Ducks

Will you save money by producing backyard eggs from your own poultry?

Posted on January 26, 2023
Will you save money by producing backyard eggs from your own poultry? thumbnail

Let’s cut right to the chase: No, you won’t save money by producing your own eggs from backyard poultry. It’s important that intending poultry owners understand this BEFORE they decide to move forward with getting poultry or they’re likely to have unrealistic expectations and/or end up abandoning or neglecting their animals once this realization becomes apparent. 

You can stop reading right here if you just want a high level takeaway. However, we’d encourage you to continue reading if you’re the type of person who also wants to know the WHY behind an answer… 

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    Gardening

    Tips for choosing the best raised beds for your garden

    Posted on January 23, 2023
    Tips for choosing the best raised beds for your garden thumbnail

    Feeling overwhelmed by the thousands of raised garden bed options? Need help figuring out which type of garden beds are best for you? The tips in this article will help!

    Choosing the right gardening approaches, methods, and materials for your needs 

    We’ve grown food plants in our Zone 7b garden every way imaginable for well over a decade: in-ground beds, pots, SIPs, raised beds, etc. Each method or approach has useful applications and use cases. 

    For instance, we grow organic citrus in large plastic pots rather than in-ground. Why? 

    Some of our potted citrus trees.

    Yum! Some of our potted citrus trees.

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      Ducks

      How to raise ducklings: a step-by-step guide

      Posted on January 16, 2023
      How to raise ducklings: a step-by-step guide thumbnail

      Quick introduction to our guide on how to raise ducklings

      Our step-by-step How to Raise Ducklings Guide is intended to provide you with all the information you need to know to raise happy, healthy ducklings from hatch day to adulthood. This article is directed towards backyard duck owners and homesteaders with small flocks, not farmers who raise ducklings by the hundreds or thousands.

      Also, please note that if you plan to get Easter ducklings as a gift for children who will soon lose interest in the ducks or not take adequate care of them, please do NOT get ducklings, for reasons we’ve written about here.

      Raising ducklings is a lot of responsibility. Failure to properly plan for and care for ducklings will end up in sick, dead, or abandoned ducks. However, if you plan to be responsible and dedicated duck parents, thank you and please read on!

      Warning: There will be many duckling photos throughout this article. If you're allergic to cuteness, please stop reading and consult your physician.

      Warning: There will be many duckling photos throughout this article. If you’re allergic to cuteness, you might be in trouble!

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      56 Comments

      • Reply
        Taylor
        April 29, 2024 at 1:22 pm

        Hi, I am a bit confused about the difference between brewers yeast and nutritional yeast. As I understand it, they are different products with different nutritional profiles, but are they being used interchangeably on this webpage? It’s the last thing we have get source before our ducklings arrive, so just want to double-check that we get it right 🙂

        • Reply
          Aaron von Frank
          April 30, 2024 at 6:28 am

          Hi Taylor! What you want to get is nutritional yeast, which is a bit different than brewer’s yeast. Quoting from the article: “To supplement, we typically add 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast per cup of crumble or 100mg B-Complex. (You can also add the same amount per gallon of drinking water instead of to their food.)

          You can order either form of Niacin via Amazon: nutritional yeast or as B-Complex vitamin capsules. (Make sure you don’t get timed-release or flush-free B-vitamins — neither of those are Niacin!)”

          The above links will take you to the exact products we use and recommend from Amazon. Hope this helps and good luck with your ducklings!

          • Reply
            Taylor
            May 1, 2024 at 4:37 pm

            Thanks so much Aaron! You’r website has been invaluable as we’ve found our way to becoming duck owners, so thank you for taking the time to put all this information out there!

      • Reply
        Debbie Fleischer
        May 15, 2023 at 12:12 am

        Hi Aaron, Another question. Buttercup is starting to brood. Today she made a nest and was squawking when I opened the duck house door. She is just starting and I don’t want the chickens getting her eggs when she’s off the nest. They’ve always all lived in one pen, but the chickens have their own coop. Would it be better to close the gates between the pens or just put a dog enclosure around the duck house. Buttercup and Cocoa[male] free range together during the afternoons. I don’t want the eggs eaten. They were free ranging all day today, but she’s back on the nest tonight. I want to do the best for her. Last year was horrible trying to break her brooding. Any ideas would be appreciated.
        Thanks,
        Debbie

        • Reply
          Aaron von Frank
          May 16, 2023 at 6:57 am

          Hi Debbie! So the question boils down to: “Would it be better to close the gates between the pens or just put a dog enclosure around the duck house.” Unfortunately, this is not something I’m comfortable answering because I’m not intimately familiar with your exact setup or your poultry. If your drake is going to stay close to Buttercup, you might want to provide the most room possible. If your chickens are going to freak out because they’re shut off from a normal foraging area, then less space for Buttercup may be optimal. You know your flock dynamics and setup far better than anyone else, so this is a judgment call for you to make – and you can also modify things if they don’t initially go as planned. Best of luck to you all – and to your future ducklings. 🙂

      • Reply
        tonni
        May 5, 2023 at 11:41 pm

        We have found 11 baby ducklings that I keep in my bathroom at night and for naps, because I live in a condo community, and this is where momma laid her eggs. (Long story)
        These are wild Mallards I think, we are in Arizona, so mom duck found the community pool and some grass so here they are.
        We have a baby pool for them each day, feed them 4 times/day mostly duck food/grain and greens.
        A lake is nearby, but without mom I cannot take them there yet.
        What should I expect for their growth and development for the next 2 weeks (they are almost 2 weeks old now.
        And one is very small and kind of weak, not eating as much as she should. Help!!
        We have called and talked to all kinds of supposed recue and rehab groups and no one will take them.
        I read a lot of your commentary above, but I am still struggling with what to do with them and when.

        • Reply
          Aaron von Frank
          May 8, 2023 at 10:23 am

          Thanks for your concern regarding the wild Mallard ducklings you found. They’ll grow incredibly fast, as we detail in the article. They’ll be close to full size by 6 weeks old. They should be able to fly pretty well by 8 weeks. As for the small, weak duckling: sometimes there’s just going to be an animal that fails to thrive. In the wild, those animals typically don’t make it very long. (About 60% of wild Mallard ducklings die within 30 days of hatching, mostly due to predation.) Since you’re providing a safe place and good food, it might make it through and grow to normal size.

          Hopefully, you’re able to provide waterfowl-specific duckling feed. Supplemental niacin is especially important for normal duckling development, as we detail in the article – niacin is going to be especially critical if you don’t have a feed formulated for ducklings since chick feed doesn’t contain niacin at levels that ducklings need.

          Another tricky situation you’ve got to deal with is that you want the ducklings to eventually be wild ducks not domestics, but you have to care for them in the meantime. Momma duck would take them to the pond and show them what to do and eat, helping to develop their survival instincts in preparation for independence. If your ducklings are strongly imprinted on you and will stay close, you could potentially introduce them to the pond as well, but gathering them back up and transporting them to and from the pond might be quite a challenge – especially as they get to the 4-6 week range. Currently, if they’re not outside much, they’ll also need some supplemental grit/tiny rocks so they can digest their food properly.

          The bad news is that your ducklings are going to require a lot of care and you’ll have to make a lot of judgment calls about when and how to introduce them to the wild. The good news is that wild Mallard ducklings typically separate from their mothers and go fully independent around weeks 7-8, so there is light at the end of a relatively short tunnel for you.

          Hopefully, this response addresses your primary questions and concerns. If we can be of help moving forward, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Best of luck!

      • Reply
        Daryenne
        March 4, 2023 at 11:05 am

        If I am asking a question that has already been answered above or any other blog post, I do apologize. I am wondering at what point did you begin feeding your ducklings the variety of mixed veggies? Did you start right off the bat, or at a particular week post hathching?

        • Reply
          Aaron von Frank
          March 5, 2023 at 9:45 pm

          You can start feeding your ducklings veggies from Day 1, which is what we did. Obviously, the veggies will need to be cut into small pieces. Also, ducklings and ducks can be surprisingly picky. Favorite veggies for our ducklings is always mild-flavored leafy greens like lettuce, kale, chickweed, etc (they don’t like spicy greens like arugula or mustard). They also LOVE diced tomatoes.

      • Reply
        Debbie Fleischer
        January 18, 2023 at 12:26 am

        Hi, for those people who can’t find brewers yeast, a good place to buy it is Josh’s frogs.com . They have large bags which are more economical. I have bought from them for a couple years. Since my ducks and chickens eat together I just add it to everyone’s food. I just sprinkle a little on top.
        I sure wish I’d found your site before my ducklings were grown. Quite an experience. Now I just go to your site for any duck questions. This year we’ve had a lot of snow. When I’ve been able to let them out, they don’t quite know what to do. They finally figured out that they could walk on top of it. They have built in snowshoes. Poor chickens fall in. I hope my Buttercup can raise babies this year. Will definitely protect her nest from the chickens. Don’t think I want to raise ducklings myself. Lots of work. When you say messy, that’s an understatement. I used to change their bedding and clean their box 2-3 times a day. Everything would be soaked with water, food and poo. Was so glad when they could go outside to the pen. Now they’re way easier than the chickens.

        • Reply
          Aaron von Frank
          January 18, 2023 at 4:08 pm

          Ha, thanks Debbie! Yes, flippers do double as effective snow shoes. Our ducks aren’t huge fans of the snow either – although they do love it when it turns to the mucky, slushy stage. Fingers crossed for you, Buttercup the duck, and her potential ducklings.

      • Reply
        Susan Weaver
        May 6, 2022 at 8:26 am

        I have 3 ancona ducklings that are about 4-5 weeks old. They are doing great and I have really enjoyed the information that you post. My question is more about their housing. I live in town so I don’t have a lot of property but do have a large, fenced in back yard. In addition to that, I have a 13’x10′ enclosed area inside with a small house for them to be confined in when the are not free in my main backyard area. I am trying to decide what to use inside their enclosed house are and run. I doubt the grass their will last long and didn’t know if I should but something like pine shaving or straw over the whole area and use the deep litter method throughout the entire run or if perhaps a gravel base would be better. The other tricky issue is that if we have several days of heavy rain my whole back yard gets a little swampy. It doesn’t last long but I feel like that could be an issue to consider. Any suggestions you have would be great.

        • Reply
          Aaron von Frank
          May 7, 2022 at 2:31 pm

          Hi Susan! Nope, that grass won’t last long in a duck run so there’s no point in trying to keep it alive. There are a few different options you could use to cover the area, two of which you’ve already mentioned: pine shavings or straw. Either would work fine, as would aspen shavings or hemp (although those are more expensive). We prefer pine shavings to straw since pine shavings aren’t likely to have pesticide residues in them. Pine shavings don’t break down as quickly as straw, which is either a benefit or a detriment depending on how you look at it.

