Advise and opinions for my duck website?

[nettie]

As many of you know, I am developing a website for those interested in keeping ducks indoors (and info on how to care for ducks who have to be brought indoors for injury/illness/brooding etc.)

I have a few ideas I'd like to share and see what you guys think- My IT guy says these thing are possible.

First off, We're going to try to set up a database so they website will allow people to set up an account with a user name and a password. The profile will have their name, address, phone or paypal address, etc. Then, they will be able to "add an animal" to their profile. So they can add a duck, chicken, turkey, etc. They'll be able to add info about the bird including breed, gender, age, etc. Then they can add items for the animal,(for ordering items, like a harness or shoes). I thought this up because it'll be easier for me to get all the info i need about an animal especially if it's saved to our database. It also helps the user, so they don't have to repeat info if they need to order something again. They would also be able to sign up for news letters/updates if they sign up for an account. Does this sound like a good idea?

We are also thinking about creating a game for facebook, where you can adopt a duck breed, and take care of it... I think it would be neat, but i'm wondering if you guys think it's neat or lame? lol

I'm also developing a special waterproof pillow for injured or old ducks to sit on. I made one for my duck and she likes it. It's made out of a fabric that can be easily wiped off if it gets pooped on (So it can go into a pen of any animal... they animal does not need to be diapered to use it). I'd liek to offer them someday on my site, but I don't know what colors to offer... here are my choices-

Which colors do you recommend?

I'm also creating care sheets with nothing but info for the main site along with extensive FAQS (That will be available through BYC once finished). I'm a little unsure how to organize everything... (trying to put all duck knowledge in a nutshell basically, lol). these are some catergories I'm thinking of... Let me know if they sound good, if I'm missing anything, or if you think of a better way to organize-
Duckling Care
Housing (pen designs, play area ideas, etc)
Hygiene (poop control, bathing, etc)
Diet and Nutrition
Breeds (including a breed chart)
Behavior, Training and Discipline
Illness and Injury

I feel like I am missing something... any help?
My IT guy is rather adventurous and has all these neat plans. He's got pop up windows, hovering links, etc... I laughed at him though when he suggested I either have a "ask a question section" or a forum. I told him, "That's what BYC is for!" He looked at me like i was crazy. lol. I decided it's much better to link people to BYC for questions or general duckiness... We've got tons of people already here and the more the merrier!

oh wanted to add-
I'm going to add a book list section, that will link to amazon so people can buy the books. I know of several, but was wondering what books you guys would recommend adding-
Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks
Storey's Illustrated guide to Poultry Breeds
The Domestic Duck
Why Ducks Do that?
Enslaved by ducks
Fowl Weather
Lemon the Duck

Any more?

 

[priss]

Sounds great. I love the duck cushions. I loved Enslaved by Ducks too and have just ordered Fowl Weather so gooood choices. It all sounds great. I'd definitely sign up. I hope our little ones never get any feet probelems but if they do I'd like to come straight to you! Plus, I don't have a facebook page but Doogie Duck has one looool, so I can play duckie games (on his behalf). It'd be cute to join up with other BYC peoples cos I can never get enough of people's duck pictures! I like the whole idea. The info catagories look good. Were you going to do one about poop colours and what they mean? I liked that one. Although mine have got bright blue poop at the moment cos of the red cabbage!
Can't wait til it's up and running.

 

[nettie]

lol, I already have written a mini article on duck poop color, consistency, and smell for the FAQ.

I better not tell ming mei your Doogie has a facebook page, she'll become jealous and will insist I make her one. lol.

My ducks won't eat red cabbage so I personally haven't had the pleasure of blue poop. lol. Today it was all green.

I contemplated making a section about hatching, but i personally have never hatched anything (other than helping a teacher at school hatch chickens). So the undertaking sounds scary to me. I have tons of books about the subject i guess i could reference....

And Fowl Weather was just as good as the first! It can get a bit sadder at parts, but definitely a great read! I love that he has a Duck named Victor too, and also has a bird named Ollie like my new duck

 

[duckyfromoz]

Wow, what wonderful ideas.
My only question to you about your products is: Can you ship to Australia?
I saw your ducks on here for the first time just hours ago,and think your little shoes are just gorgeous. We dont have anything like that available out here, and I have a few Runners that certainly "need " shoes.

The special waterproof pillow is a wonderful idea too. I currently am nursing a little 5 week old Runner who hatched with a slipped tendon in one leg. She is in a plastic crate with a soft dogs bed covered with a towel, however washing so many towels is labour intensive. Sadly Little Regie wont be with me much longer as she has a respiratory problem as well as the fact that she will never walk. I am just trying to give her as many days life as she her little body can manage. A special pillow would have made things easier and given me more time with her rather than cleaning up after her.

 

[duckluck]

I'd link to the books The Call Duck Breed Book and Colour Breeding In Domestic Ducks on the NCBA website, for sure. Need the info on the calls to be out there as much as possible. There may be other books out there about other breeds too, I'd link to those. The Guide To Better Hatching is good too, and I'm sure if you linked to Don's incubator site, he'd appreciate that. People looking to hatch ducks could get a live person on the phone to ask questions that way.

http://sunnycreekfarms.zxq.net

 

[nettie]

I've ordered colors E, G, L, M, and another color (Yellow) for the pillows. I think a rainbow assortment is usually good. White seems like it would stain or get too messy looking too easily. What do you guys think of those colors choices? I was thinking I'd offer 5-6 colors to pick from.

I'd like to link as many fellow poultry lovers websites to my site as possible. I plan on having a whole section just for friends and fellow bycers with farms/hatcheries etc. Anything to help out other entrepreneurs! So Don's site will definitely go in the links section. If you guys know of any others with sites, let me know!

 

[duckluck]

Thanks!

 

[Amiga]

Nettie,

Good work! Very exciting!

Books I find helpful are:

Barnyard in the Backyard (Damerow)
Small Scale Grain Raising (Logsdon)

My web site, which I need to revive after a months-long hiatus, is hodgsonbiologic.com. If you would like me to link to you, I am happy to do so. Feel free to link back if you think my site is a good match.

The thing I spend the most brainspace on lately is the concept of predators - reducing risk, accepting loss. That may be a helpful section. Kind of a "facts of life" page that could prevent troubles and help people who have had troubles. (BTW, our area now reports bobcats, just one hill east of us. sigh

)

Keep up the good energy!

 

[TheDuckCrew]

wow nettie! thats amazing! id personally love the facebook game. there are no games out there for ducks! only dogs and cats and stuff. come onnn! what about ducks! and i can't wait till you finish your website, i will definitely be checking it out! sounds like you're doing great so far.

 

[Duck_feeder]

Quote:
I guess Nettie just volunteered me to write a game...

I haven't tried programming anything for Facebook before and it's been a few years since I last programmed on a regular basis (and back then it was all business software stuff)... I guess I can give it the old college try (not literally though - in college I did all my programming assignments a few hours before they were due.

)