Ducks & Chickens

Our farm is wet and muddy about half the year but we've found a way to work with that. We raise ducks in the wet season and chickens in the dry season.

After watching our chickens trying to work their way around the pasture without getting their feet wet for 2 years, the ducks are a refreshing change. These waddling waterfowl absolutely relish muddy puddles and camp outside in all but the worst weather even though they have a warm, dry barn available to them any time they want. Watching them joyfully playing in the puddles and in their paddling pool really drives home the importance of providing an environment for farm animals that allows them to express their unique physiological needs. It is very difficult to meet these needs if your animals never get to go outside. Pigs need to root and wallow in mud, and ducks need to play in water. Joel Salatin would call it the "duckness of the duck." Chickens need to scratch. It is very difficult to scratch in the mud so they do best in the summer when the pasture is dry.

We start our ducklings and chicks in a large shipping container we have converted to a brooder. They need to be kept very warm, particularly in the first 2 weeks. They eat unmedicated/animal byproduct free, high protein, starter for the first two weeks to ensure that they are getting enough protein during this critical growth phase. As soon as weather/temperature permits, we open up the brooder to allow them to start adventuring outdoors but we keep the brooder heated so they can can come and go, warming up as they please.

At 2 weeks we switch to a grower feed (unmedicated with no animal byproducts) and introduce spent brewery grains which is a byproduct of the brewing process. It contains non-GMO, local Canadian wheat & barley and is a good source of nutrients for our birds. This allows us to greatly reduce the amount of commercial feed required. They also start eating fresh fruits & vegetables, most of which is fair trade & organic. We pick the brew mash up from local micro-breweries & the produce comes from a local wholesale organics distributor and our neighbourhood grocery store just up the road. Happily, we have found that from this point on, we are able to raise the birds entirely on this diet. Being able to raise animals primarily on "brew mash" and fresh produce is a game changer for sustainable meat production and results in much better tasting meat.

At 3-4 weeks, the birds are off the heat & ready to move out to the "big kid" pasture where they spend their days playing in the puddles (ducks), scratching the ground for bugs & worms (chickens) and feasting on brew mash & produce. They love greens so we try to give them a lot of lettuce, cabbage & kale.

After 3-4 weeks on the beach the ducks are 90% of their full grown size and we've converted a TON of what would have other been food waste into 7 pound ducks. It is important to process ducks between 7-8 weeks because after 8 weeks they grow some feathers that are really difficult to remove. Chickens take longer and are processed around 12 weeks.

Duck meat is a red meat so if you're expecting it to taste like chicken you will be surprised. It is rich and incredibly flavourful. I'm happy to report that our duck is frequently reported by hobby & professional chefs to be the best they have ever tasted and our butchers say they are the nicest ducks they have ever worked with. I would attribute the quality to their diet but chefs tell me that animals that are raised well consistently taste better so in addition to raising happier farm animals, we seem to be producing better meat.

Visit Jeremy & Adrian's blog to learn more about the spectacular looking dish in the photograph.