          A gravel base under your duck run could be problematic from the standpoint of foot pad damage/bumblefoot. Also, since rocks aren’t absorbent, that setup wouldn’t lessen your moisture problem and would also allow the duck excreta (fancy word for poop) to wash right through and cause more pollution vs being locked up and composted in carbon-heavy media like straw or wood shavings. If you do use a deep litter method, the area will also soon be above ground level since you’ll continuously add more material on top every day. That will help prevent your ducks from living in a mud pit, although they can certainly handle moist conditions better than chickens since they’re waterfowl.

          Hope this info answers your questions and helps you design a good setup for your ducks in your space. Feel free to ask more questions as you get going!

      • Reply
        Reid
        September 20, 2021 at 8:50 am

        My daughter and I have been raising 6 Ancona ducklings who are now almost 3 weeks old. We are new to this and your articles have been invaluable to us! Currently, the ducklings seem to be thriving, but I am still a bit unsure regarding the protein in their feed as they reach 3 weeks. Our plan was to mix in 20% oats with their organic starter crumble until about 8 weeks when they are ready for Mazuri Maintenance Feed. The issue is considering oats seem to have about 11% protein, it would have to be mixed with any starter crumble at an almost 1:1 ratio to achieve the target of 15-16% protein. Is your suggestion to just add the 20% oats even if this will only very slightly bring down the protein? It seems so hard to find a consensus out there on this and we are struggling with what to do.

        Thank You!

        • Reply
          Aaron von Frank
          September 21, 2021 at 12:59 pm

          Hi Reid! Sorry for any confusion. The reason there isn’t 100% consensus on this question is there isn’t a single 100% right protein % target for young ducklings in the 2-8 week stage. It’s going to depend on what you’re trying to do… For instance, if you’re raising ducks for meat production, higher protein levels are fine because you’re trying to maximize growth rates. However, for pet ducks or backyard ducks where the goal is often the healthiest birds possible, it is definitely a good idea to lower the protein ratios by supplementing in organic oats, thereby moderating duckling growth rates and decreasing the risk of physical deformities and other health complications as they develop.

          Not to muddy the waters too much, but not all protein is created equally as far as bioavailability is concerned. Animal protein (such as fish meal which is often used in waterfowl feed) is much more bioavailable than plant-based proteins (such as protein found in oats).

          In our experience, ramping up to a 20% whole organic oat ratio (which you can pulverize in a blender before adding to crumble) in your chick starter crumble will lower the bioavailable protein content of their overall food enough to slow growth rates and prevent health problems. You could also go higher if you want. As per Dave Holderread in Storey’s Guide to Raising Ducks [Page 251] if you have a starter feed with over 16% protein:

          “Begin by adding 5 percent oats by volume (either meal, rolled, whole, or pelleted) the first week and an additional 5 percent each week until the birds are receiving three parts starter/grower and one part oats.”

          Last two points we want to make sure are crystal clear:
          1) If using chick feed, be sure to add supplemental niacin in to either the ducklings’ food or water, as recommended in the article. Either 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast or 100mg B-Complex per cup of crumble or per gallon of water. 

          2) Ducklings and ducks don’t do well with powder dry crumble, so add some water when mixing the food prior to serving it. You want it to have moisture levels high enough that you can just form the crumble into a ball that sticks together in your hands when squeezed.

          Hope this info helps and thanks for taking such great care of your ducklings! Reach out any time we can be of help.

      • Reply
        Lily
        August 26, 2021 at 6:08 am

        Hi, I’ve recently got my first ducklings to raise- I already have adult runner ducks and have raised lots of chicks. I’m just wondering what age is appropriate for them to start eating treats as they are only a few days old and I have tried them with some mashed up peas and they loved them and I know they’re healthy for them due to the niacin content but then read somewhere that they have to be 4 weeks for treats? Can they eat all different fruit and veg from this young age as long as it’s mashed to cut into appropriate pieces? Thank you, you’re page has been very informative for me 🙂

        • Reply
          Aaron von Frank
          August 26, 2021 at 2:07 pm

          As long as:
          1) the treats are just treats and not a significant percentage of their overall diet, and
          2) the treats are bite-sized pieces of fruits, veggies, insects, worms, etc and not processed duck “junk food”,
          then you can start giving them treats from Day 1.

          If your ducks are like ours, they’ll be quite particular even from a young age about what treats they do and don’t like. Here’s a list of our flock’s favorites (that seems to line up with most other duck parents’ experiences as well): https://www.tyrantfarms.com/top-10-garden-plants-for-chickens-ducks/

          Hope this helps!

      • Reply
        Chloe
        July 15, 2021 at 1:44 pm

        I really want to get some Saxony chicks, but I have some questions.
        1. Can I use old towels and shirts as bedding for the coop? That would be a lot easier for me to just wash then put back.
        2. Can I leave my ducks at home while I am at work? If so how old do they have to be to be left alone? I plan on getting a large cage type thing as well as a coop so they would have plenty of space to run around whilst I am gone.

        • Reply
          Aaron von Frank
          July 16, 2021 at 1:19 pm

          Hi Chloe!
          1. Yes, you *could* use old towels and shirts as bedding. However, you’ll probably regret that decision pretty quickly because your ducklings will make them quite disgusting in a hurry. You’ll be washing the cloth materials constantly and it might not be a great idea to wash your own clothes, towels, etc in the same washing machine where you’re also washing used duck bedding. Fine wood shavings (or something similar) help mask the smell and allow you to top up/cover duckling poo spots more easily. You also don’t have to change out the shavings daily – you can get by for a few days with top-ups.

          2. Yes, you can leave your ducklings at home so long as there’s no way for them to kill themselves or be killed by something else in your absence. That means no large open bowls of water where they could potentially drown, a spot for them to stay warm or cool off as-needed, no way for any pet cats or dogs to get to them, etc.

          Hope this helps and please let us know if you have any additional questions about how to raise ducklings that we haven’t covered in this article!

      • Reply
        Cathy
        July 4, 2021 at 6:17 pm

        Hi so I’ve got a 5 week old duckling whom we let out too early with the other free roaming chickens and ducks and he was attacked by a cockral .
        He’s pecked his head and his eyes the poor thing, so I’ve used saline on his eyes and coconut oil on his wounds after antiseptic. Now because he can’t see well I’ve been hand feeding him , he was on chick crumb and I didn’t know about the nutritional yeast so I will add that and also some oats and make it into a porridge and hold it to his beak . Do you have any other advice ?
        I’ve just started working on this small farm and the guy who owns the ducks is well not a great duck dad so I’ve taken this one under my wing bless him .

      • Reply
        Miglshi Giruakonda
        June 10, 2021 at 9:09 am

        very educational and inspiring for me as I have an interest to get into duck farming.

        • Reply
          Aaron von Frank
          June 10, 2021 at 12:10 pm

          Thanks Miglshi! Glad our article on raising ducklings was helpful for you.

      • Reply
        Melissa Brodhead
        May 15, 2021 at 3:24 pm

        Hi, I was wondering if you knew why it says on the back of the chick grit packages to only give it to ducklings if they are at least 2 weeks old. I read on your page and in the book you recommended, Storey’s Guide to raising ducks that it is okay to give it to ducklings when they are just a couple days old….

        Right now I am feeding my ducklings chick grit (Dumour chick grit w/probiotics) and I just want to make double sure that it’s okay. I am feeding my ducklings little bits of parsley, lettuce, and some rolled oats in addition to their starter/crumble.

        • Reply
          Melissa Brodhead
          May 15, 2021 at 3:33 pm

          Just to clarify, the reason I am starting rolled oats this early, is because Dave Holderread from Storey’s Guide to Raising Ducklings said he sprinkles a little bit on the top of their food starting on day 3. (I think the reason is to gradually get the ducklings used to rolled oats in their food so that by the time they are 3 weeks old, they won’t reject their food when it has 20% rolled oats mixed in.)

          • Reply
            Aaron von Frank
            May 16, 2021 at 7:39 am

            Hi Melissa! A lot of times, people just feed their ducklings the crumble feed with no extra treats. Nothing wrong with that. However, crumble feed is made to be very easily digestible by ducklings’ digestive systems so they don’t technically need grit (which helps them grind chunkier/harder food in their gizzards/ventriculus) to digest crumble. We like to give our ducklings treats and let them start foraging outside immediately so we allow them access to grit (we do NOT mix it with their food) so they can get grit as-needed to aid in digestion. When we let them out to forage, it’s usually in grassy areas or mulched garden beds where they can’t easily access grit from the soil. Since you’re providing treats and oats, it also makes sense to provide a small separate bowl of grit for your ducklings. Again, do not mix it in to their food since they’d eat more grit than they need.

            Here’s an article that goes deeper in-depth about how a duck’s digestive system works if you’re interested:
            https://www.tyrantfarms.com/duck-teeth-digestive-system/.

        • Reply
          Mia
          February 21, 2023 at 6:48 pm

          My guess would be because ducklings need more niacin in the begining and about 4 percent more protienn then chicks.

      • Reply
        Jennifer Miller
        April 14, 2021 at 5:39 pm

        Thank you for a very informative article. Before I ask my question let me describe my situation. We got our annual chicks last Friday Apr 9. Saturday my dad had ducklings that he didn’t want to mess with so we brought them home Monday and keep them with the chicks. Right now they have heat water and chick starter. I now know to add niacin so my question is can I use flush free niacin? Each capsule is 400 mg so what do you suggest I do about the dosage? I realize in 3 weeks we’re going to have to set the ducks up in a different brooder. Also, you’re right they are MESSY little buggers! Thanks for reading.

        • Reply
          Aaron von Frank
          April 15, 2021 at 9:31 am

          Hi Jennifer! First, good luck with your ducklings and chicks! Yours is a fairly common question which we directly address in the article, so I’ll just copy and paste below for clarity. No, you don’t want to use flush-free B vitamins.

          “To supplement, we typically add 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast per cup of crumble or 100mg B-Complex. (You can also add the same amount per gallon of drinking water instead of to their food.)

          You can order either form of Niacin via Amazon: nutritional yeast or as B-Complex vitamin capsules. (Make sure you don’t get timed-release or flush-free B-vitamins — neither of those are Niacin!)”

          You may also be able to find nutritional yeast at your local grocery store since it’s a commonly used cheese-alternative for humans.

