Hello hello, chicken and duck farmer here

Pics
Date sort Score sort
bestfarmingtips said:
Hello backyard chicken farmers. I'm Pearce from Zimbabwe. I have been raising free-range chickens and ducks for the past couple of years. I currently have a breed of chickens from India called Kuroiler chickens and intend to start rearing Black Australorp chickens within the next few months. I also raise pekin and muscovy ducks.

My primary reason for raising ducks and chickens is to have access to duck and chicken manure, which I then use to grow potatoes, beans, cabbages, beetroots, bell peppers and other horticulture produce.

I hope to learn a lot from all of you and also share with you all what I have experienced over the years.
Click to expand...
@bestfarmingtips :frow Welcome from New Orleans. I can't wait to hear about your experiences raising birds in Zimbabwe and how or if it differs from here.
 
Ursuline Chick said:
@bestfarmingtips :frow Welcome from New Orleans. I can't wait to hear about your experiences raising birds in Zimbabwe and how or if it differs from here.
Click to expand...
Kikiki, that's a nice one. Well, I'm not too sure if it really differs or if it's really the same. But, well, in most African countries corn is the staple food, so most homesteads usually have surplus corn. So I mix the corn with wheat bran and wheat screenings then ferment for three days, that's what I primarily feed my ducks.

I primarily raise ducks for their manure, so that I can use the manure to grow other crops such as potatoes, cabbages and beetroots, so I desperately need duck and chicken manure.

One of the major challenges with this way of farming is that you will have to deal with a lot of weeds as the weeds feed on the animal manure as well. That's, however, a nice problem because the more weeds I get the more feed I have to bless my ducks and chickens with.

Although I will eat some of the cabbages that I grow using duck and chicken manure, most of the cabbages are for feeding the ducks. I find it easy to raise cabbages and give them to ducks, as compared to spending lots of time uprooting weeds to feed my ducks.

The set-up is a bit awkward I presume, but I designed it that way so that I spend a little amount on buying our family food, and we are a complete ecosystem like that. lol.
 
416bigbore said:
:welcome :ya:yesss: Hello Pearce and welcome to BYC. You found an Amazing Poultry Community to be a part of, with many knowledgeable members who are willing to help you along your journey with any questions you may have. Enjoy :)
Click to expand...
Hey @416bigbire. I'm so overwhelmed with the welcome responses that I've received from all of you guys. I honestly wasn't expecting that. I'm so happy and I'm blaming myself for taking all this long to join this beautiful place. Over the years I would just search for help on BYC website until now when I have decided to eventually create an account and be part of the family.

Words will never fully explain how much I'm feeling after receiving all these welcome messages. Thank you all.
 
Hi, Pearce, @Kiki and I (@Ursuline Chick ) are two different people. However I am honored to be confused with her. She is more educated than I, regarding bird food and the needs of ducks and chickens.
I found your post most interesting, as many of us do try to be as self sufficient as possible.
When you feel up to it you may want to write an article and post it in the article section. I think many people would find it very interesting!
 
Ursuline Chick said:
Hi, Pearce, @Kiki and I (@Ursuline Chick ) are two different people. However I am honored to be confused with her. She is more educated than I, regarding bird food and the needs of ducks and chickens.
I found your post most interesting, as many of us do try to be as self sufficient as possible.
When you feel up to it you may want to write an article and post it in the article section. I think many people would find it very interesting!
Click to expand...
Hey Ursuline Chick, my apologies for the mess up. I will try to quickly catch up with how the BYC site operates so as to avoid further mix-ups, hahaha.

That's surely a good idea. I will write the article and post it after this holiday weekend, probably on Monday. What I'm not too sure about is whether I should also include one or two paragraphs about my fish and my rabbits in the article, because when growing onions, garlic, squash (which in my country popularly refer to as butternuts), cucumbers, watermelons and pumpkins, I always use rabbit droppings, its because we get a better yield when we use rabbit droppings in the crops that I have just mentioned, and all wasted or soiled rabbit pellets, including pellets that deform into powder, find their way to the fish pond. If I'm permitted I would love to talk about the rabbits and the fish too, though much of the article will dwell on my free-range chickens as well as the Muscovies and Pekin ducks that I raise so that I remain within the statutes of this great community.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom