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  • From: Don Yellman <dyellman@earthlink.net>
  • To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [NAFEX] Fowl in the Orchard
  • Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2003 13:21:16 -0500

Rondi:

At the risk of trying to change your fowl habits, I thought I might mention that I am keeping a flock of small call ducks in the orchard area, and they seem to be having a great time eating small creatures that emerge from soil. I have a couple of small ponds -- almost a requirement for keeping ducks happy -- and every evening at dusk I scoot them into a contraption I built that I call the "duck mobile lounge". It has a couple of wheels on it, and I can move it around to new areas so the turf doesn't suffer too much. They need that protection from the foxes at night, but seem able to avoid daytime predators like hawks on their own. They are interesting and amusing to watch, quite a bit more playful than chickens and such, and seem to have a very complex social order that I do not fully understand. They are always available to help when I start digging in a bed, looking for worms and grubs, and they sometimes do get in the way a little, since they will stand right on the spade, waiting. Neighborhood children visit them frequently.

Maybe I am a little prejudiced, but to me turkeys are turkeys, and ducks, well, they are waterfowl. Ducks are tough little critters, quite waterproof, and seem to require very little protection in the winter.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA





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