      • Reply
        Melissa
        March 12, 2021 at 2:15 pm

        Have you tried Mazuri Waterfowl Starter feed? Is Mazuri a good brand for ducklings? I’m going to be getting ducklings in May and want to make sure that I have the right type of feed. The protein is 20%. I plan on supplementing the feed with oats at week 3. Will the ducks eat the oats if it’s not mixed in with a crumble type of feed? The Mazuri waterfowl starter feed is a pellet type of feed. I’m worried the ducklings will pick out the pellets and leave the oats. Any advice? I tried to order the McGeary Organics Feed you recommended but they were going to charge over $100 for shipping and that is just too much money in my opinion.

        • Reply
          Aaron von Frank
          March 13, 2021 at 10:33 am

          Hi Melissa! Yikes, that is expensive shipping. If you have a Feed & Seed type store near you, they may be able to order McGeary Organics Duckling Feed and help you avoid those shipping costs. Answers to your questions:

          1) Yes, Mazuri makes an excellent waterfowl feed, whether that’s starter, layer, or maintainer. However, they’re more for large-scale operations/farms, not necessarily the small backyard/pet duck parent. The difference between those two paradigms is significant. Commercial operations aim for fast growth rates and high egg production (if a duck gets sick/injured/old, it gets culled). Our primary focus is optimal health and longevity for our ducks, which means we’re aiming for more natural growth rates during ducklinghood and lower egg production at maturity (if one of our ducks gets sick/injured we incur vet bills).

          2) With the above information in mind, if you get Mazuri Waterfowl Starter feed for your ducklings, you will want to lower that protein down at Week 3 using oats. Nope, your ducklings probably won’t eat it in the proper ratio if it’s in a separate container or mixed in with the kibble. What you can do instead is blend the pellets and the oats together. When you serve it, you’ll then probably want to add water so it’s more of an oatmeal type consistency otherwise the powdery consistency can cause some choking and coughing.

          3) Ok, now with point #1 and #2 in mind, here’s something else that *could* go wrong: If you switch food types (from kibble to crumble or vice versa), your ducklings — or some of your ducklings — might reject their food. So, if you plan to go this route, you’ll probably want to blend and serve it at oatmeal consistency from Day 1 (without the oats for first two weeks).

          Hope this helps and best of luck with your flock!

          • Reply
            Jen Muchler
            September 14, 2021 at 9:27 am

            Hello,
            I love all of your articles! We currently have two 12-week old runner female ducks that we are raising as pets with our 1 year old runner drake. We have fed them per your recommended guidelines, adding the nutritional yeast and cutting the protein % with organic oatmeal mixed in their crumble. I know at this point you recommend protein to be at or around 13 – 14 %. As we are raising our hens for pets and do not really care if they are big egg producers, and also as they are living with our drake, would you recommend maintenance food vs. laying food? I do not want to do harm to our hens by potentially not giving them what they may need.
            Also, at what age would you recommend that we switch the girls to adult food and stop adding the oatmeal and nutritional yeast? When this happens, what food would you recommend? I have heard great things about Mazuri Waterfowl Maintenance.
            Thank you so much for all of your wisdom! Moe, Binnie, and Woo thank you as well!
            Best,
            Jen

            • Aaron von Frank
              September 14, 2021 at 12:49 pm

              Hi Jen! Thanks for the kind words and glad to hear you’re finding our duck articles helpful.

              1. Just in case you haven’t read it, we have a detailed article about what dietary regimen our avian vet recommends for optimizing the long-term health of adult female ducks here: https://www.tyrantfarms.com/what-to-feed-pet-or-backyard-ducks-to-maximize-their-health-and-longevity/. The short of it: she recommends Mazuri waterfowl maintenance (14% protein feed) + always making calcium supplement/oyster shell available. There is a caveat: if you notice egg shells that aren’t as hard as they should be, bumpy shells, or other indications that they’re not getting as much calcium/protein as they may need while they’re laying, you should bump up the nutrition by adding Mazuri waterfowl layer up to 50/50% combined with maintenance feed. We ended up at 50/50 maintenance:layer in the middle of the summer this year because we couldn’t find the oyster shell supplement our girls love and they were refusing to eat alternatives. All but one of our girls has now stopped laying for the season and are molting into their eclipse plumage (or already have). This is exactly what we want to happen: fewer eggs but healthier ducks. We haven’t had a sick duck in our flock (other than a leg injury/infection) since we started this feeding regimen. This is not to pass judgment on people who prefer to raise ducks purely for egg production or meat; this is just our approach since our ducks are more pets than production animals.

              2. Since you’re planning to raise your drake and hens together, he may end up getting higher calcium and protein than he needs if you start adding in layer feed. That’s a tricky one. As long as he’s not getting higher protein/calcium feed for the majority of the year, he should be fine though. Frankly, if he’s like drakes we’ve had over the years, we’ll be surprised if you don’t end up putting him in a separate pen and coop at some point until he calms down after mating season. Drakes can be real pains in the butt!

              3. You can switch your flock to Mazuri waterfowl maintenance (pellets) at weeks ~8-9. Since ducks can be finicky and partial to a certain type of food, you don’t want to make this a cold-turkey transition. Instead, you could start putting out both types of food (pellets and mixed crumble/oats) around week 8 and/or do a mix of pellets/crumble in the same bowl(s). Then over 10-14 days you’d gradually switch to 100% pellets once your ducks get used to them.

              Hope this helps and let us know if you have any additional questions! Best of luck to you, Moe, Binnie, and Woo!

      • Reply
        Anna
        September 14, 2020 at 12:20 pm

        Thank you so much for making this!

        • Reply
          Aaron von Frank
          September 14, 2020 at 12:39 pm

          You’re welcome! Hope it’s helpful for you and your ducklings/ducks.

      • Reply
        Mina
        September 3, 2020 at 12:48 pm

        Hello, I am so glad we stumbled across your website! We are transitioning to ducks from chickens after a horrible experience with Mareks disease and have six ducklings (Pekins and Swedish) who are about 10 days old. Like you we are organic gardeners and aspiring homesteaders who want happy, healthy birds (one of our surviving chickens is 9 this year!) I really appreciate this and your other post about duck feed as the man at the feed store who raises ducks for meat and show had my husband convinced they should stay on 19% protein feed forever.
        Two questions – I was confused about whether to cut protein at the start or end of their third week – is it when they are about 21 days? And do you grind up your oats at all, since our ducklings are otherwise on crumbles, or are they able to handle a whole oat if they have grit?
        Thanks again!

        • Reply
          Aaron von Frank
          September 7, 2020 at 11:17 am

          Hi Mina! Wow, nine years is a long life for a chicken! Our two oldest ducks turn eight this year. Maybe we could start a poultry retirement home together. 😛

          As for your two questions:
          1. Cutting protein for ducklings: we recommend doing this between the end of the second week and start of the third week, so some time around days 20-22.
          2. Our ducklings gobbled down whole oats perfectly fine, but it can’t hurt to grind the oats first. Recommendation here: try whole oats first and if you notice your ducklings NOT eating them, then start grinding them. Ideally, you can save a little time and not have to grind them first though.

          Best of luck on raising a happy, healthy duck flock! Reach out any time we can be of help.

        • Reply
          Aaron von Frank
          September 9, 2020 at 3:53 pm

          Mina – Ugh, sorry. Realized I put wrong info in that previous reply. End of second week = around 14 days. Sorry about that. Tired brain does not math.

          • Reply
            Mina
            September 10, 2020 at 9:43 am

            No worries, I remember the exhaustion of having an infant! In the meantime, we were devastated to come home and find our Pekin Susan (we didn’t intentionally name her after Mrs Tyrant Farms, she just looked like a Susan!) unable to stand. The Tufts ED vet thinks she has Perosis from too much weight gain, so she also recommended cutting the protein. Susan Duck is standing a little better today with her hobbles on, thankfully, but do you add any vitamins besides nutritional yeast/ niacin when you cut the protein with oats?

            • Aaron von Frank
              September 10, 2020 at 10:35 pm

              So sorry, Mina! No, we didn’t add any vitamins or minerals other than nutritional yeast. We did provide access to fresh, greens and small pieces of tomatoes a few times per day, which they love. Both of those are obviously more carbohydrate-heavy than protein-heavy, but don’t really move the scale when it comes to macro-nutrient density. Best of luck on Susan’s speedy recovery.

      • Reply
        Beanie
        July 30, 2020 at 1:40 pm

        Awesome thanks so much

      • Reply
        Beanie
        July 30, 2020 at 9:52 am

        Hey there Tyrant farms!!
        Love this website…so helpful! I am looking into breeding my ducks and am wondering what to feed them. I am going to let the mother incubate and raise them and do not know if she can eat the waterfowl starter feed with them when they are living together. Any help is appreciated!

        • Reply
          Aaron von Frank
          July 30, 2020 at 1:22 pm

          Great question, Beanie! We’ve had this exact scenario play out. Our thoughts/experience: when ducks go broody and start sitting on their eggs, they take in very few calories and will lose a good bit of weight. Once those eggs hatch, they can use the extra calories/nutrition provided by starter feed. When we let one of our girls raise her own, she had access to the same starter feed crumble her ducklings got, and it helped her bounce back from being broody. Short answer: yes, a formerly broody momma duck is fine eating starter feed during the time window her ducklings need it. Do be sure to follow our duckling feed instructions since protein ratios do change over time. Best of luck!

      • Reply
        Kathleen Joyce
        July 7, 2020 at 9:01 am

        Hi Susan and Aaron! Thank you so much for the wonderful website. The information provided has been extremely helpful when raising our new Khaki Campbell ducklings. Based on your recommendation, we have been feeding our girls McGeary’s Organic Starter Feed and are very happy with it. They are approximately 6 weeks old and we have been mixing their feed with rolled oats since week 3. My question is, do you keep them on this feed until they are egg laying? Also, do you add more oatmeal at 9 weeks to further reduce the protein? Or, is there a grower feed that you recommend? Thanks again for your advice. We are new ducks parents and want to give our girls the best start possible.

      • Reply
        Kathleen Joyce
        July 7, 2020 at 9:01 am

        Hi Lauren. Thank you so much for the wonderful website. The information provided has been extremely helpful when raising our new Khaki Campbell ducklings. Based on your recommendation, we have been feeding our girls McGeary’s Organic Starter Feed and are very happy with it. They are approximately 6 weeks old and we have been mixing their feed with rolled oats since week 3. My question is, do you keep them on this feed until they are egg laying? Also, do you add more oatmeal at 9 weeks to further reduce the protein? Or, is there a grower feed that you recommend? Thanks again for your advice. We are new ducks parents and want to give our girls the best start possible.

