“Cluck, cluck, cluck,” ”quack, quack, quack.” When was the last time you were on a farm? It can be pretty noisy, and two talented noisemakers are ducks and chickens! They are just two types of the “poultry” (another name for a farmyard bird raised for money) found on the farm. But while you don’t often find wild chickens, ducks are also very common in the wild.
Ducks are mainly raised for their yummy meat, while chickens are raised either for meat or for eggs. There are not that many places that sell duck eggs for food.
Except that they are more-or-less the same size, it is easy to tell them apart because they look very different. Chickens have sharp pointy beaks for eating and pecking in the soil and eating small crumbs. Ducks have large, rounded beaks for scooping up and straining food out of the water. Chickens are chunkier, while ducks are more streamlined.
Their feet are really different too. Chickens have scaly feet with long sharp toes for running around. Ducks have webbed feet for easier swimming. Also, their legs are attached farther back on the body, which helps them swim but makes them walk in a funny manner (waddle). Chickens also walk funny, though, with their head going back and forth as their feet move. It’s as if they have a string attached from each foot to their neck.
Ducks have strong wings and are good flyers; some ducks even migrate long distances. Chickens have short, useless wings. They can barely stay in the air. Did you know that the longest flight recorded for a chicken was only 13 seconds, and the longest distance 301 feet (about 100 meters). That’s pretty pathetic for a bird…don’t you think so?
Both chickens and ducks, being birds, lay eggs, of course. Also, as is common in the world of birds, the males of each are more brightly colored than the female. The duck family members are the drake, the hen, and the duckling. The chicken’s: rooster, hen, chick. Ducks lay 4-12 eggs at a time, chickens only one. Both the offspring (ducklings or chicks) can begin walking, and eating (and in the case of ducklings, swimming) very soon after they hatch.
Yes, farmers have developed both ducks and chickens as “poultry.” You can see that, while they are both farm birds, they are also very different from each other.