The ducks don't poop all over, but we found them to be not so good in our garden, they trampled the plants etc. maybe other people have had different luck but that's what we found.

How about guineas? I've heard they love grasshoppers?

-Sheila

Sheila,
what kind of duck did you try? IÂm interested since I should be getting Indian Runner ducks this week... for the garden.

George

Hi George,
I had 4, two were khakiXrunner, one was RoenXrunner and one was a production white.

They are silly little creatures and great fun to watch, but my personal experience was they were not so swift in the garden. I've heard many people rave about ducks in this way so don't let my experience discourage you.

-Sheila

I hear Mucovys are great bug eatters! My muscovy duckling that came to live at my house was great in the garden, but it was one little duckling and the plants were well established. Of course he was only in my garden while I was right there with him!
Brenda

I know from experiance that chickens will eat flowers,(they ate all my pansies one year) they will eat the blooms of vegetable plants and peck large holes in tomatoes.
Ducks will trample small plants, they will also eat blueberrys.
The only thing I hav not had these problems with are guinis.
Good luck to you with whatever you choose.

Thanks for everyone's experiences. I'm still not sure! But I don't think either chickens or ducks can do as much damage as the thousands of grasshoppers we had last year. They absolutley stripped every plant; even our alfalfa field.

Sounds like each bird has its advantages and disadvantages. Cymraes does have a good point, in that guineas are indeed very good on bugs. They also scratch very little. My problem was that they beat up on my roosters, and my chickens are very important to me : )

We had plants completely stripped of their leaves by grasshoppers last year and spotted large grasshoppers again during a warm spell in March/early April. My ducks (Indian Runners) arrived today. My plan is to keep them penned until plants in the garden are large & established. Also, I intend to put up low fencing around any new plantings within the garden. But then, "Let not the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it off.Â" 1 Kings 20:11 I need to report on how things go IN THE FALL!

George
"

I have personally had chickens for the past 12 years, and ducks for 5. I won't allow either in the garden during the growing season. Both like the taste of greens. I put the ducks in the garden at the end of last season and they stripped it clean. The last of the swiss chard leaves were gone in a week.

The chickens will scratch and peck at any ripening fruit.

I'm not trying to knock your idea. I hope it works for you. But it hasn't for me.

BTW, we handpick grasshoppers first thing in the AM before they can fly as strongly. Then we take them to the duck pen. The ducks love the treat.

As a farm kid 40 years ago, we had wild mallards for several years and they were the best at cruising the yard almost non stop and eating bugs. The whole flock in motion in a coordinated effort moving back and forth across the yard. They were great to watch. The original birds were bought young, and over the next several years a couple of the hens that grew to maturity were very good at raising broods every year and that is where the rest of the birds came from after that point. We did not have an extensive garden back then so I can't attest to their worth in the garden, but in our large farm yard they were much better than the chickens at bug patrol. You have to get the wild mallards, not Rouens. Later in life I tried rouens and they were not as good as the smaller, wild type mallard, and the rouens pooped more. We always clipped their wings in the fall so they wouldn't fly away, except for the very last year when they all flew away after practicing for several weeks flying mile wide circles around the place. Absolutely fascinating to watch. It was very odd to go from 75 ducks to none in an instant. Mallards are your duck for eating bugs (they loved grasshoppers )and they are actually quite tame when raised from young stock. We just had pans for water, no pond.

If you're wanting something to keep the grasshoppers eat I'd definitely go with some muscovies!! They love to eat bugs. I have 3 right now and they eat them like crazy! You could get 5-6 females and I'm sure they'd keep the GHs away!

Get both! Then you can't go wrong!! :)
I have both and they all do a wonderful job in making the hoppers disappear fast,and they're so fun to have too...

One vote for ducks here. Don't have a grasshopper problem, but we do have slugs. I should say did. I have twelve Khaki Campbells and fifteen Golden 300. I've seen them eat grubs, worms, slugs, flies, sowbugs, and weeds too. My Toulouse geese are better weeders.
{{gwi:38867}}

Eric

Get guineas, they won't eat your plants (as long as you don't give them plants when they are young), they eat deer ticks and other bugs too. Plus cheap to feed! Check out www.guineafowl.com for some good info!

Bad side, they do make a LOT of noise, unless you just keep the cocks. They can fly, but if you have a fence, they usually stay in bounds.

Chickens will destroy your garden, and they poop everywhere too. They come up on our porch and leave big nasty poos.

Weeder geese are good for corn and strawberry patches, but they have big poops too.

Not sure about duckies, but they are so cute I could never butcher them.

Okay, so if I go for both chickens and ducks, can they co-habitate in the same coop? Or will there be a problem? Now, I've decided to get enough to butcher in the fall since I've found a place that will butcher and wrap the birds for you for $2.25 each. Also, is the only way to order chicks via mail is to get the day old ones?

I gotta vote against chickens, they will destroy a garden of small plants in very short order, and they STINK up a shed. Muscovies are my choice for SEVERAL reasons, 1. they are silent, they don't cluck or quack.
2. the TOTALLY eliminate any slugs, grasshoppers, flies, mosquitoes, etc. they have never bothered my garden, they do nibble at the leaves, but I think they are really after the various bugs that habitate them.
3. they fly. I mean FLY they will cover your home and take care of any critters in the immediate area. they do not go away. they stay where they were raised.
4. they very evenly manure a garden. no heavy deposits anywhere, and it's always liquid, no big chunks anywhere.
5. they do not need a pond. only standard water source for drinking. if you have a pond, they will use it, but it is not needed for their use.
6. they are very healthy food, less fat than turkey and MUCH better tasting!

now for the bad.
they are always dark brown birds with white heads, and red warts all over their heads. (males only on the warts)
they will roost in trees.

good or bad, they are awesome birds!
if you get male and females, you will have ducklings.
if you like beef, you will love Muscovy meat. it is RED, not greasy at all, and very large birds. prepare the meat as you would any beef dish, indistinguishable from beef flavor, consistency etc.
John