      • Reply
        Miah Denton
        June 11, 2020 at 2:33 pm

        Hello Tyrant Farms! We decided to add ducks to our farm, and while they are a whole new level of messy, they are so adorable and hilarious! With that, we eventually want to integrate them with our chickens for free ranging. Are ducks as reliable to free range and return as chickens are? Our chickens stay up around the front 5 acres, but my fear is the ducks will get curious and venture off into the back 80 acres where there is a spring fed creek. Complete with many coyotes and bobcats. Thank you for any insight you can give!

      • Reply
        Barbara Borgeld
        May 9, 2020 at 12:37 pm

        Hi there Tyrant Farms. I am so glad I found you. My Giant Pekin ducklings should arrive in 3 more days. I chose them because they look like cartoons, have a perpetual smile and are listed as excellent pets. I have been prepared for over a year but have learned I am missing a few important things thanks to your wonderful articles. I have 5 Blue Cochin hens 2 years old and would like all to be friends. It will take the whole summer to integrate them and I will follow your protocol. Again, I am so grateful to have found the both of you!!!

        • Reply
          Aaron von Frank
          May 11, 2020 at 8:16 pm

          Hi Barbara! Thanks so much for your kind note. It means a lot to us. Sounds like you’ll have a beautiful, fun flock to share life with. We’re strongly considering getting Pekins in our next round of ducklings as well – they are one of the most sociable duck breeds and do make excellent pets. You may not have to go the WHOLE summer to integrate your flocks, but you’ll know when everyone is ready as you’re taking the steps we outline. Best wishes!

      • Reply
        Lauren R
        April 30, 2020 at 1:15 pm

        Hello. I am feeding my 3 week old Cayuga ducklings a feed with 22% protein diluted with oats and brewers yeast. As I recalibrated their feed proportions, I realized that old fashioned oats are 20% protein themselves and the brewers yeast also has a high protein content. I have not been able to find another feed with a protein content lower than 18% and am worried that my ducklings will suffer deformities if I don’t correct this quickly. Any advice on a different brand of feed or another way to dilute the protein content in their feed? I bring them greens daily but I don’t know if it’s enough to dilute it. Thanks!

        • Reply
          Aaron von Frank
          April 30, 2020 at 3:24 pm

          Hi Lauren! Thanks for your concern. Even though oats do contain some protein, they’re primarily carbohydrate and will still dilute down your overall protein ratios enough to bring it within the ideal range for 3-8 week old ducklings. A simple way to keep your duckling feed within ideal macronutrient ranges is to scoop 1 part whole old fashioned oats: 4 parts duckling feed, mix together then serve to ducklings. You’d have to add a LOT of nutritional yeast to throw off their protein ratios, especially given that you’re providing greens, which are mostly carbohydrate as well. Bottom line: sounds like you’re doing a great job. Just make sure to keep the oat-to-feed ratio in line and your ducklings will thrive.

          Hope this helps, but please let us know if you have other questions.

          *Make sure you’re using nutritional yeast, not brewer’s yeast. They’re similar but not the same. Or you can always use the specific B vitamin capsules we recommend in the article in their water.

      • Reply
        Connie Middaugh
        April 17, 2020 at 10:48 am

        Hello- I have been following your articles for a couple years – very informative – thank you! On your recommendation I have purchased WH ducklings and am following your recommendations as close as possible. My question- do I need to supplement their diet with niacin if they are getting duckling starter (McGeary Organics)?
        P.S. I live in Greenville also – close to Furman.

        • Reply
          Aaron von Frank
          April 17, 2020 at 2:37 pm

          Hi Connie! Great question. Because niacin is such a critical nutrient and there’s no harm from them getting a bit more than they need, we always supplement when we raise ducklings even if we have a feed formulated specifically for ducklings. We also used McGeary Organics, by the way. Funny you live so close to us AND have Welsh Harlequin ducks! Please reach out any time we can be of help.

          • Reply
            Connie Middaugh
            August 9, 2020 at 5:59 pm

            I thought I read somewhere in one of the comments that you are now buying your feed at Tractor Supply in TR. if so, what brand is it? I didn’t see Mazuri waterfowl feed in the store.
            Thank you for all your informative articles!

            • Aaron von Frank
              August 11, 2020 at 12:25 pm

              Connie: just ask Buddy or whoever is at the register. They have Mazuri waterfowl feed (both maintenance and layer) out with the other feed in the outdoor warehouse.

            • Aaron von Frank
              August 11, 2020 at 3:33 pm

              So sorry, Connie! Just realized I told you the wrong thing. I meant TR Feed & Seed, across from Tandem Crepery, NOT Tractor Supply. Tractor Supply does not carry Mazuri waterfowl feed.

      Leave a Reply

      Recipes

      The ultimate hoshigaki persimmon guide, with variety comparison

      Posted on January 6, 2023
      The ultimate hoshigaki persimmon guide, with variety comparison thumbnail

      Hoshigaki persimmons are a traditional East Asian delicacy made by slowly drying and massaging persimmons over many weeks. In this hoshigaki guide, you’ll find out how to make your own!

      We grow loads of Asian persimmons each year — far more than we can possibly eat before they go bad. That abundance means we need preservation methods that allow us to enjoy our persimmons throughout the year. 

      The Tyrant harvesting Ichi Ki Kei Jiro persimmons, a non-astringent Asian variety, on a cool late fall day. Many of these fruits were made into hoshigaki.

      The Tyrant harvesting Ichi Ki Kei Jiro persimmons, a non-astringent Asian variety, on a cool late fall day. Many of these fruits were made into hoshigaki.

      When we have firm but ripe Asian persimmons, our favorite preservation method is to make hoshigaki, a traditional Asian delicacy made by slow-drying and massaging the fruit over many weeks. Whether you have home-grown or store bought Asian persimmons, you’ll find out everything you need to know to make your own hoshigaki in this helpful guide!

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        Ducks

        How to hatch duck eggs in incubator or under momma duck

        Posted on December 31, 2022
        How to hatch duck eggs in incubator or under momma duck thumbnail

        In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about how to successfully hatch duck eggs, from A to Z! 

        Table of contents:

        1. Our duck egg hatching story
        2. Duck egg incubation methods and overview
        3. Method 1: Momma duck hatches + 6 tips for success
        4. Method 2: Hatching duck eggs in incubator + 6 tips for success
        5. Printable duck egg incubation checklist

        Continue Reading

        46 Comments

        • Reply
          Debbie Fleischer
          August 7, 2023 at 8:57 pm

          Hi Aaron, well ducklings are about 7 weeks old. I’ve put them in the big pen closed of from Buttercup and Cocoa in the day. They start screaming if they don’t see me for awhile. They’re getting better. I was working in the back, so I put them in their dog enclosure. I left the door open and finally they were brave enough to go it. In a foursome. They went back to the pen after about 10 minutes. Then Cocoa came over and started biting the mallard hen on the neck. I stopped that fast. I think he thinks she’s one of the wild ducks that visited the pond this spring. Until that day, he and Buttercup had never been in the pond. When he saw them, he got right in the pond swam back and forth,chased them off. This happened for about a week and the wild ducks finally left. So now I think he thinks one of them has returned. Today I had them in their dog pen and he went round and round the pen.
          It’s really time for the babies to be out. I don’t want Buttercup and Cocoa to feel like their territory is being infringed on. I can fence off part of the pen. One way they didn’t have their trough to swim in at night or the other way, they don’t have their duck house . I don’t trust Cocoa to behave. Will he eventually come around? Not quite sure what to do. It’s just been the 2 ducks for a couple years with all the chickens. Any suggestions? Thanks, Debbie

          • Reply
            Aaron von Frank
            August 8, 2023 at 10:10 am

            What we’ve found over the years from our own experiences and from the experiences of other duck families we know is that each duck flock integration process can be a bit different depending on these six factors:
            1) individual temperament variance (every duck is different);
            2) sex of ducks (drakes are often particularly problematic compared to hens in mixed-sexed flock integrations);
            3) age of ducks (young ducks tend to be a bit feistier than older ducks);
            4) time of year (sunlight regulates hormone levels and high-sunlight months make for more difficult integrations since hormones are raging);
            5) size of ducks (larger ducks can more easily bully or scare smaller ducks);
            6) space allowance / amount of room in the setup (the more space, the better).

            So we can offer generalized guidance and recommendations, but each situation (like yours) is going to be somewhat unique. It sounds like you’re doing exactly what we’d have done in your shoes. Some fighting and squabbling is normal and should be allowed until the social dynamics are established – unless the fighting is persistent or harsh enough to potentially cause injury.

            Continuing on with ever more extended periods of supervised integration sounds like the way to go. Just bump up the time each day over the next week until full integration is achieved so you have some relief in sight. Caveat: If I’m understanding your statement, “or the other way, they don’t have their duck house” it sounds like one set of ducks wouldn’t have a predator-proof coop at night if you keep them separated, so that’s a definite “no.” It would be terrible to lose your ducks to a predator, especially after all you’ve been through.

            Something else you might want to try as you move forward is separating your drake out temporarily while you’re out with the aim of allowing your new ducks and your existing female duck to form a relationship. It sounds like that’s unlikely to happen with your drake being present – at least until sunlight and hormone levels decrease.

            Best of luck to you all! Duck flock integrations can be a real pain. We’re going through similar aggravations right now between our existing flock and the 6 new rescues we recently got.

            • Reply
              Debbie Fleischer
              September 14, 2023 at 7:17 pm

              Hi Aaron, me again. The ducklings are now a little over 3 months old. Cocoa got in their pen the other day because the door didn’t close behind me. He was chasing all of the ducklings and kind of biting on their heads. I finally got him out. No one was injured. Is this normal? It looked like he was was trying to maybe mate them, but I didn’t know. I don’t think it’s good that he does that. They are separated from the adults all the time. I don’t think Buttercup cares about them. She just ignores them. Do you have any suggestions? Cocoa and Buttercup have always been together so it seems mean to separate them. Hope your integration is going well. Thanks

              • Aaron von Frank
                September 15, 2023 at 11:30 am

                Yep, that’s normal. Cocoa the duck was trying to grab the back of the females’ heads in order to jump on their backs and mate. Ideally, duck mating happens in water instead of on land so as to prevent potential leg injuries.

