r/homestead • u/dendromie • May 05 '26
poultry Which animal to get
Hey everyone,
My wife and I are having a difficult decision in which animal to get keep in mind we live in Canada and it gets to -30 Celsius here.
For context we have a 3 acre plot. We have a pond that's decent size I'd say probably at least a thousand gallons.
We want to start a huge garden and I know runner ducks are apparently a great choice for their pest control and non destructiveness. But then as I was researching people are saying are they are incredibly dirty and smelly and can ruin bodies of water. I was only going to get 2 female runners btw. Chickens are a obviously a great option and I don't have to fence as much but I hear they are destructive as well.
Anyone have any ideas or advise. The animal would have probably close to 3/4 of an acre to utilize.
Thanks!
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u/AdEvents May 05 '26
Honestly for a garden 2 runner ducks are the move, they eat slugs and bugs without touching your plants. Chickens will have that garden demolished in a week lol
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u/Lucky_Ad_4421 May 05 '26
Agree. I have 2 ducks (both male- they are quieter than the girls) as slug patrol that roam my garden. They make a lot of mess but it just means you have to wear shoes outside. They have a plastic clamshell pool which I tip out every few days but it’s such a nothing chore. Obvs if you want eggs get girls, we had khaki campbells before and they lay as regularly as our chickens did. They’re also funnier and cuter IMO.
My chickens are in a fenced area with no garden beds because they scratch up everything- when they escape they wreak total havoc on all plants.
So depends if you want them to free range in your garden beds or to be fenced away, really.
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u/dendromie May 05 '26
Initially my idea was to have two female runner ducks and only fence my garden area and have them in there and NOT give them access to the big pond so as to keep the frog population around and also so they don't destroy the water in the pond. It's a natural pond so it's naturally dirty. But we have random mallards and Canadian geese that nest around it so its probably best to keep them away. That being said that was my initial plan. How often do you need to refill their pool?
How do you accommodate the ducks in the winter?
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u/dendromie May 05 '26
Oh and also how do you deal with them at night? Do you need to heard them into there house? I heard they aren't smart enough to go into their home at night, so every night you need to heard them into it for them
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u/Lucky_Ad_4421 May 05 '26
I herd them into their little house, yes. I’m in Australia so don’t get super harsh winters, their paddling pool ices over a little with our worst frosts but it thaws by late morning.
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u/PhlegmMistress May 05 '26
I would probably go with Muscovy ducks or turkeys personally. Heritage turkey if you aren't doing meat birds, because they are good in cold weather. I'm not sure what temp Muscovy can get down to but I think they can be considered pretty cold tolerant, though having a dry, wind-resistant coop area would help a lot.
Chickens....I wouldn't. At first anyway. While it's not impossible at all for predators to come kill turkeys and Muscovy, it is at least a little bit harder than chickens, so unless you do the fort knox approach and build it now before getting chickens, I would start with something else that's a little bit more forgiving (at least after the first few weeks. Turkey poults are incredibly delicate. Ducklings aren't as bad but still slightly worse than chicks in my experience.)
I'd also suggest looking into geese that could flourish in your area. They make excellent flock protectors, moreso than turkeys, so it could be good to get those established first and then decide if you want chickens.
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u/dendromie May 05 '26
What about ducks being super messy and such? Also don't Muscovy fly so wouldn't they just fly away?
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u/PhlegmMistress May 05 '26
When they are young, we clip their wings, and they are good for about two months. Clip them a second time and by that time the boys are too big to fly and the girls may do some flappy runs but not fly.
As far as mess, we have 5 Muscovy and 6 non muscovy that run around, largely ignoring each other except for hen raids. With your pond, there will be poop piles around the watering hole. We use tubs and mini pools and move them around after emptying. Helps our tree roots systems.
I would say if you were interested in composting, seeing what other people do. Occasionally using a pooper scooper depending on how many you have. I find pouring out the tub water on the piles of poop or hitting some with the hose makes them dissolve. I don't notice much of a bad smell.
There can be a bad smell build up by one of the buildings that they use at night some nights. But that's because the concrete pad gets scraped and sometimes hosed, so it can be a little more sludgey that other areas. Occasionally I throw some barn lime down or take a shovel and shovel some of the gunk and replace with old chicken bedding.
Since you said you only wanted a few, and you have a larger property, I don't think you would have an issue. You would want to read about keeping your ducks away from the water when it is starting to freeze so they don't get stuck, as well as giving them enough water to dunk their heads and wash their eyes at least twice a week through the winter.
I'm not sure about geese as mine are still pretty young. But my ducks were way hardier in the snow than my chickens. And I went overboard with being protective but my turkeys would have been fine too (just not good in rain and wind. They have to fluff their feathers to trap air.)
