Duck eggs can be purchased seasonally for $4 a half dozen.  Our ducks lay heavily between March and late summer, and sporadically in the fall.

Contact us if you would like to purchase some!

About our ducks:

We currently have 10 ducks living on our farm, but the number has varied a bit since we started due to sporadic racoon attacks.  We have raised pekins, khaki campbells, rouens, welsh harlequin mixes, swedish mixes, cayuga, and indian runners.  Click here to read about the various characteristics of each breed.  Our ducks are hormone and antibiotic free; they free range in the garden and creek, and we supplement with Purina Layena Plus Omega 3 poultry feed and cracked corn from Hilander Feed in downtown Georgetown.

Why raise ducks for eggs?

Click here to read about the nutritional value of Duck Eggs vs. Chicken Eggs!

We purchased our first ducks from a farm in Harrodsburg, KY, Glory Hills Duck Ranch.  I highly recommend visiting Glory Hills if you’re interested in raising ducks!  Unfortunately we were not prepared for the onslaught of raccoon encounters; you can read about our set up below.

The Pen:

Our duck pen is 24’x24’x9′ with bird netting over the top to protect the ducks from a variety of predators.  We used cut cedar trees as posts every 12′, cemented into the ground, with T posts in between for extra strength.  The fencing is 2×4″ welded wire.  The duck “run in” was build from cedar posts and reclaimed cedar fencing – don’t forget, ducks get HOT in the summer and need shade!  Ducks also need a lot of water, so the roof of the shelter collects rain water which drains into a 275 gallon IBC tote.  Since our farm is “off the grid,” we had to come up with a renewable water source.  If the rain doesn’t fill the tank fast enough, we use a pump to bring in creek water for their water buckets.  We have since abandoned the duck pond due to maintenance issues, and instead we let the ducks out to wander the creek every day (they always come back!)  This helps tremendously with their diet.  We also added a Great Pyrenees to the duck pen which has solved a lot of our predator issues.

Predators:

For assistance with poultry predators… here is some helpful info!

Some of the hard lessons we learned early on in the process is how difficult it can be to deal with predators – especially, raccoons.  Below you will see an eerie picture from our trail camera as well as the hole the coon got through after being unable to dig under… note that hole is maybe a 6″ opening, 7 FEET off the ground!  Coons are smart, have good eyes, dexterous hands, and can climb!! Be prepared to go extra lengths to protect your ducks.  I now understand the meaning of the phrase “sitting duck.”  Coons have also climbed trees behind the pen, jumped down to the netting, and chewed through.  So, we have cleared out many of the larger trees behind the pen.

Meet Patton, our Great Pyrenees pup aka Duck Guard. He is the ONLY thing that truly works with regard to keeping predators away. He came to live with us in fall 2017 after we re-homed him from another family. He has been a fantastic addition to our farm and LOVES Kentucky winters!