Welcome back to the blog! Thanksgiving season is upon us, and Thanksgiving Day is quickly approaching; on that note, I have unfortunately never raised turkeys. However, I have raised ducks and wanted to feature them as a surprise Thanksgiving special for the audience! It’s simply the next best thing, right? Many readers may have been wondering if I have ever raised other animals as pets. This post in particular is specifically aimed at addressing my experience(s) with raising ducks in comparison to my chicken experience.

The most striking differences between chickens and ducks will appear to manifest themselves on their physical bodies as they grow and begin to mature. Though I have forgotten the growth rates of each bird, from outward appearances alone, adult chickens tend to exhibit a more drastic change from their juvenile counterparts. Even immediately after hatching from within an egg, some key identifying features are their heads, necks, feathers (main body and wings), and legs. For example, duck bills are flatter, longer, and wider on a horizontal plane for aquatic feeding while the beak of a chicken is more suited to eat grains and precisely peck at possible food. The latter’s beak is what many will think of when mentioning a traditional “bird”. In addition, a duck’s neck is (almost awkwardly) long at maturity; in contrast, chickens do not have much of a neck at all. Furthermore, duck feathers have special oil(s) in them that allow the duck to float comfortably on the surface of bodies of water for prolonged periods of time without drowning or damaging their bodies. Along with this are the duck’s feet which are webbed. It is self explanatory that webbed feet are better for swimming while the “claw”-like feet of chickens are effective at destroying a garden. Of course, ducks and chickens also differ in organ anatomy, but that is complicated. Ask dad, he probably knows.

Ducks also have different needs and behaviors, go figure! The small group of ducks I had generally got along well despite being of different species. They often grouped themselves by species but were still able to coexist. In terms of environment, ducks must have water at almost all times. They love to do everything in it from eating to playing and everything in between – you name it! After developing older, ducks will be near impossible to catch when they are in the water. On land, it is a different story. Ducks on land are a more tolerable version of fish out of water. They survive and live well, but they can be incredibly clumsy at times (especially on inclines) – stumbling and wobbling. On the other hand, chickens boast incredible agility skills on land and as mentioned in a previous post, will avoid water at most costs. The overall level of agreeableness is higher in chickens than it is in ducks. For one, many species of domestic (cannot or do not fly) ducks are rather jittery and will avoid being handled by humans. Much to the chagrin of one of my larger ducks, I bought a leash from the store and managed to attach it to a harness on the duck (shown right). In the end, chickens are more tolerant overall; it is important to note though that drakes do not call all day like roosters do, so that is a plus! What takes away from that positive quality is that ducks will almost never return to the coop at night. I once made the mistake of keeping the ducks out in the open (not the coop) for the entire night, and it did not end well at all to say the least. It led to tragic and gruesome consequences, and I learned my lesson the hard way for the first time through this downfall. To this day, I am still unsure as to what specific predator had caused that unfortunate event.

Lastly, duck eggs carry different qualities than chicken eggs, obviously. Ducks tend to lay less eggs every year when compared to chickens, and ducks are much less consistent in their various schedules/intervals and on/off seasons. I have not hatched duck eggs, but I have eaten them. Not only do duck eggs tend to be larger, but they also contain more fat in them than chicken eggs. Personally, I enjoy the quality of duck eggs more than chicken eggs due to the extra fluffy texture (because of the fat) in the yolk when hard boiled. With this being said, the egg white may be harder at times.

Well, this is it – the end. Again, it has been a pleasure to write the posts and read all of the comments. I do not anticipate writing about chickens or on this blog in the near future. Personally, it is a bittersweet sensation for me. Regardless, I hope that you have learned much about chickens in general; for the last time, thank you and stay safe!

Welcome back to the blog! Now, it is finally time for the final extension of the post(s) on chicken behavior – sleep. To be honest, this is one of my favorite aspects of chicken behavior, especially because it is generally tends to be incredibly predictable in my opinion and not very difficult to understand.

Simply put, a chicken’s internal clock is incredibly sharp. Avian species and other wild animals just have a powerful instinct regarding sleep schedules in general – something that most humans are sorely lacking in. It seems like an evolutionary advantage to control sleep in order to wake up when necessary. Regardless, as the stereotype goes, a chicken will wake up at the break of dawn and let out a “cock-a-doodle-doo”. That stereotype exists for good reason because for the most part, it is almost always true. Certain alarms (shown right), weather vanes, and use of the phrase (“cock-a-doodle-doo”) itself to signal the morning sun rising all carry good reasons for any resemblance to roosters and act as examples of how this trademark chicken behavior has influenced the culture of humans. However, what is sometimes overlooked is the fact that roosters exercise their powerful voices throughout almost the entire day, not just in the morning. Because I have had very little exposure to fully grown roosters, I am not completely aware of why this behavior exists. Perhaps it is to announce a rooster’s existence or to call to the rest of the chickens in the flock.

Back to the topic at hand – chickens will sleep early and wake up early, always. It could even be said that they are “early birds”. Anyway, as mentioned in a previous post, chickens become increasingly vulnerable the darker it gets as the relative strengths of their senses are dulled and fear of the unknown begins to set in. As a result, once the sun begins to go down, they will attempt to return to whatever location they have collectively established, or agreed upon, as their home. Because of the timing/precision, the behavior is almost that of some NPC characters with fixed schedules in video games. Chickens are also very light sleepers. Many humans would be envious of their abilities to sleep and wake up at a moments notice in order to ward off danger. If only our abilities could be as balanced! It is almost as if they are able to keep an eye out for predators – talk about multitasking. Their light sleep patterns also serve to raise further questions regarding whether or not they dream, and if so, what types of dreams do they have?

Fun fact – chickens actually have three eyelids (shown left)! Do not be alarmed if their eyes look clouded over by a film or shady like a zombie for the eyelids are simply at work. The eye of the chicken itself is actually still mostly visible, so the function of the eyelid may simply be to provide an extra layer of protection from unwanted material, literally.

As with most animals, the younger they are, the more vulnerable they are as well. Chicks can be rather tame and easy to manually put to sleep (shown right), especially if they are comfortable with their owner. Often times, a chick will spontaneously fall asleep while resting in a hand or any other soft or warm location for that matter. Sometimes, they will even do the head nod motion that most people are familiar with doing at one point or another in their lives.

We should all take a lesson from our avian friends – try to have a healthy and consistent sleep schedule that fits you best in order to maximize performance!

As always, thank you for reading this blog post. Stay tuned and look forward to the next one!