Hi everybody -
greetings from our small 2,5 acre homestead in the Panonnian plains. We are a couple in our 50's, professionally active in IT but leaning more and more toward taking care of our large orchard, vegetables, field crops, Hovawart dogs, Carniolian bees.
For years now there has been this idea floating in the air to maybe get started with poultry, what benefits it would have, what new responsibilities it would bring... This year we've made the push and after another round of learning in which the Backyard Chickens site was super useful we've decided to get started with ducks - 6 Khaki Campbells.
Why ducks instead of chickens? Because neither of us has had practical experience with birds and it seemed that in general, ducks are more resilient and robuts to weather and disease. Also, whereas there are already chicken egg providers in the village, nobody has ducks so we thought that eventually this would be a niche that we could fill.
We would like to first live a full year with the ducks to experience all the seasons and the ups and downs that they bring. After we've gained some confidence there would possibly also be chickens - most likely the Styrian chicken (Altsteirer) which is a local breed in our and neighboring countries; good forager, very self-reliant.
I feel a bit awkward because right now I'm not able to share experience and help out - there just isn't any, it's only been a week. So for a while still I'll mostly be a reader at this excellent site and provide more questions than answers. But, as on other forums, I will work on changing this so I can "pay it forward".
Wishing everybody a good day, a good season, a good year and a good life with our animal, plant and human fellow travellers.
greetings from our small 2,5 acre homestead in the Panonnian plains. We are a couple in our 50's, professionally active in IT but leaning more and more toward taking care of our large orchard, vegetables, field crops, Hovawart dogs, Carniolian bees.
For years now there has been this idea floating in the air to maybe get started with poultry, what benefits it would have, what new responsibilities it would bring... This year we've made the push and after another round of learning in which the Backyard Chickens site was super useful we've decided to get started with ducks - 6 Khaki Campbells.
Why ducks instead of chickens? Because neither of us has had practical experience with birds and it seemed that in general, ducks are more resilient and robuts to weather and disease. Also, whereas there are already chicken egg providers in the village, nobody has ducks so we thought that eventually this would be a niche that we could fill.
We would like to first live a full year with the ducks to experience all the seasons and the ups and downs that they bring. After we've gained some confidence there would possibly also be chickens - most likely the Styrian chicken (Altsteirer) which is a local breed in our and neighboring countries; good forager, very self-reliant.
I feel a bit awkward because right now I'm not able to share experience and help out - there just isn't any, it's only been a week. So for a while still I'll mostly be a reader at this excellent site and provide more questions than answers. But, as on other forums, I will work on changing this so I can "pay it forward".
Wishing everybody a good day, a good season, a good year and a good life with our animal, plant and human fellow travellers.
Welcome to BYC from New Orleans. I hope you enjoy your ducks enough to feel comfortable with getting chickens. Someone is usually around to help or answer questions, so don't be shy. A lot of us had to learn, like you, how to manage chickens. They give back more than the extra work they require. Go explore the site and have fun, jump into a thread if you see one that interests you. Enjoy
to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!
