Poultry and Ducks

These are easy to keep, good to eat and lay eggs. You will need a house of some kind in which to shut them at night because of the danger from foxes, and it is a good idea to leave them shut in till midday so that they lay where you can find the eggs. Ducks will eat grass and chickens will scratch around for slugs, seeds, etc., and they all will happily pick over household scraps. However, you will need to supplement their food with some mash and in the case of chickens, grain. Ducks must have enough water in which to immerse their heads.

									It is not worth getting the vet to see them if they are sick - there is usually little that the vet is able to do and his bill will be more than the bird's value: Remember that ducks can carry salmonella (typhoid). Remember also that egg-laying rates vary - you will not get an egg a day - more likely 200 a year from a free-range chicken. Eggs may be cracked and frozen, or kept in water-glass, so you should be able to be totally self-sufficient even when the birds are not laying. As an alternative to egg production, you might consider table birds - broilers, capons, turkeys, ducks, geese or even guinea-fowl. Turnover is fast (only 8 weeks for broilers and Aylesbury ducks), but as for pigs, feed costs are critical.

On a small-scale, Muscovy ducks are hardy and make excellent eating. They may be kept 'free-range' and are good mothers, as long as you introduce a new drake at intervals to prevent in-breeding, they can be largely left to themselves.