                The good news for you is that we’re heading into fall, which means lower sunlight levels, which then translates into a decline in hormone levels that make ducks (especially drakes) go a little crazy. You mentioned not wanting to separate Cocoa and Buttercup, but you *could* put Cocoa in his own pen/run and let Buttercup integrate with the new ducklings. They’d probably be fine together in no time. Then, once Cocoa molts and/or his hormones dip, you could integrate him back in with the flock. You’ll still likely need to separate him from the flock again in late winter/early spring as his hormones start surging again. One of our drakes (our older Welsh Harlequin) just molted and has had a very welcome attitude adjustment, so he’s out with our girls all day right now. Our young Runner drake is still behaving terribly (by our standards) so he’s still separated from the flock during the day and night.

              • Debbie Fleischer
                September 15, 2023 at 1:46 pm

                Thank you. I’ll try to separate the pair. If not, fall is rapidly approaching. So I’ll try then. I thought that’s what he was trying to do. I guess I have all females because he was doing that to all. My neighbor commented the other day about the loud quacking. They are very vocal compared to the adults. They love seeing their human mom.

          • Reply
            Debbie Fleischer
            August 8, 2023 at 2:05 pm

            Hi Aaron thanks for your suggestions. I guess I’m ready for them to be out, but I guess it’s not quite time. My nighttime pen is all enclosed and roofed. My adult ducks rarely stay in their house. It’s very large. The original part with the coop of the ground is about 12×30. An old Costco redwood swing set converted. Then I decided I needed more room, so added another 12x25ft plus a 6×10 covered dog run. Everything has a metal or wire roof. I can close the door between the duck and chicken area. There is a small duck house in there but lots of mice. I’ve been putting the ducklings in the main duck pen and closing the door during the day. So they’re safe from everyone. That’s the one I was taking about fencing off. I’ll try your suggestions. Thanks, Debbie

        • Reply
          Adrianne
          July 25, 2023 at 4:46 pm

          I have a question. I have a duck that has been sitting on her nest and ìt getting close to time for the the eggs to hatch. what I am worried about it that she shares a coop with 2 other ducks and couple of chickens. dobi need to remove the chickens for a couple of days and find a way to separate the ducks?

          • Reply
            Aaron von Frank
            July 26, 2023 at 7:28 am

            Adrianne – It’s entirely possible all your adult poultry will accept the new hatchlings and things will go perfectly well. However, if it was us, we wouldn’t risk it. The peck of an irritated chicken could easily severely injure or perhaps kill a small duckling. And even though ducks have bills, an adult could also severely injure your ducklings. Sorry if this creates a lot of extra work for you, but if it keeps your ducklings from getting killed or injured, then that work will be worth it.

            • Reply
              Adrianne
              July 26, 2023 at 10:07 am

              I separated my chickens and my drake but my other female couldn’t not taken from other female and then this morning when I checked on the ducks both ducks were sitting on the nest. I let them run around for a bit while I checked the eggs and then the 2nd duck came and sat on the nest and not the 1 that has been sitting all this time. Do I have a problem or is the other duck just being friendĺy?

              • Aaron von Frank
                July 26, 2023 at 11:06 am

                Ha! This means you have two ducks going broody, not just one. They’ll both probably try to share the nest or create adjoining nests – and if they create adjoining nests they might try to steal eggs from the other’s nest from time to time. We’ve had this happen before. Maybe just let them both figure out things together and co-parent the ducklings. As we mention in the article though: do be mindful that mother ducks can sometimes freak out as their eggs start to hatch and attack them. So keep a close eye out and be prepared to remove and hatch the eggs yourself.

          • Reply
            Adrianne
            July 31, 2023 at 11:01 am

            So another question for you. My Rouen has been sitting on the eggs for 28 days and still nothing has hatched how long do I let them sit. My kaki Campbell only joined her in sitting on the nest like a week ago. I have candled the 9 eggs and 7 show development and 2 show all most no signs.

            • Reply
              Aaron von Frank
              August 1, 2023 at 11:05 am

              If you candled the eggs and see clear signs of development, let momma ducks continue sitting. 28 days until hatching is typical, but there can be variability. If you don’t start seeing signs of hatching (tweet sounds coming from inside the eggs, pipping and zipping) within another week, then something most likely has gone wrong. But hang tight for now.

              • Adrianne
                August 7, 2023 at 5:18 pm

                Hi Aaron, So there is still no change with my eggs. They still look good and have no bad smells. Do I wait a little longer or take the eggs from her? What is the best way to break her from being broody?

              • Aaron von Frank
                August 8, 2023 at 9:45 am

                35 days is the longest we’ve heard it taking for Mallard-derived domestic duck eggs to hatch. Muscovy duck eggs can take 35-38 days, but they’re a different species. Are you certain you’ve crossed the 35 day threshold from the first day momma duck actually started brooding/sitting on the nest? Since candling revealed embryonic development, it would be very strange for there to be a 100% hatch failure rate; maybe 10-20%, but not 100%.

                Perhaps try candling the eggs one more time and also listen to them to see if you hear any faint chirps coming from inside. If candling reveals that the eggs appear to have development, I’m very hesitant to tell you to get rid of them. We want to avoid the possibility that you’re throwing out ducklings that are close to hatching. In fact, if/when you do reach the point where you’re ready to throw in the towel, you might want to start by cracking open only one egg that you think has had development take place to see what’s going on inside. That way, in case they’re developing (albeit oddly slowly) you’d only be killing one duckling instead of the whole brood.

                Sorry you’re going through so much aggravation and please check back in!

        • Reply
          Debbie Fleischer
          July 5, 2023 at 5:39 pm

          Hi Aaron, one more question. I brought baby inside and she/ he was doing ok, but not good. I got 3 day old ducklings ar tractor supply. I know bad, but I couldn’t get any mail order until this week and was afraid baby wouldn’t make it. I put them all in a plastic box with wire lid. Heat lamp, food, e.t.c. The new ducklings started eating right away. So then Baby got the idea that she should do the same. So now I have a huge plastic box with bigger waterer and more room. I have brought them outside twice in a wire enclosure just to let mama see them. No way. I have removed all but 1 egg from the nest. That is going tonite. I’m going to clean the duck house tomorrow and put new bedding. I can borrow a large dog crate from a neighbor to put the ducklings in. My question is how do i know if she accepts them? Is there a behavior? i know she doesn’t want them now. If no go, i will bring in the house again. Really want mama to raise them. Are there certain signs? If it’s a no go, and I bring them when they’re fully feathered, how do I introduce Buttercup and Cocoa to them? Thanks, Debbie

          • Reply
            Aaron von Frank
            July 6, 2023 at 1:56 pm

            When our mother duck wasn’t accepting the ducklings, she would immediately become agitated in their presence and start trying to peck at them. However, once her brain flipped over to motherhood mode, she showed no aggression. If you’re right there with her and the ducklings, you can supervise to make sure she doesn’t harm them. Being in the presence of ducklings while she’s broody should eventually get whatever switches in her brain are currently turned off, turned to the on position. Then you can let her take over.

            Integrating new ducks to an existing flock can be a little tricky. It seems like everyone we’ve talked to who’s done it has slightly different experiences depending on the breeds, ages, and individual temperaments of the ducks involved. We’re actually integrating 6 new rescue ducks into our flock right now that we’ve had for about a week. General rules for duck flock integration:

            1) Start off by keeping them physically separated by fencing or caging that allows them to see and interact with each other without actually being able to touch each other. Observe how they interact to see if there are signs of aggressive behavior.
            2) Once it seems like they’v acclimated to each other (time may vary), let them fully interact under human supervision. If things remain calm, you’re pretty much good to go. If not, you may need to keep them separated a bit longer.

            For instance, our new duck coop (https://www.tyrantfarms.com/duck-coop-tour-design-ideas/) has separate internal partitions so we can keep different groups of ducks separated inside the same coop. Our new rescue ducks (5 females/1 male and 5 different breeds) are in one section, the original girls (4 Welsh Harlequins) in another, and our original drake (Welshie) is in another section. After the first day and night we could tell they weren’t going to fight with each other. So since then, during the day, everyone except for our original drake is sharing the same back yard. The two flocks don’t fight, but they don’t intermingle much either. They basically keep to their own sections of the yard. Our guess is that the social dynamics between the groups is likely to shift over the seasons and years ahead. Once sunlight levels drop in the fall and everyone is more hormonally calm, we think they’ll do a lot more intermingling and allegiance-shifting. For now, they’re still in their own sections in the coop, but we’re probably going to open that up at night sometime in the next couple weeks.

            Keep us posted and best of luck to you! You’ve got a lot on your hands, and we appreciate all the care and thought you’re putting into taking care of your ducks.

            • Reply
              Debbie Fleischer
              July 15, 2023 at 5:55 pm

              Hi Aaron, the saga continues. When I took the last egg out of Buttercup’s nest, she was very mad. She was scolding me in duck language when she discovered no egg. The next day, she was off her nest and out in the enclosure. Then she and Cocoa started free ranging in the yard. When I brought the ducklings outside in a little pen, she was not having it. No mother there. So I’m the mama. All the enclosed rooms are upstairs. So they are in a big plastic box right now. I’m getting a kiddie pool. I take them outside once a day for a swim in the duck trough. They love it. Then I put them in a portable dog fence , where I can watch them. Cocoa seems to be adjusting to them a little. Buttercup just sits and eyes them, with an occasional quack. I still clean their coop twice a day. So messy. I’ll follow your instructions for integrating , once they are old enough. For now just letting everyone get adjusted to each other. Thanks again.

              • Aaron von Frank
                July 16, 2023 at 6:49 am

                There’s never a dull day with ducks around! Thanks for sharing your adventures and misadventures. Thanks also for taking good care of your ducklings. Luckily, they grow up quickly, so you won’t have to be a duck momma for too long.