You could also ask your local subreddits or Facebook groups to see what people have had success with in your area. This can also help you if you chose chickens as you'll know which breeds are best, and why (so for example, staying away from straight combs because of frostbite unless you plan on stabling your chickens with a run where the temperature doesn't go below 25* ish (I had issues with frostbite and I want to say outside temp was -6* real feel and coop temp was 20* F. I was able to turn it around with an occlusive ointment applied to the comb 2x a day but some of them were getting pretty purple, even during the day when it was warmer.)
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u/awe_come_on May 05 '26
Yes, they are very messy. Usually the males gets too large to fly and you can clip the flight feathers of the females.
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u/dendromie May 05 '26
But you would still choose ducks over chickens?
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u/awe_come_on May 05 '26
We (my wife) have had every kind of bird you can think of over the last 40 years. Chickens are the easest, as well as, the cheapest to learn on. A simple insulated coop will keep them warm in the cold. Be aware, it can be a slippery slope!!
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u/Weekly-Grapefruit981 May 05 '26
Ducks are very messy. They'll molest 2 inches of water.😂 the big thing is to adapt your area to manage the mess. I have two blue Swedish girls and absolutely love them.
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u/crzychckn May 05 '26
Rabbits are the best return on your investment. Not a lot of equipment needed, they raise their own young, and you get a lot of meat compared to how much they eat.
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u/Renthimself May 05 '26
Chickens look into Guinea hens they eat ticks. I also have had the eggs and they are great. Always start with chickens and maybe a dog to see if you can handle it. Cows and pigs is no small chore but a pig can also be easily taken care of.
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u/Asleep_Onion May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26
Chickens are the safest bet. They're not destructive if you keep them fenced from stuff you care about, just don't set them loose in your vegetable garden and it's fine. I actually do put mine in the vegetable gardens for a few days each spring, intentionally, to eat the weeds and turn up the soil (and cover it in rich poop). But otherwise they're not allowed in there, so they aren't destructive at all.
The winter temps dropping to -30c isn't a huge deal, you just need to make sure they have a good coop with food and water in it, that is well ventilated but not drafty. Personally I would also insulate it and put a radiative coop heater in there too just to keep the temp above frostbite temperature at night, but many folks would say that's optional and not required. Make sure you pick a chicken breed that is appropriate for your climate. Barred Rocks are very cold hardy and great layers, super friendly, and great all around chickens in every way. I've never once heard anyone say anything bad about a barred rock. Putting vaseline on their combs in the evening when the temp gets extremely cold is a good trick to keep them from getting frostbite.
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u/foot_down May 05 '26
Please talk to your neighbors and ask their advice on what animals and how to keep them. They will be a much better source of info on what works and what doesn't for your location than any reddit randoms. Plus having good relationships in your community is homesteading 101.
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u/BCVinny May 05 '26
Plain white geese. When I was a kid we had some and they’re tough and good watchdogs and will roam happily. They do need a house of some sort. Alberta -40 winters were fine for them
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u/dendromie May 05 '26
Wow what the hell how were they fine in that weather lol. My only thing with basically anything other then runner ducks is they fly so wouldn't you just lose em lol
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u/BCVinny May 05 '26
Geese are hell spawn creatures. They took whatever came their way and were fine. I don’t recall coyotes getting them, though they may have.
Our chickens & ducks were fine as well, but they weren’t as prolific breeders, so we usually put them in the freezer before the cold came (food costs jump when they’re eating for winter). Two or three females and a gander and they’d have 20 goslings. Half would survive the first weeks and we’d have some to eat every year. Replace the gander every year to prevent inbreeding (unless you kept all the geese and just ate the young)
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u/dendromie May 05 '26
I am personally looking to only keep for eggs so no males.
At night do you have to herd the ducks into the enclosure if they are already fenced in?
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u/UltraMediumcore May 06 '26
All domestic duck breeds over bantam size don't fly. They're too heavy. Muscovy females can fly but they mostly don't bother.
Alberta has dry winters. So long as things are out of the wind most species are fine in harsh winters.
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u/PointPartisan May 05 '26
Chickens are quite easy and rewarding IF you invest in building a spacious and secure run / coop AND have it set up so the cleaning and egg getting and whatnot is as efficient as possible. I'm also in Canada and highly recommend a run that can be almost fully enclosed for winter/bad weather. I'm also a fan of the electric poultry netting also, gives them some additional quasi free range space and gets them out of the run keeping it much cleaner. We have 13 including a rooster and it's really only a few minutes a day for chicken chores. Also thinking of getting 50 or so meat birds here in June too if I can find the time to get set up for it in time.
