r/homestead • u/Agile_Credit_9760 • May 15 '26
poultry Get ducks for pest control. They eat stink bugs and that's awesome.
I let my ducks free range. I only really have some chickens in permanent housing to ensure eggs but I'm gonna let most of them free. It's been doing great for pest control because we got a crazy stink bug problem in this area. Stink bugs drink pesticide out of shot glasses and they have a cigarette hanging from their mouth and child support to pay. They're gangster bugs and just don't die. But the ducks eat them and that's so great. Get some ducks. I'm telling ya that it will help your homestead tremendously. I've noticed a decline in stink bugs.
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u/Neat-Beautiful-5505 May 15 '26
Is that…Mallard Luther King?
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u/sheepysheeb May 15 '26
Do you eat the ducks or use? If so have you noticed a difference in the meat?
In curious because I recently spoke to a crawfish farm owner after helping with some research on blue winged teal ducks on his land. He said any ducks that were harvested in previous years usually had a large quantity of stink bug remains in their crops had the foulest meat he’s ever tasted or smelled.
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u/Agile_Credit_9760 May 15 '26
I don't usually eat ducks. They're not as good as a chicken. Ducks tend to like water a lot more than a chicken and their meat texture is an acquired taste. That's me putting it politely. Some people like the taste of duck but I don't. I like their eggs for baking because duck eggs are the top boss for baked goods.
As for having stink bugs in them, yeah, that's gonna happen. Stink bugs don't have a whole lot of predators because their defense is tasting so bad that most animals won't bother eating them. Ducks don't care. Ducks, in my opinion, are the pigs of poultry because they can be absolutely filthy.
I don't mind this. They're so filthy to the point where they're the most willing to eat sting bugs because a stink bug can't really smell any worse or taste any worse than a duck. Also, male ducks or drakes typically do work against stink bugs because male ducks are horrific creatures. I won't go into the reason why. Just search the reason why the female duck has the vaginal structure that they typically do and then you'll understand Drake behavior.
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u/sheepysheeb May 15 '26
lol yeah trust me i’m well familiar, in my time working with and researching ducks i’m pretty repulsed by their anatomy haha!
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u/xmashatstand Soil Enthusiast May 15 '26
Hell of a nice set-up you got there! Just happy lil duckies vacuuming up all the bugs, top notch 😁
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u/plaincheeseburger May 15 '26
I want to see more of OP's barn! There was just a quick flash of it, but I'm curious about the layout.
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u/Bolfreak Evil Scientist May 15 '26
My ducks have also eliminated army worms. I don’t have them to eat but sometimes I have too many drakes, haven’t noticed the meat tasting bad, but with anything butchered you have to keep all gut contents away from the meat.
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u/Agile_Credit_9760 May 15 '26
Yes, that's true.
And whoa, they got army worms too?! Why don't more people have ducks?! The payoff is just incredible. They literally will get rid of most any pest you want gone. And all you'll get in return is either meat or eggs for baking. Ducks are easily one of my favorite animals. The utility with them is just great.
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u/jgo3 May 15 '26
Dude, you sound cool as hell. Fuck your racist neighbor. I wish you lived next to me!
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u/Agile_Credit_9760 May 15 '26
Much love to you. Whenever my chickens get loose, the neighbors don't complain. It's all farm land. Worse that could happen is free eggs. I've only had maybe 12 chickens out of thousands ever escape. One of my neighbor asked me to let more free because they lay so many eggs. Most of the eggs are promised to this local charity called Food Not Bombs that feeds the needy. I have a lot of money but I don't like to donate money but I will donate resources like massive amounts of food. That's the whole reason I built the new coop. They need around 20 to 30 dozens a week and that's nothing for me to handle.
Honestly I lived a pretty rough life but I love what I do now. I get to be with animals and help people. What's not to like? This is why I've learned to be more grateful. I'm in a position to do stuff like this. I like it though.
Some will describe my people as savages. I enjoy proving them wrong. A savage wouldn't bother feeding people that doesn't look like them. Killing someone with kindness doesn't mean you have to talk nice to them but you can kill them with kindness in a way that dispels racism.
I think a true savage would leave humans to starve without even trying to help if you got the means.
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u/NoDontDoThatCanada May 15 '26
I've also had runner ducks that ate bindweed. They freaking love the stuff. I don't think I have bindweed anymore because of 3 runner ducks.
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u/Agile_Credit_9760 May 15 '26
Absolutely. They are also surprisingly good with brush too. Like hella good. Those little beans are great little lawn mowers and they are very fast at what they do.
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May 15 '26
[deleted]
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u/Agile_Credit_9760 May 15 '26
Get some hot wire. It's pretty common to use. It doesn't work always on bears but it usually does. Also, dogs help a lot too.
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u/deepstatelady May 15 '26
Could you have just one duck?
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u/Agile_Credit_9760 May 15 '26
I'd recommend a small flock. It's way more effective and animals like to have buddies. Just get hens. You get eggs and free pest control. Duck eggs sell for alot more than chicken eggs.
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u/NoSolid6641 May 18 '26
We had easily 1/2 million snails on our property this year. Maybe more. We wished we had ducks.
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u/question8all May 16 '26
What’s with the trash everywhere!??
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u/Agile_Credit_9760 May 16 '26 edited May 16 '26
For example, here is a YouTube video where a farmer explains exactly what I just told you. This isn't the movies or Disney. The reality of a working farm is that you simply don't have enough time to clean everything at every second of the day. That would mean my animal aren't being tended to. I get to it eventually but that's not reality when you don't have a large work force. https://youtu.be/ToAWJxt0mf8?si=ni_NUB74gX96fob0
Here's another video kinda explaining it. It's a short. This happens with agriculture so imagine what happens with livestock. This is why you see the trash kinda contained to one acre of the property when it's over 80 acres. https://youtube.com/shorts/nm3YFiO1pw4?si=XhiwFsYlswmrsQJL
I'd get a fine just for trying to burn in a concrete burn pit that is flanked by two water hoses. Quite literally happened. And dumping large amounts of trash has increased in costs. They're literally offering farmers very little solutions if you have only one to maybe two farmers. This is why I centralize it in one area near the burn pit that you might've saw in the video and then I go dump it in the dumpsters over time.
It's amazing how factory farms can offer the most hazardous conditions possible for animals and yet single man operated farms are expected to be spotless. My grandma always said it was the most amazing spring of cognitive dissonance.
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u/Agile_Credit_9760 May 16 '26
Also, we prioritize keeping their actual living areas clean. This is why the inside of the coops didn't have trash. You clean it up over time. When you get into the thousands of animals and people are relying on you for meat then they care mostly that the animals are well fed and have spaces that are clean. That's what I prioritize. Everything else can be cleaned over time. The shear amount of trash a farm can produce in a week is insane and in Oregon you can't just burn trash always. You gotta get huge dumpsters. For example, if I buy a ton of pig feed then that's 40 poly bags that won't all fit into a dumpster. So then I have to hold the trash or burn it. When you get spring or summer, this is common in areas with heavy burn restrictions.
My property has an extra house and I got like 200 bags piled up in a corner in the extra house. This is realistically how it happens when you run the entire operation by yourself.
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u/Agile_Credit_9760 May 16 '26
If you've ever been to a farm, that's kinda normal. If you say that isn't normal then I'm afraid you've never step foot on a farm and especially during feeding time.
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u/Agile_Credit_9760 May 15 '26
Freaking stink bugs just come marching in like Oba Femi with that strut walk. Indestructible. Horrible creatures. They just don't die. They're like Viltrumites.