        • Reply
          Debbie Fleischer
          June 30, 2023 at 1:42 am

          Hi Aaron, thank you for your advice. I will try your suggestions. I really appreciate all your help.
          Thanks again,
          Debbie

        • Reply
          Debbie Fleischer
          June 28, 2023 at 5:35 pm

          Hi Aaron, don’t know if my last comment went thru. I was able to bring the eggs inside and candle in my little bathroom. Three looked undeveloped. Basically yolk with air underneath. Two of them looked possible and I thought I saw beaks. Might be my imagination. Should I bring those 2 inside and try to hatch? As I said, it’s been since May 23, The new one is doug good. I could put them in a washcloth under a heat lamp with the new baby. Appreciate your advice

        • Reply
          Debbie Fleischer
          June 28, 2023 at 2:06 pm

          Hi Aaron, well the eggs are still under Buttercup. I had one egg that got out of the nest when Cocoa decided it was time to mate and pulled her off her nest. It rolled down the ramp and was cracked and falling apart. I picked it up with a bag to. throw it away. Then I decided to see what was inside, there was a duckling. I thought it was dead, but opened its eyes. Unfortunately, it was too young and died the next day in the homemade box I had set. up. I was sad. So today I went out to feed and water and there was a cracked open egg. In the corner was a duckling. I thought it was dead. I went over to pick it up and it was alive. I tried to put it in the nest, but Buttercup was not having it. So inside to the box and heat light. He or she is still alive and doing good, Basically sleeps a lot. I’m going to order more ducklings online. I don’t think the other eggs will hatch. I’m not good at candling. I did it and thought there was nothing inside. So I was wrong obviously. What do you suggest? Buttercup is a good brooder, but doesn’t seem to want to be a mom. So do I try to take the baby out to her again? I really didn’t want to raise ducklings again. Although I do know more now. I just thought she’d be a good mom. I put the eggs under her around May 23. It’s been cold here in Northern Nevada, so she may not have had enough warmth. I think I should just remove an egg once a day when she’s off her nest. Any input would be appreciated.

          • Reply
            Aaron von Frank
            June 29, 2023 at 11:34 am

            When we had a momma duck who was a good EGG momma but freaked out and actually started killing the ducklings once they hatched, we kept the ducklings in an adjoining enclosure where the mom could see and interact with the ducklings without actually getting to them to harm them. The enclosure also had a heat lamp plus food and water. After about 12 hours, we could tell she was coming around to the ducklings so we started doing supervised visits. Both ducklings and momma duck soon fell in love and she stopped attacking them and started guarding and caring for them. You might want to do the same thing as yours continue to hatch.

            Also, it’s very difficult to give advice on what to do with Buttercup’s remaining eggs. They require pretty precise humidity levels, warmth, and regular turning – something that momma duck/Buttercup instinctively does and that can also be done fairly easily by a human with a good incubator. Out in the open under a heat lamp (even with a cloth towel) it’s going to be much harder to create ideal conditions for successful hatching, which is a multi-day process. Ideally, you could leave the eggs under momma duck until they hatch (or not) and then remove the ducklings only if necessary if she’s not caring for them. Perhaps you could start allowing brief, supervised visits with the first duckling to help Buttercup acclimate to being a mother of ducklings, not just eggs.

        • Reply
          Debbie Fleischer
          June 12, 2023 at 5:21 pm

          Hi Aaron, Quick update. I was able to find die eggs from a local farm that has ducks. They raise them to train herding dogs. I got the eggs and when Buttercup was off her nest I put them in and covered with shavings. When she got back on, she immediately began covering them with more shavings. Perched herself on top just so happy, it was great. She’s been sitting on them ever since. She keeps moving her nest from one side of the duck house to the other. I’m waiting to see what hatches and what happens. I was very surprised that she just accepted the eggs as her own. I send further updates when they hatch.

          • Reply
            Aaron von Frank
            June 15, 2023 at 10:40 am

            Neat! Yes, please keep us posted with egg and duckling updates, Debbie!

        • Reply
          AveMomma
          May 31, 2023 at 8:27 pm

          We have an adopted female duck who looks like our three Blue Swedish (one male, two females), except she is brown. (No idea her breed.) She’s brooding! She’s made herself a huge, fantastic nest of sawdust and hay in a corner of our chicken coop, as our ducks (ten female mixed of Blue Swedish, Pekins, and Khaki Campbells) and chickens share a yard, run, and coop. Do we need to remove her to her own pen and coop (adjacent to the main one) for brooding and hatching? If so, when? She successfully mouth-threatens everyone away from her nest right now. THANK YOU for writing and sharing this article!! I saved it as a magnificent, concise, yet thorough resource! Thank you!!

          • Reply
            Aaron von Frank
            June 1, 2023 at 8:13 am

            Hi and thank you for your kind words. Glad this article was helpful for you! As for whether you should move your broody momma duck, it depends… Is there plenty of room in the coop for her plus your other poultry? Is she (and her nest) out of the way of chicken poop that will come down from the roost which might contaminate the eggs or harm the ducklings after hatching? If everyone is reasonably comfortable, happy, and hygienic, let her stay there. You may also want to provide a small bowl of water and food near her nest so she can more easily keep herself up. Good luck to all!

            • Reply
              AveMomma
              June 6, 2023 at 9:31 am

              Wonderful! I am soooo relieved. There is a small ramp up into the coop, but yes, it is very spacious with more than plenty of room for everyone, especially now that about half the chickens and almost all the ducks roost or sleep “outside”in the enclosed secure run for the night. Do we just leave it up to her to guard and guide the ducklings once they’re hatched? We’ll be vigilant, of course, but one can’t watch nor predict animals 100% of the time. God has designed nature to do this successfully all the time, without my lil’ ole help! :- ) We just want to provide her with the best opportunity. Again, many, many thanks for your kindness in sharing your wife’s and your experience!!

              • Aaron von Frank
                June 6, 2023 at 11:34 am

                The odds of a duckling/duck surviving to one year old in the wild is somewhere between 30-50%. The highest cause of mortality is predators, but diseases and illnesses certainly take their toll as well. Ideally, domestic ducks cared for by humans can have a MUCH higher survival rate. However, even domestic ducklings are especially vulnerable during their first 3-4 weeks given their small size. A mature duck or chicken could easily kill or injure them, so it would be helpful if you could provide some additional protection during that time window by keeping them separated. As they get larger and the other birds acclimate to their presence, there’s minimal risk. Best of luck to all!

        • Reply
          Debbie Fleischer
          May 20, 2023 at 1:07 pm

          Hi Aaron, I don’t see evidence of anything getting her eggs. Once she started nesting and brooding I kept the chickens away. They had been eating them before she went broody. I’m looking for some eggs locally, but don’t think I’ll find any. If I can’t find any, should I let her brood for a few weeks and then slowly get her off her nest? Or do a full month? As always, thanks for your help.

          • Reply
            Aaron von Frank
            May 21, 2023 at 11:44 am

            You can buy hatching eggs online if you’re aiming to let her hatch and raise ducklings. Just keep in mind that there’s no way to sex eggs so you’re very likely to end up with some males which will create challenges.

            If you’re NOT trying to hatch eggs, you don’t really need to do anything at this point. Without eggs to sit on, she shouldn’t stay broody for too long. If she does continue to stay broody for more than a few weeks, you may have to forcibly snap her out of it by separating her from the nesting area and keeping her in a well-lit area throughout the day. Unfortunately, when they’re broody, they barely leave the nest to eat or drink, which causes weight loss. So maybe supply a bowl of food and water next to her in the meantime.

        • Reply
          Debbie Fleischer
          May 19, 2023 at 4:18 pm

          Hi Aaron, quick question. My duck is brooding. she’s built a nest, exhibiting all the behavior. I’ve kept the ducks and chickens isolated. When she was off the nest to swim in the trough,I checked her nest. No eggs at all. this is after about a week of brooding behavior. Does it take awhile for them to lay or is she just doing the brooding thing. I have a male duck. Should I isolate her nest from her like I did last year when the chickens got her eggs or just wait?

          • Reply
            Aaron von Frank
            May 20, 2023 at 5:52 am

            Hi Debbie. I can’t quite tell from your prior comments – what happened to Buttercup’s eggs? Did you collect them or do you think your chickens got to them again? We’ve never had a duck go broody on an empty nest, but have read of that happening on occasion. Once they go broody, their hormones shift and they’ll stop producing eggs while they sit on their nest for several weeks. Without eggs to hatch and break her out of her broody trance, you might have to be the one who snaps her out of it when the time comes if she doesn’t do it herself.

        • Reply
          Alison Niezen
          March 30, 2022 at 9:49 pm

          Hi Aaron, Thanks for this article. We had two ducks- 1 black swede, 1 black swede runner cross sitting on eggs last year. they were sharing a nest and as you can imagine things went a bit sideways- we had seperated them but we ended up finding several dead, freshley hatched ducklings. the runner cross was the best with the eggs so we seperated her and she successfully hatched one little one. We found one egg in distress and were successful in assisting it’s hatch. We were planning on incubating this year as she lost a lot of weight last year for a very unsuccessful hatch – however she had other plans, she managed to get herself a clutch before we realized it- We have 4 laying ducks and she stole some eggs and hid them. I moved her nest with the eggs in them when I found them and put it in a sectioned off part of our barn. My incubator had not arrived so I thought if she followed the nest then she was serious. Well she did and she has been dedicated to the nest. Now my incubator has arrived and I am considering taking half the eggs and putting them in the incubator. What do you think? She has been sitting on them about 10 days.

          • Reply
            Aaron von Frank
            March 31, 2022 at 11:49 am

            Hi Alison! Yep, ducks can sometimes be lousy “egg parents” and even good egg parents can be lousy parents once the eggs start to hatch. Certain breeds are better/worse than others and younger inexperienced ducks are generally not as good at parenting as older/experienced ducks. Since your duck has already had parental experience from start to finish, she *might* be a better momma this time around. It’s really impossible to say until the moment of truth arrives, at which point you’ll need to be ready to intervene should she become filicidal. It does seems like a good idea to remove and incubate some percentage of the eggs yourself to guarantee success while also giving her another shot at parenting. If you don’t mind, please check back in and let us know how things go? We’re very curious to hear if she does a better job hatching/parenting the second time around.

        • Reply
          Gale McCreary
          February 15, 2022 at 8:04 pm

          Hi Aaron, I’m hoping that with all of your duck-hatching experience, you’ll have an answer. When our teenage mother Runner duck abandoned her nest after 4-5 weeks of irregular brooding, we took the remaining two living eggs to our incubator. The movement and peeping let us know there was life inside, but it seemed to be dwindling. Finally we pried open the shells from the tiny pip and over many hours peeled away the hard parts, stopping when any bleeding occurred. . Both ducklings survived, but inside the egg with them was a gooey mass that we wiped away. It was not yellow as an unabsorbed yolk might have been, but gelatinous and mostly clear. What was that sticky blob, and does it occur in normal hatchings?

          • Reply
            Aaron von Frank
            February 16, 2022 at 12:27 pm

            Hi Gale! What you’re describing isn’t something we’ve had happen when hatching duck eggs, but it sounds like something we’ve read about. The clear, gelatinous goop inside the egg was likely excess albumen. The reason for the excess albumen (or at least our hypothesis) was overly high humidity in the incubator during the final days of incubation, which didn’t allow the egg to loose as much moisture as it might have under normal conditions. This can cause them to drown or to be “glued” in place if it dries on them as air enters the egg during pipping and zipping. You did the right thing to wipe the excess goop off of them after hatching before it dried. Hopefully, your ducklings are healthy and eating/drinking normally now that they’re hatched. Best of luck!

