Side Quest: Meet the Duck Gang

In addition to our nine laying hens from Meet the Ladies, we also have four ducks sheltering in our bird run each night.

We started with six straight-run ducklings in March 2025. As they grew, we confirmed that the two darker ducklings were drakes and the four lighter ducklings were females.

Unfortunately, as seems to be par for the course in the natural world, when their teenage hormones began to hit, duck society revealed its darker side.

One night, the two drakes returned—but with only three ducks trailing behind. Where had the fourth duck gone, we wondered? Another evening soon after, only one drake returned to the bird run with his three ducks in tow.

Now that we understood the proper ratio of drakes to ducks within a flock (1:6 or 1:8), we could only speculate that the other drake—and possibly the missing duck—had been driven off by the remaining drake. With or without the involvement of his harem, who could say? We had witnessed and intervened in numerous murder attempts and hoped it hadn’t actually resulted in any loss of life. I guess we’ll never know. Eesh.

As I mentioned in Flocks of a Feather, murder, suspicion, intrigue—they live it daily. Duck society is not for the faint of heart, y’all.

Now that we’ve openly admitted the dark side of our duck gang, let’s highlight their strengths. Our ducks are all Khaki Campbells. They are excellent foragers and the quietest of ducks—the exact reason I chose them. I didn’t think my sensitive sensory system could handle the near-constant cacophony of quacking found in other breeds.

Our drake is a fearless leader, and a lone duck won’t be alone for long. They stick together much more closely than our flock of chickens.

Our ducks lay one white egg daily, almost never skipping a day—even in the height of winter.

They’ve been a wonderful addition to our little homestead. My family can now regularly enjoy eggs without triggering any of my severe allergy symptoms, which are present with chicken eggs (even the steam from cooking them causes coughing, asthma, nausea, and headaches—yuck!).

We’re even hoping to grow our little flock of ducks by up to five females by incubating several eggs this spring!

It’s safe to say: ducks are here to stay.

Now you’ve met the Duck Gang here at Potter’s Sheep—next week, Meet the Cats: equal parts adventure and snuggles. Coming April 7.