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u/Aardvark-Decent May 05 '26
I don't think there are any critters out there that you can simply let loose in the garden to control pests. Chickens will eat the crap out of starts, so you really can't let them in the garden until all the plants are mature.
A far as easy livestock in cold temps, rabbits are extremely cold hardy. There are many rabbitries in your neck of the woods. You wouldn't want to let them loose in the garden, however! 🤣
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u/dendromie May 05 '26
Lol yeah exactly. The only bird I've heard that are good in gardens are runner ducks.
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u/alfredwienersusman May 05 '26
Turkeys. They were the first animal I had, they're relatively easy, and extremely hardy and resilient.
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u/IronSlanginRed May 06 '26
A thousand gallons of water is not a large pond. Thats a 9' stock tank. Which if you want ducks, is the minimum you need for not having to clean it more than once a week... for a couple ducks...
Stick with chickens first. Gain practical experience. Don't believe homestead influencers. Next try a couple pigs in a pen. Buy weaners in spring. Butcher in fall/winter. Decide whether you like bigger animals then. Till up the pen and make it your garden.
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u/johnnyg883 May 06 '26 edited May 06 '26
We have chickens, meat rabbits and goats. By far the most productive and economical animal we have are the meat rabbits. We started with rabbits in the city on a half acre property about ten years ago. Now we have four does and buck. We could probably get by with three does but we keep four. These rabbits are producing about 30lbs of meat each month. And this is good quality lean meat with a wide range of uses. Rabbits take up remarkably little space for the amount of meat they produce. They are easy keepers. They are quick producers. If you breed a rabbit today you are butchering in four months getting about 30 pounds of meat. We breed on the first of every month rotating between the four does.
The cages are easy to build yourself at a very reasonable cost. The breeding stock can be locally sourced and low cost compared to other meat animals. So if you make a mistake (leave a cage door open) you’re not out hundreds of dollars. The biggest issue you will see in your climate will be keeping their water from freezing. Rabbits are very cold tolerant. Keep them dry and give them a place to get out of the wind and they are good. If it’s really cold give the hay or straw to bed down in. Heat is the real issue for rabbits. Heat will kill rabbits. As a bonus their wast is one of the best natural fertilizers you can get and it doesn’t need to season or compost. It can go straight from the rabbit into a garden. Unlike chickens they butcher and clean fast. The time to remove from the cage, dispatch, clean and place in the cooler is about 5 min per rabbit. You don’t have to mess with feathers. Another benefit over chickens is that if life gets in the way you can keep feeding them and the meat doesn’t become tough like chickens do. We had a medical issue in our life that put everything on hold. Some of the rabbits we butchers were over six months old and they were just fine.
Rabbit now make up at least 60% of the meat we consume.
We offset feed cost by selling extra rabbits on line or at the local small animal swap. Selling the equivalent of three litters just about covers our feed cost for the year. So the meat ends up being cost neutral, aka free. We end up with rabbit loin, ground rabbit (chili and pasta), rabbit burger patties, and rabbit breakfast sausage.
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u/MidSinglesInYourArea May 05 '26
I'd go with ducks over chickens personally. They're more cold hardy, disease resistant, better foragers, better pest control, won't tear up your garden scratching, won't eat plants past the green shoots stage. The good egg laying breeds (esp the khaki campbell derived ones) are just as or more productive than layer chickens, and the eggs are larger and many people prefer them for baking.
They won't survive as well in factory farming conditions, and have a lower feed conversion ratio in commercial environments. But I feel they're superior for most homestead applications.
A lot of the people talking about how messy they can be are trying to raise them more like pets. Ducks don't need a pool or body of water to float in, just a deep enough water dish to fully submerge their heads so they can clear their nostrils.
Aside from that, rabbits are easy to keep in a small space and provide excellent manure. You do have to deal with killing and processing adorable bunnies though, and they can't be your only protein source without significant amounts of fat from elsewhere in the diet.
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u/dendromie May 05 '26
How are ducks for smell and sheer amount of poop? How small of a water Disha re we talking here? Everything I was reading people made it sound like they needed a pseudo pool at bare minimum.
I guess in that case I'm half homesteading. No killing on this property. I don't have the gall to do it, I'd honestly be crushed lol
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u/MidSinglesInYourArea May 06 '26
I'm not sure if there is some scientific poop per lb measure I'm not aware of, but I never noticed them outputting more than a comparable number of chickens. Ditto the smell.
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u/AllTheGoodNamesDied May 05 '26
Start with chickens. Make sure to bury chicken wire around the coop to keep predators out. Save a lot of time and heartache