Going Quackers for Ducks

Ducklings are adorable and don’t get much less so as they age.

If you could travel back in time to a typical European farm, you might be surprised by what you’d find there when it came to poultry. Unlike today’s North American small farm that usually includes chickens, or sometimes turkeys, European farms as early as 800 B.C.E. would have had a heavy emphasis on domesticated ducks and geese over chickens.

Fast forward to modern-day, and the only type of poultry that seems to have withstood the test of time is the domesticated chicken, produced today in staggering numbers, exceeding 60 million head in Canada in January 2018 alone (Source: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada). Ducks may have fallen by the wayside on the modern-day farm, but the benefits of raising this waterfowl still exist, with few downsides.

To begin with, ducks are adorable at every stage of life and will provide endless hours of entertainment for your entire family. Ducks are friendly, affectionate with those they are familiar with, and highly entertaining. Forget the TV, park a lawn chair in front of a duck pen and sit back to enjoy the show as they waddle, run, and scurry back and forth, all day long. If you keep ducks, prepare to be amused.

Of course, there are practical considerations, too, and ducks are part of a swiftly growing niche market. In Canada, the number of ducks being raised has been steadily increasing over the past five years, to meet a growing demand for a market that has tremendous potential at both regional and national levels.

Read the full article HERE.