        • Reply
          Leeyah
          September 28, 2021 at 11:54 am

          the chick in the duck egg seems to me ready to come out.
          I’m hearing him pulse in the shell since sunday but nothing’s happening. Also the shell of a duck egg is really thick and it is not clear to me how he will succeed on his own.
          Just wait? How long is this story supposed to take? It is important to know that our hen incubates on the egg and the duck shows no interest

          • Reply
            Aaron von Frank
            September 29, 2021 at 12:27 pm

            Hi Leeyah! Ducklings/hatchlings are well-suited to pip and zip right through a duck egg, despite the thickness of the shell. They have a specialized “egg tooth” (pointy part on the tip of their bills) that helps make this process possible. Assuming all conditions are right (namely temperature and humidity) it’s best NOT to intervene in the hatching process. If you crack the egg shell or help the duckling emerge prematurely, you can actually rupture veins and blood vessels and kill it. So if we’re understanding your current situation properly: just sit back and wait. Do keep an eye on your duck momma if she is a first-time mom as they can sometimes freak out when the zipping and pipping starts, as mentioned in this article. Best of luck!

        • Reply
          Lorry Davis
          July 20, 2021 at 1:11 pm

          My 16 month old Pekin female, just this morning, showed signs of nesting her egg. It is probably fertile, my drake is very active! Should I let her keep it? How often, and how long periods of time should she be laying on it? She gives me daily eggs. What should I do?

          • Reply
            Aaron von Frank
            July 20, 2021 at 11:10 pm

            Hi Lorry! We can’t tell you what you should do, but we can share some things for you to consider that might help you make a more informed/better decision:

            1) Your duck will probably lay a clutch of ~10+ eggs before she dedicates herself fully to sitting on the nest and tending them. This process triggers a hormonal shift, which in laymen’s terms is called going “broody.” Once that switch flips in her brain, she’ll want to spend the majority of her days and nights on the nest, coming off occasionally to eat, drink, swim, and *poop. (*Pretty much the only time a duck will hold their poop is when they’re sitting on eggs/broody.) She’ll also stop laying new eggs at that point.

            2. As a breed, Pekins are known to be pretty good mothers. However, new duck moms and/or ducks that haven’t been around other hatching ducks and duck moms often have mishaps. For instance, we’ve had a new duck mom who was a wonderful mom to her EGGS, suddenly freak out as those eggs started the multi-day hatching process. The chirps coming from inside the eggs made her think something was wrong and she actually attacked two of her eggs, which didn’t end well. This means you’ll need to on guard to prevent this sort of thing from happening and have a duck egg-compatible incubator on-hand to finish hatching the eggs yourself if it does.

            3. If you let your duck hatch 10+ eggs, you won’t have any idea what sex ducklings you’ll get. You’ll also have to have time and accommodations to raise all those ducklings and mature ducks (or re-home them at some point). The likelihood is you’ll get a 50-50 male/female ratio, which means you’ll eventually need to re-home some male ducks since you really don’t want more than 1 drake: 3 hens. Even then, in our experience, having multiple drakes around is not a lot of fun as they have to be kept separate from each other to prevent them from attacking and injuring each other.

            This is not an attempt to talk you out of letting your duck hatch eggs; just trying to give you an accurate assessment of what you can expect (and should be prepared for) if you do. Best wishes to you and your flock either way.

        • Reply
          Stacy White
          May 16, 2021 at 7:51 pm

          Thank you for this article! Just ordered 6 eggs so hopefully will have ducklings by the end of next month! Complete novice at this and appreciate all the details and insights. Thank you!

          • Reply
            Aaron von Frank
            May 17, 2021 at 10:15 pm

            You’re very welcome, Stacy, and thanks for the kind words! Best of luck hatching your first ducklings. Feel free to reach out any time we might be of help.

        • Reply
          Shirley Goyder
          April 12, 2021 at 8:04 am

          Hi I don’t know if you can help, we have just rescued 13 duck eggs after the mother duck flew away from her nest this morning, she has been constantly troubled by four male ducks for the past couple of weeks so we have been watching her closely, it has been about four hours since she flew away chased by the males, we have put the egg in an incubator that we used for chickens, can you help us with what the temperature should be and any other information that you think would be useful,

          • Reply
            Aaron von Frank
            April 12, 2021 at 10:10 am

            Hi Shirley! Best of luck hatching your abandoned duck eggs. We’d suggest you carefully read this article or at least print the downloadable PDF duck egg hatching checklist at the bottom. Duck eggs incubate at 99.5°F. As the eggs begin to hatch, temperatures should be slightly decreased, as the article details. Let us know if you have any questions as you move forward – fingers and flippers crossed for you!

        • Reply
          Robyn Kucinic
          January 1, 2021 at 11:57 pm

          Great article! We are beginning our journey with Welsh Harlequin ducklings this spring! Taking the next few months to get prepared as we want for warmer weather. I’ve read many of your articles and thrilled to have found a local homestead to emulate here in GVL! Thanks!

          • Reply
            Aaron von Frank
            January 2, 2021 at 3:16 pm

            Thanks Robyn! As we said in our facebook message, feel free to reach out any time you have questions about ducks or growing food.

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        Recipes

        Maple-sweetened persimmon balls with blood orange & toasted pecans

        Posted on December 23, 2022
        Maple-sweetened persimmon balls with blood orange & toasted pecans thumbnail

        You’ll love this simple and healthy dried persimmon ball recipe, which will be a hit during the holidays or for winter snacks and desserts!

        Move over date balls, persimmon balls are here!

        Most people have eaten or at least heard of date balls, which are used as desserts, snacks, energy bites, or anything in between. Dates are the dehydrated fruit of date palm trees, which are not something we can grow in our Zone 7b climate zone. 

        What we can grow are persimmons — both Asian and American persimmons, to be exact. Eaten fresh, persimmons don’t taste like dates.

        However, dried *Asian persimmons have a flavor and texture that’s very similar to dates. They’re sweet, fruity, and rich with a chewy texture. (*Since Asian persimmons are large and often seedless, they’re better as a dried fruit than their smaller, seed-filled American persimmon cousins.) 

        With a bunch of home-grown and homemade dried persimmons to use, we decided to see if we could make persimmon balls that could rival date balls. Answer: yes! 

        In addition to persimmons, we also used other local ingredients:

        From now on, maple-sweetened persimmon balls with blood orange and toasted pecans will be a treat we look forward to every year, and we hope you will too!

        Persimmon balls: a delicious alternative to date balls that can be made using locally grown foods.

        Persimmon balls, a delicious alternative to date balls.

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          In Depth Parenting

          Why and how I’d like to celebrate Christmas

          Posted on December 15, 2022
          Why and how I'd like to celebrate Christmas thumbnail

          This article is not intended to tell you how to celebrate Christmas — or whether to celebrate it at all. That’s no business of mine. 

          Instead, the purpose of this article is self-focused, or more aptly family-focused. How and why will I participate in the Christmas holiday, and what family rituals and traditions do we want to adopt or develop in order to make Christmas meaningful and valuable to us?

          Ultimately, answering that question will be a collaborative, ongoing conversation that will continue to take place within my family. This article is simply a starting point.   

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          8 Comments

          • Reply
            Indy
            September 20, 2023 at 10:18 pm

            HI!
            I’ve been enjoying your blog, and I’m thankful that you shared your thoughts here!

          • Reply
            Matt
            September 7, 2023 at 10:56 am

            I enjoyed this read!

          • Reply
            J von Frank
            December 15, 2022 at 8:41 pm

            Beautifully written! Just remember Gamma Santa does all she does at Christmas and year round out of her love for family! And, I just love Christmas decorations! Christmas is love, joy and peace to be shared everywhere we go everyday!
            Gamma von Frank

            • Reply
              Aaron von Frank
              December 16, 2022 at 1:56 pm

              You are loved and appreciated, Gamma von Frank!

          • Reply
            Helen Evans
            December 15, 2022 at 8:13 pm

            Beautifully written, asking my adult children what they remember about Christmas , it wasn’t the gifts, it was the food and fun activities as a family they remember. A few memories of gifts I made when we couldn’t afford any was also on their list as their favourite toys. Living far from our families, my husband and I made our own traditions, and we also told our children that Santa’s spirit was inside us and that why we are the gift givers.

            • Reply
              Aaron von Frank
              December 16, 2022 at 1:58 pm

              Thank you for sharing your family’s Christmas experiences and memories, Helen! Also interesting that your children remember the experiences, not the gifts.

          • Reply
            Cariole Coates
            December 15, 2022 at 7:12 pm

            Out now grown children have nearly grown children of their own now, but when they were toddlers themselves, we considered the same issues you have, though neither as thoroughly nor articulately. Best wishes as you establish your own unique family holiday traditions. (One of our longstanding ones is a strawberry shortcake breakfast, an invention of my Mother’s to make her Christmas morning stress-free. We children loved this strange once-a-year treat.)

            • Reply
              Aaron von Frank
              December 16, 2022 at 2:00 pm

              Ha! Red and white strawberry shortcake makes a lot of sense, visually, as a Christmas morning breakfast treat. Good call on your mother’s part, and quite memorable!

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          Recipes

          Persimmon butter with blood orange and maple syrup

          Posted on November 30, 2022
          Persimmon butter with blood orange and maple syrup thumbnail

          Find out how to make Asian persimmon butter flavored with blood oranges and sweetened with a small amount of maple syrup! 

          What ingredients do you need to make this persimmon butter recipe?

          Very ripe non-astringent Asian persimmons ready to be made into persimmon butter.

          Very ripe non-astringent Asian persimmons ready to be made into persimmon butter.

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            Recipes

            Hibiscus coconut rice – dessert made with Carolina Gold rice!

            Posted on November 28, 2022
            Hibiscus coconut rice - dessert made with Carolina Gold rice! thumbnail

            This hibiscus coconut rice dessert features sublime flavors and history-rich ingredients from around the world, many of which can be grown in your garden. 

            Homegrown from around the world

            We love various ethnic cuisines, which is reflected in some of the foods we grow. As a result, we sometimes get to fuse unusual flavors from around the world into a single novel recipe, as is the case with this hibiscus coconut rice dessert recipe.  

            The ginger, makrut lime leaves, and lemongrass we grow originated in Southeast Asia. The edible fruit-like calyxes/roselles of Hibiscus sabdariffa we grow are native to West Africa. (If you’ve never had them, hibiscus roselles feature a gorgeous vibrant red color and citrus-like tangy flavor.) 

