[LisaB]

We recently moved to a rural area and are thinking of getting some goats, ducks and chickens. We just want them as pets, though some chicken eggs would be nice. Does anyone have any experience or advice? Thanks!

My DH and my parents have had chickens in the past so I think we're good there. My neighbor (when I was growing up) had a duck whom they raised from an egg, and we played with her for hours almost every day, so I know a little bit about what ducks eat and such but that's about it. And, a good friend of ours just adopted two baby goats so we have some advice from him, but he's just starting out with goats too so he's almost as clueless as we are.

[TheWhiteRabbit]

I have a pet duck, it's a small bantam breed called a "Call Duck" they come in alot of colors, little smaller than a mallard, I got mine [single duck] at a day old and he bonded with my dog, lol... They aren't big on worms and slugs tho, I think those are bigger ducks. He likes people food, "all purpose poultry" food and dog kibbles and cat kibbles for treats.

They live about 20 years in captivity, mine, Count Olaf, is 6.

Because he is a lone duck, he sleeps in our house in the laundry room in like a rubbermaid tote with a wire top, we put small animal wood chip bedding in there for him along with his water bowl and a food bowl.

Sorry, I dont know alot about "ducks" but I know alot about call ducks and having single ducks =]

[eventually]

I would suggest getting one animal species at a time. Get to know that animal, the ups and downs, and get it down pat before getting another species. I'd start with chickens. They are easy to take care of, and like you said, EGGS! They make great pets, believe it or not, and are great garbage disposals (okay, so maybe not garbage, but they can eat most of your kitchen scraps).

Be leery of ducks because they can be quite nasty. They need water to play in and they make a mess of it really fast. Ducks are on my "they're nice to look at but we won't have them" list.

Goats make great pets, because they are dog-like. However, they are too smart for their own good. They are pros at fence climbing and escaping on a regular basis. If you get goats, make sure you have electric fencing too!

[lonamuller]

While you will find no problem keeping goat as a pet, ducks and chicken bringing together could be a problem as these birds among themselves are very territorial and would end up in rough quarrels. I would suggest that you try having pet chicks and ducklings so that they get accustomed to one another as early as possible.

[LisaB]

Sorry to be so late to reply, but thank you for the advice everyone! Our goats arrive at the end of the month, just after they're weaned. We're getting two boys which are half Kinder and half Mure or something like that. I really have no idea about breeds, lol. All I know is that they are not as large as some goats. DH is scrambling to have the shelter and fence built in time.

We'll get the chickens/duck later on. Definitely chickens, and if we get a duck, we'll follow your advice lonamuller and get the ducking at the same time as the chicks. I'm not too worried about the mess ducks make, since the pen area will be large, and the duck can have a kiddie pool all to him/herself.