Block-A-Day 325 – The Silver Appleyard Duck

Today I continue my quest in creating and posting one block a day of the fabulous That Town And Country Quilt by the lovely Susan-Claire Mayfield. This is day three hundred and twenty-five of that project.

When most people think “duck,” they envision a duck that looks sort of like this. I’m going to call this duck a Silver Appleyard duck. They are an excellent dual-breed duck, producing tender meat and plentiful eggs.

Here are 8 reasons to keep ducks:

1. Pest control. Ducks love bugs and grubs. They don’t scratch the dirt as chickens do, so they don’t tear everything up and instead will nose the first inch of soil around and eat anything that moves.
2. Egg production. Gram-for-gram duck eggs are more nutritious than chicken eggs. If you make homemade noodles or do a lot of baking, duck eggs may be for you.
3. Temperament. Ducks are even-tempered. Usually safer around young children than chickens. They are the easiest thing on feet to herd.
4. Meat production. Duck is delicious meat. It’s worth your while to learn to cook it.
5. Garden clean up. Finished harvesting a plot or a greenhouse? Turn the ducks in. They will eat pests, roots, and leftovers.
6. Lawn maintenance. Ducks will eat grass, but more importantly, they will eat weeds in preference to it. So dandelions are eaten before the grass.
7. They aren’t going to eat their own eggs or each other.
8. They are hardy creatures.