed nets, and a … Read more