Livestock are an essential part of the homestead, providing milk, eggs, meat, fur, fiber, protection, labor, companionship, and just plain fun. Here at the homestead we currently have dogs, cats, llama, goats, rabbits, chickens, ducks, muscovies, & geese. (The guinea fowl are gone, and we are looking into turkeys and quail as the next likely additions, and I keep waffling on feeder pigs.)
We’ve divided these into pages for pets, herds, and flocks to make things simpler.
Click these links to visit the pages for
- our pets (dogs, cats)
- our herds (llama, goats, rabbits) (and opinion posts about sheep, cows, and pigs)
- our flocks (chicken, duck, Muscovy, geese, guinea fowl) (and opinions about turkeys, quail)
Just want to say your baby ducks in the picture on top of your page are so cute! We’re thinking of getting a baby duck for the kids for Easter – can you give any advice? Thank you!
Thanks! Sorry for the delay, I had hoped to post an answer for you yesterday, and then our internet was out due to storms. I’ll be adding a post about this, because it is a question that comes up often. I’ll send you a link when I get the post entered.
(Oh, and I almost forgot … those are actually baby geese, but they can look almost identical. If you check the nostrils … ducklings will have their nostrils high up on a flat bill, and goslings will be much lower on a usually more triangular-shaped bill.) I’ll get the posted as quickly as I can! 
I don’t know about geese, but my experience with ducks dferfis with your statement that [...] but ducks and geese only lay for a short time in the spring. With minimal shelter (a Salatin-style chicken tractor) my ducks layed from early spring until the cold became really intense in winter. And they layed like clockwork, every day, with very few exceptions, even when our fridge was over-flowing with eggs.These were Chinook Ancona ducks. The couple we bought our starting stock from had several individuals that would lay even in the coldest weeks of winter.My understanding is that this sort of laying ability is fairly common for most domestic ducks varieties that were selected for laying. (Pekins might be an exception.)
Hi Naome!
I’m getting a little lost in these comments that somehow migrated over from Facebook. I’m not sure if this one was even directed at me. I don’t see where I talked about ducks laying seasonally on my blog?
But just to set the record straight, my experience with GEESE is that they are generally seasonal layers. My flock has a LONG season … they start breeding behavior in January and I’ve had goslings hatch as late as July, but it’s just my young ones not getting down to business. I expect as they get older they will probably have a smaller window for reproduction. Some folks find that Chinese geese have a second breeding season in the summer, but mine never did. My geese now are heavier geese (mostly Emdens) and are not expected to have more than one laying season.
I do find muscovies and even mallard-derived ducks to concentrate heavily on reproduction (brooding, etc.) in the spring. However, they will do it throughout most of the year, at least here. And as far as just laying, all of my ducks lay year-round, exactly as you say. I generally provide ducks with fairly minimal shelter, more to keep them safe from predators than the weather, since the winters are mild here compared to those up north, and the ducks would just as soon be out in it most of the time. I don’t have experience with Pekins though, at least not yet. I am considering getting some to cross with the muscovy as that is supposed to produce one of the best meat ducks, but I have not decided yet. For now I have some Rouen/muscovy ducklings growing out. But Indian runner, Swedish, Roeun, Khaki Campbell, and muscovy have all laid year round for me as well.
Foie gras pronounced fwah grah has been eaxtled in some gourmet food circles as a prized delicacy but if most people knew how foie gras is produced they would be horrified. .Foie gras the French term for fatty liver is the product of extreme animal cruelty.
I know … I was shocked when I learned as well (at least if what I’ve heard is true).
I’ve never had foie gras, and it’s not really the kind of thing I would like. I learned the difference between farm geese and commercial geese though. Before I ever prepared a goose for table, I found one on sale at a local market and roasted it. I drew off a LOT of fat, and the meat was good. Not what I expected though – not at all like poultry. Then when I processed one of my own birds I’d grown for table, I found very, very little fat to draw off. I’m sure the commercial birds are probably kept in small cages and pumped full of feed. My birds get fed every day, but they also spend the bulk of the day foraging. They are a lot leaner than commercial geese.
Jan17 An investigation at Hudson Valley Foie Gras (www.hudsonvalleyfoiegras.com) in New York decvosired that duck mortality due to force-feeding was so common that workers who managed to kill fewer than 50 birds per month were given a bonus.
Hi Helen!
I wrote a post to answer your questions – you can find it at http://www.organic-homestead-heart.com/pet-ducklings/
I hope that helps – if you need any more information, please let me know and I’ll be more than happy to share whatever I know.
we love charlotte’s web the movie with datoka fanning i think was cute.saw your comment about the guinea pig they make great pets for kids they are friendly, and sweet. You can get them out and play with them, they love to snuggle. As for the potty issue while out it varies for each guinea pig some do some don’t so far Butterscotch has only gone potty 1 time and it wasn’t messy. my fault i knew it was coming just not fast enough to get back to the cage.
Hey, thank for leaving a cmmoent!I can’t recall the last time I had such a small group of gift recipients in mind. . . :^) Sounds rather delightful.I, too, buy most of my gifts from local crafters/independent shops. My usual is to go the last farmer’s market of the season and stockpile garlic, baking kits, syrups, and honeys -but I missed my opportunity this year so I feel more at a loss.
Useful ideas, thanks for sharing these in Fur & Feathers | | A Homestead HeartA Homestead Heart.