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MerryMeridional

MerryMeridional

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Hello!

I discovered BYC a year or two ago when I was reading up on Indian Runner ducks, which someone recommended I obtain since I am obsessive about gardening and cook a lot (big into DIY, reusing, repurposing, recycling, and doing things in a natural way if possible). I am on the fence about the guard geese suggestion but my husband and I love animals so it is probably just a matter of time. Good fertilizer can be expensive and the slugs just about killed all my gardening dreams last year. Previously we lived in the deep south where it is always wet, and I literally had slugs crawling up and through my patio louvers to get the new seedlings germinating inside! After continual reading, a move across the country, and a house purchase, here we are, primed and ready for some ducks.

Our new house has a great garden already sectioned off with landscaping fencing behind a privacy fence adjacent to our house, complete with a kid's playhouse is being converted to a coop. Electric fence charger and polywire? Check! Raccoons and hawks, there's no free meal here.
The more I dig around this site, the more I love it. The knowledge here overflows. Even niche topics are covered. I can read about training my dogs to ignore the ducks and basic medical care with supplies from the tractor supply.

My husband is a bit tech-y. Perhaps he will help me design some Raspberry-pi contraption to automate the coop door and some other tasks. I have heard ducks don't much like new things in their routine so I am trying to have all these design ideas complete before our flock arrives.
I am looking forward to learning more as I spend more time reading BYC. This is a great resource and community and I'm glad to be here.



(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
(3) What breeds do you have?
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?
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Welcome to BYC, and thanks for your enthusiasm. It sounds like you have everything well in hand, so you should do well when you finally do get your ducks. Runners are a good choice if you garden a lot. I find their footfalls more careful than larger ducks, so they smother less seedlings. They are also good at finding and devouring slugs. As for geese, they do not usually do anything to guard other than alerting an owner with their honks that danger is present. They can't defend against serious predators. But if you buy them as goslings, they can be trained to eat weeds, so there is that bonus. Anyway, I hope you continue to enjoy BYC and that it will be helpful with future endeavors.
 
JedJackson said:
Welcome to BYC, and thanks for your enthusiasm. It sounds like you have everything well in hand, so you should do well when you finally do get your ducks. Runners are a good choice if you garden a lot. I find their footfalls more careful than larger ducks, so they smother less seedlings. They are also good at finding and devouring slugs. As for geese, they do not usually do anything to guard other than alerting an owner with their honks that danger is present. They can't defend against serious predators. But if you buy them as goslings, they can be trained to eat weeds, so there is that bonus. Anyway, I hope you continue to enjoy BYC and that it will be helpful with future endeavors.
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That is what I read about the runners. I am very hopeful about my garden for the next year with their assistance :)

I have hard such opposite things about guard geese that I figured they would come later if at all. Awesome advice. I think for the space that we have (that will be protected with electric wires), we would rather have a couple additional Runners rather than the geese.

I am looking forward to a poached duck egg, and maybe some extra rich brownies.
 
Oh my gosh your going to love Runners they are a hoot and also very valuable for ridding the entire property of any thing flying or crawling that may think it can take up residence in their property. Except hairy caterpillars none of my birds will touch them. Be sure to visit the Duck forum soon and of course lots of pics when the Runners arrive. Yes eggs are a bonus too :welcome
 
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Congratulations on your move to a new house and new state!! Your are gonna love it here... what area do you live? My husband grew up in Georgia and he ended up here in Oregon through the military... says he'll never go back to the south, even though we could easily afford our dream farm there.

I would love to get ducks someday, just don't have enough space where we are. Is the kids playhouse low to the ground like a shed? That'll make a great duck house! Best wishes in your new adventures!
 
Welcome to the BYC! Great people and when you have a question, there is always someone here with an answer.

I hate slugs to, but my solution is beer. Take some cheap beer put it in a bowl and set the bowl out near the plants you are protecting. Several bowls in fact. The rest you drink. Slugs are very attracted to the smell of beer fermenting and will drown themselves in it. I very handily solved our slug problem.
 

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