What is missing from your little patch of rural heaven? Aahhh … maybe you should get yourself some ducks. For ducks have a number of features in their favour: ❑ Ducks are hardy birds that mayliveforuptoseven years. ❑ They lay eggs that are larger than chicken eggs, creamy and delicious. ❑ They provide meat. ❑ They are easy to contain. ❑ They aren ' t as prone to infectious diseases as chickens. ❑ They eat slugs, worms and other garden pests. ❑ And of course it ' s nice to have them waddling around making happy quacks. ❑ Finally, their basic requirements are simple. They need little more than water, food and a safe place to spend the night. Before you acquire them however be sure that the facilities are in place. Ducks need water, space and infrastructure. Fences, additional food, housing and facilities for breeders and young are essential. Ducks need water to swallow and a water depth of at least 10cm to clear their nostrils and keep their beaks clean. A natural pond, lined with something impermeable, is ideal and preferable. If you can ' t manage that, ducks can be provided with a child ' s wading pool. Water for swimming is not strictly necessary as long as they have tubs of water for drinking, and the water is clean. Clean drinking water must be provided separately. The ducks must not be able to climb into drinking water containers, but they must be deep enough and big enough for both adults and young to immerse their heads. This keeps their eyes clean and free from bacteria. The drinking water should be changed daily as the birds habitually mix food in it. It is best to have the drinkers outside the duck house because ducks are very good at splashing it all over the place, and if it is just outside the house and their food is inside, they won ' t have to travel far to drink and clean their beaks.
WATERFOWL
Keep ducks, for looks, table or eggs
They are easy to keep, hardy, good at keeping pests at bay ~ and they! re great to eat as well
Generally a diet of household scraps is not sufficient for good health, good growth and good egg production. Free-range ducks can be fed a grain-based diet just like chickens. There are feeds made for duck, although they are not always available. Ideally, table ducks should be fed poultry growing meal, and laying ducks should be fed laying mix. To prevent a digestive upset, any change of feed should be gradual over a period of weeks, with the new feed slowly being substituted for the old. Ducks must have a supply of enough green feed. This can include kikuyu, lucerne, oats, barley sprouts or any other vegetation suitable for them. Provide them with additional
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