            From top left to bottom right: dried Hibiscus roselles, diced lemongrass, baby ginger, and makrut lime leaves. A few of the essential flavors in this recipe.

            From top left to bottom right: dried Hibiscus roselles, diced lemongrass, baby ginger, and makrut lime leaves. A few of the essential flavors in this recipe.

            The combination of flavors in this hibiscus coconut rice dessert recipe is quite spectacular, and we can’t wait for you to make your own! 

            Hibiscus coconut rice dessert made with Hibiscus sabdariffa calyxes, lemongrass, makrut lime leaves, ginger, Carolina Gold rice, and other ingredients.

            Hibiscus coconut rice, a dessert recipe made with Hibiscus sabdariffa calyxes, lemongrass, makrut lime leaves, ginger, and Carolina Gold rice, among other ingredients.

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              Recipes

              Chestnut flour cake with persimmons and buttermilk

              Posted on November 19, 2022
              Chestnut flour cake with persimmons and buttermilk thumbnail

              This chestnut flour cake with persimmons and buttermilk is gluten-free and can be made with no added sugar. Naturally sweet and nutty, it makes a great healthy breakfast or dessert! 

              Chestnuts: a classic ingredient

              Hybrid Chinese chestnuts from our yard.

              Hybrid Chinese chestnuts from our yard.

              Various species of chestnuts have been a staple food crop for thousands of years throughout Asia, Europe, and North America. However, due to the functional extinction of native North American chestnuts in the 1900s due to imported chestnut blight, chestnuts are a relative culinary rarity here in the US today.   

              Since we grow blight-resistant hybrid Chinese chestnuts (Castanea mollissima), we get lots of opportunities to use chestnuts in the kitchen. Our trees are fairly young, but they still produce loads of nuts each fall.

              See: Guide to growing organic chestnuts

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              2 Comments

              • Reply
                Wonderful cook
                December 26, 2022 at 3:16 am

                Definitely want to try this cake, looks so tasty and I’m sure the kids will love this. Thanks for the recipe.

              • Reply
                Jason Sutter
                November 27, 2022 at 11:21 am

                It looks delicious. I hope I can eat Chestnut, but unfortunately, I’m allergic to eat. Thank you for sharing this, Susan.

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              Recipes

              Recipe: Hibiscus relish or chutney (from Hibiscus sabdariffa)

              Posted on November 14, 2022
              Recipe: Hibiscus relish or chutney (from Hibiscus sabdariffa) thumbnail

              Hibiscus roselle relish or chutney is a gorgeous bright red, tangy treat that can be eaten as a standalone side or topping. Come find out how to make it — and maybe have a homegrown alternative to cranberry relish! 

              Using dried roselles from Hibiscus sabdariffa 

              At the end of summer, we usually have a giant bag of homegrown, dried roselles. Roselles are the edible fruit-like calyxes of Hibiscus sabdariffa plants.

              Flowers, leaves, and vibrant red calyxes of edible Hibiscus sabdariffa. The calyxes are what's used in this recipe and are often referred to as "roselles."

              Flowers, leaves, and vibrant red calyxes of edible Hibiscus sabdariffa. The calyxes are what’s used in this recipe and are often referred to as “roselles.”

              Never heard of them? If you’d like to learn more about how to grow and use edible hibiscus, check out our Hibiscus sabdariffa guide.  

              We primarily use our dried roselles to make tea throughout the year. Roselle tea is a gorgeous bright red color.

              The flavor is tangy, approximating citrus and cranberries… Hence one of their many common names: “Florida cranberry” (aka something red that tastes similar to a cranberry, but can be grown in warm climates). 

              However, roselles shouldn’t be relegated solely to tea-making in your kitchen. They can also be used in a wide variety of sweet and savory food dishes. 

              And one of the best ways to put the flavor and color of roselles on full display is with this hibiscus relish or chutney recipe. You might even decide to use this recipe as a replacement to cranberry relish during holiday meals!

              Hibiscus relish or chutney? This recipe is quite versatile and can even be used as topping on cheese and crackers!

              Hibiscus relish or chutney? This recipe is quite versatile and can even be used as topping on cheese and crackers!

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              5 Comments

              • Reply
                Amy
                May 8, 2024 at 5:26 am

                I must be doing something wrong…tried making with dried hibiscus but they were very chewy so 2nd round I left them to soak overnight hoping they would soften up but no change…is this just the texture for hibiscus?

                • Reply
                  Aaron von Frank
                  May 8, 2024 at 11:47 am

                  Hmmm, the finished hibiscus shouldn’t be too chewy. Perhaps there’s variability between the hibiscus used wherein our calyxes are thinner or less fibrous than the ones you’re using. Next time, pulverize your dried hibiscus in a blender/food processor before you start cooking it. Smaller bits will absorb liquid and soften much faster than larger bits. You may also need to add a bit more liquid and cook a few minutes longer than our recipe calls for to help soften it. If you try again, please let us know how it turns out!

              • Reply
                Sonya
                July 11, 2023 at 2:46 am

                I tried this recipe today using fresh fruit instead of dried, only I multiplied it x4 as I’ve got a glut of Rosellas at the moment and wanted to use more up. So instead of using 2 cups of Rosellas, I used 8. It tastes amazing! I used our own homegrown honey as well. I’ll definitely be using this recipe again. Thanks!🥰

                • Reply
                  Aaron von Frank
                  July 11, 2023 at 6:20 am

                  Great! Glad you like hibiscus relish as much as we do. Roselle is such a wonderful and versatile ingredient.

              • Reply
                Mary
                January 9, 2023 at 8:03 pm

                I love hibiscus tea, but I never thought about making it into a relish. Got to try this one.

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              Foraged

              Maitake mushroom guide: How to find, ID, and eat

              Posted on November 8, 2022
              Maitake mushroom guide: How to find, ID, and eat thumbnail

              Maitake mushrooms (Grifola frondosa) are found from late summer through fall, depending on your climate region. These choice edible and medicinal mushrooms have been revered for thousands of years due to their many benefits. In this guide, you’ll learn how to find, ID, and eat maitake mushrooms. 

              Two large, foraged maitake mushrooms in the trunk of our car. Want to learn how to find, ID, and use maitake mushrooms? You'll discover how in this article! 

              Two large, foraged maitake mushrooms in the trunk of our car. Want to learn how to find, ID, and use maitake mushrooms? You’ll discover how in this article! 

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                Foraged Recipes

                Recipe: Red wine maitake mushroom steaks on a stovetop

                Posted on November 7, 2022
                Recipe: Red wine maitake mushroom steaks on a stovetop thumbnail

                Red wine maitake mushroom steaks take about 15 minutes to make on a stovetop, producing a savory dish that rivals meat in umami flavor. Find out how to make your own maitake steaks in a pan on your stovetop!

                Hen of the woods / Maitake mushroom steak inspiration

                Our toddler, proudly standing over his first foraged maitake mushrooms, aka hen of the woods (Grifola frondosa).

                Our toddler, proudly standing over his first foraged maitake mushrooms, aka hen of the woods (Grifola frondosa).

                We’re still going through the 10 pounds of maitake mushrooms (aka hen of the woods) we recently found, which is a problem we’re thankful to have. Having a fridge full of maitakes allows us the opportunity to do more experimentation with new recipes and cooking methods.

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                  Foraged Gardening Recipes

                  Recipe: Hopniss / American groundnut mash w/ rosemary brown butter

                  Posted on November 4, 2022
                  Recipe: Hopniss / American groundnut mash w/ rosemary brown butter thumbnail

                  American groundnuts (aka hopniss) are a native, vining legume whose edible tubers taste like a cross between boiled peanuts and potatoes. This American groundnut mash recipe flavored with rosemary brown butter is utterly delicious, and tastes better than any mashed potatoes you’ve ever eaten! 

                  A native food you should grow: American groundnuts (Apios americana)

                  We’ve been singing the praises of American groundnuts ever since we first grew and tasted them years ago. 

                  They’re a low-maintenance, native plant that produces edible tubers, flowers, and beans. They were a staple crop for innumerable indigenous people/nations both before and after first contact with European settlers. If the Pilgrims hadn’t been introduced to the tubers of this plant, they likely would have died of starvation during their first winter here. (Hello, Thanksgiving side dish!)

                  In addition to a rich and interesting history, they also have a rich and interesting flavor… The cooked, starchy tubers taste like a cross between boiled peanuts and white potatoes. 

                  However, they have 3x the amount of protein as a potato (16.5% of dry weight) and also boast a range of evidence-based medicinal benefits. 

                  American groundnut mash. This should be on your kitchen table!

                  American groundnut mash. This should be on your kitchen table!

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                    Recipes

                    Pineapple guava ice cream made in a blender (no sugar added!)

                    Posted on November 2, 2022
                    Pineapple guava ice cream made in a blender (no sugar added!) thumbnail

                    Pineapple guavas, aka feijoa, are one of the best fruits you’ll ever taste. Here’s how to quickly and easily turn them into one of the best no-sugar-added ice creams you’ll ever taste, using a blender. No ice cream maker required!

                    Mom for the win: the origins of this pineapple guava ice cream recipe

                    We grow pineapple guavas in Greenville, SC (Zone 7b), and have been getting bowls full of fresh fruit since early October. This is a good problem to have because pineapple guavas are an incredibly delicious tropical-flavored fruit that tastes like a combination of pineapple, passion fruit, and mango.

                    (Related: See our complete guide for growing pineapple guavas in cooler climate regions.)

                    My mom lives on the coast in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina (Zone 9a), in a neighborhood where people grow pineapple guavas both as hedges and as fruit trees in their yards. One of her friends gifted her a large bowl of pineapple guava fruit, so she decided to try to make a quick blender sorbet out of them using three ingredients: pineapple guava fruit, lemon juice, and bananas. 

                    Thanks to mom for helping us come up with this delicious, easy-to-make pineapple guava ice cream-in-a-blender recipe!

                    Thanks to mom for helping us come up with this delicious, easy-to-make pineapple guava ice cream-in-a-blender recipe!

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                    2 Comments

                    • Reply
                      Ruhan Kainth
                      October 14, 2023 at 12:29 am

                      Love the pineapple guava ice cream recipe. Thanks. Did not have coconut milk handy. Substituted yogurt for it.

                      • Reply
                        Susan von Frank
                        October 16, 2023 at 7:37 pm

                        Glad you enjoyed your feijoa / pineapple guava ice cream! Also, glad to hear it turned out well with yogurt as a substitute.

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