Hi,
After spending many hours reading the great advice on this forum I've finally taken the time to join. Thank you all the the great information you have already shared, and looking forward to future idea/knowledge exchanges.
About me:
Before I moved to Maine (US) I lived in Southern England, and then North Wales (UK). My Mum has had ducks and chickens for years, but after I grew up and left home, so I never spent much time around them. Most of the knowledge I get from her is based on living up a mountain in Wales, and not always directly transferable to the Maine climate. This Spring (2014), while feeling rather disappointed by the quality of the duck eggs available locally, I got tempted by the large tub of ducklings peeping at the local hardware store and came home with four Khaki Campbell ducklings. It was at that point that I found BackYardChickens.com and tried to absorb as much information as possible. In the house we also have three old Welsh cats, and two Maine mutts. The cats don't really venture outside much anymore, but when they do they keep a wide distance from the ducks as they chase them as soon as they turn their back on them! The dogs don't "see" the ducks and only acknowledge the duck poop or food as potential scavenged treats!! I try to keep an organic kitchen garden out front of the house where it's sunniest, but with all our maple trees sunny is a relative term. I also keep a vermiculture system in the basement for composting kitchen scraps.
Cheers,
Neil.
After spending many hours reading the great advice on this forum I've finally taken the time to join. Thank you all the the great information you have already shared, and looking forward to future idea/knowledge exchanges.
About me:
Before I moved to Maine (US) I lived in Southern England, and then North Wales (UK). My Mum has had ducks and chickens for years, but after I grew up and left home, so I never spent much time around them. Most of the knowledge I get from her is based on living up a mountain in Wales, and not always directly transferable to the Maine climate. This Spring (2014), while feeling rather disappointed by the quality of the duck eggs available locally, I got tempted by the large tub of ducklings peeping at the local hardware store and came home with four Khaki Campbell ducklings. It was at that point that I found BackYardChickens.com and tried to absorb as much information as possible. In the house we also have three old Welsh cats, and two Maine mutts. The cats don't really venture outside much anymore, but when they do they keep a wide distance from the ducks as they chase them as soon as they turn their back on them! The dogs don't "see" the ducks and only acknowledge the duck poop or food as potential scavenged treats!! I try to keep an organic kitchen garden out front of the house where it's sunniest, but with all our maple trees sunny is a relative term. I also keep a vermiculture system in the basement for composting kitchen scraps.
Cheers,
Neil.
