Duck and Chicken FAQ

Chicken and duck waste is rich in nitrogen and also contains a good amount of potassium and phosphorus; the plants in our back yard have had explosive growth since we started keeping our birds.  The soil in highly developed areas tends to be depleted of natural minerals and keeping chickens and ducks is a natural alternative to dumping a bunch of artificial chemicals into the soil or transporting large amounts of soil from a far off location.

Ducks and chickens reduce backyard pests: ducks eat mosquito larvae, slugs, and snails and chickens eat ticks.  They also reduce the spread of weeds by eating the seeds.

Q: Why did you choose the varieties of ducks and chickens that you did?

A: We chose Cayuga ducks and Wyandotte chickens for a number of factors:

1. They are quiet
2. They are docile
3. They are intelligent and tame
4. They do well in confinement
5. They can not fly (we don’t clip their wings)
6. They can tolerate cold winters
7. They are the same size as each other
8. They are not broody (given to aggressiveness to defend their eggs)
9. They are beautiful
10. They are rare, heirloom breeds (not kept commercially and thus endangered)

Q: What is the problem with them in the first place?

A: After an argument about whether the birds attracted rats, a neighbor called the city.  We were served a citation indicating that the coop and birds are a zoning violation.  Since then, our neighbor has been gathering support.

Q: Does keeping chickens and ducks contribute to the rat problem in Cambridge?

A: No.  Cambridge’s inspectional services department surveyed our yard on Feb. 2, 2010 and found no evidence of rats on the property. They found no burrows or tracks and have issued a report on their findings.  They suggest that our birds may deter rats. To prevent any contribution to Cambridge’s rat problem on our part, we’ve taken the following precautions:

1. Their coop and run are completely closed off with hardware cloth.
2. There is a trench of buried crumpled chickenwire all around the perimeter of the coop and run.
3. Their bird feeder hangs from a string in their run which is too high above the ground for a rat to access while still being accessible to the chickens and ducks.
4. We take their feeder in at night.
5. We store their food in a sealed container inside and only put enough out for the chickens and ducks to eat in a day.
6. We’ve removed the duck’s kiddie pool for the winter and will drain it in the evening or else cover it starting in Spring.
7. We keep the coop and run clean and check it for signs of intrusion. Since we put it up, there has been no evidence of intrusion by rodents or anything else.
8. We keep our trash covered and our house and yard clean and well maintained.

We have no reason to believe that the ducks and chickens contribute to the rat problem in Cambridge in any way.  The Charles River, abandoned buildings, and open trash cans may contribute to the rat problem, but our pets do not.  We do not have rats in our house.

Q: Does keeping chickens and ducks in your backyard make it smell bad?

A: While there is some smell associated with the birds it is extremely mild, localized, and not terribly offensive.  We have never had anyone complain to us about the smell.  We keep their coop and run clean and change out the bedding material regularly.  Local gardeners use the composted material as an excellent fertilizer, and we have no trouble finding people who are eager to take it.  We keep them clean because we love them.
We invite you to come over and smell for yourself.

Q: Don’t ducks need a large body of water?

A: No.  Ducks can live without a body of water to swim in and many farms that raise ducks commercially do not provide their ducks with a place to swim.  Cayuga ducks, which is the breed of duck we keep, were chosen because they do well in confinement and do not require a large body of water to be happy and healthy.  They do, however, really like water and we have a small, toddler sized kiddie pool that we fill for them to play in occasionally.  We drain the pool when the water becomes dirty.

Q: Don’t these sorts of animals belong in the country?

A: People have been keeping chickens and ducks in cities since time immemorial.  Many US cities permit keeping chickens and/or ducks and other fowl.  Some require permits and others do not.  Examples of cities that allow chickens and/or ducks are:

New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Seattle, Portland (both Oregon and Maine!), Philadelphia, Chicago, Madison, Sacramento, Burlington, San Antonio, Houston, Minneapolis, Little Rock, Rochester, Miami, Mobile… many more.  There are also a number of other towns in Massachusetts including Belmont, Brookline, and Lexington, which allow hens.  Cambridge does not have zoning directly pertaining to chickens and ducks.

Q: Do you have any roosters or male ducks?

A: No.  We only have hens.  Roosters would crow and might disturb our neighbors.