# grazing ducks?



## moonwolf (Sep 20, 2004)

I had my first batch of grass grazing GEESE last year and I know they do well on the greenfeed. What about Pekin ducks in comparison? Will Pekin ducks graze on pasture grass and do well converting the greenfeed to good meat?


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

I don't know about Pekins. I know Muscovies do well on green feed/grazing as long as they have a large enough area. But the Muscovies still need some supplemental feed. how much depends on how much room they have to graze and the quality of the pasture.


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## Ray (Dec 5, 2002)

when I was a child my grandfather got rid of some mean ones by bringing them to our house since we lived on a farm. Dad put them in an fenced 1/2 acre field, and watered and fed them but they would only eat the grass and stuff, so he quit feeding them. Later they left that fall with a flock, came back the next spring and literally starved to death in the field because they didn't like the weeds and dad didn't realize what was going on till it was too late. they could fly but wouldn't leave the field. I thought it was kinda weird. ray


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

geese are grazers, ducks are foragers, geese can live on grass and clover type stuff pretty much exclusivly ducks can not, ducks can forage if they have access to a good place to do that, ie a pond/stream with lots of bugs/slugs/minnows/plant stuff/ and other things to muck around in, they will eat seed heads off of grasses and weeds, they will eat some grass and clovers, but the builk of their diet is a variety of OTHER things, if you put a duck on a green lawn it will drill holes into the thatch looking for grubs then starve, a goose will graze untill the grass is gone,


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## egg head (Nov 11, 2009)

We are going to graze some Pekings this year but they will have a good supply of food. We will have 20 of them on about 2 acres of land, there is a slow moving slough running through the acreage and enough slugs (the big type about 5 inches long) to cover a mountain. Well see how it goes.


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

Along with the difference in dietary needs, Pekins are not the ideal duck for foraging. A smaller egg laying breed might do better, or, if you want meat, Silver Appleyards are very good at foraging (and beautiful!). I think Pekins are pretty laid back, Silver Appleyards are pretty greedy. They keep the suckers trimmed off my apple trees and there are no leaves where they can reach them (they love apple trees!) and tend to prune my flowers and otherwise get into stuff. They do drill in the lawn for worms and bugs, esp. if it is wet at all. 

I don't have room to free range or for mine to get a lot of forage, I feed them, though they do eat less in the summer.


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