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Just two ducks for now. Though we may consider letting them raise up a few ducklings.
I love the idea of balancing human needs with environmental concerns by creating custom micro-ecology's like the ducks and the rice. Many many years ago in elementary school I was fascinated learning how fish assist in rice farms and how those fish are also harvested for food. That thought has stuck with me all these years. I am limited to what I can do on my parents property. I wish I could buy my own land to caretake. Though they do have a swamp which perhaps the county and feds would help subsidize it into a working wetlands. Possibly with todays environmental concerns.. some grant money along with talent from Washington State University could assist by using that chunk of land as a model for neo-historical agriculture. Who knows.. might be worth a shot! Lord knows the people of this planet need some new methods for feeding themselves!! And I'd like nothing more than to free myself from a communal system which I think morally and logically wrong in the way it feeds and entertains itself!
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Your system sounds ideal for your situation. But in some places of my chicken/duck yard I think I want some dirt under their feet. For around the ducks pen pond and around their food/water I want pure pea gravel over the cheaper crushed gravel for sure! I'll use some landscaping/drain fabric between the two. But in other parts of the yard I think I'd like a good layer of dirt for the chickens to scratch at. Under the dirt/straw/chip layer will be drain fabric to keep the dirt from clogging the gravel. But the water will still flow down and out. I'll have bits and pieces of the drain fabric left over from another drainage project, and I've already got some leftovers of it. The poop and small bits of litter which work into the dirt will help attract bugs for them to hunt, and that will make them very happy when they must be penned. I think the litter will somewhat be cleaned with the pressure washer cleanings, though I do expect to rake and replace it fairly often. Through the summer I intend to replace some of the straw with home harvested grass. And I've a few yards of home harvested chips I can use for now. And I worked with the guys who did our forestry work and have a good repore with them. Perhaps they will let me have some of their softwood chips from time to time? I'll see how it all works out. But I would definitely prefer a layer of dirt between their feet and the gravel drain if I can help it.
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I am thinking of adding an above ground barrel(s) to the garage downspouts to use as a source for the pen cleanings (or maybe just for extra pond water storage) Those would be above ground and can overflow into the pond barrel(s). Every bit of free and unprocessed water helps. I would like to place the pond barrel(s) underground due to space and aesthetic concerns. Though that does require pumping them. But I've got a high performance pump leftover from a grey water problem thats since been fixed. It'll be nice to put that investment to work again lol. Will take just a minute to clear a barrel. I've still got a lot of thinking to do on all this. And I've got plenty of laboring to do while I think it lol.
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Hehe we think alike. I had a friend who raised Pigs. We all lived in the backcountry and worked with each other from time to time. He would charge a small fee or a barter to bring his pigs and his pre-fab pen to someones property. They'd pen the pigs up in a future garden spot and let the pigs clear the land, churn the earth, and fertilize it. Next spring it was ready to go. I'd like to get a goat to help with the blackberry and stinging nettle war, but a goat now would be a bit much. But Geese.. hmmm....
