North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Rondi <dee@mokalive.com>]

We currently have guineas, muscovy, pekin, turkeys, chickens and call ducks
on the farm. This is what I've learned this last year and what I think they
would help with regards to fruit.

First, they all fertilize, lay eggs, are edible and eat bugs.

Guineas pick on my other birds a lot, are vicious protectors of their eggs
once they start brooding and not of their young. They can be loud and tend
to roost high. They do a very good job getting little bugs.

Chickens. Buy hens! Roosters are always fighting and holler at 3 am or talk
to owls at 5 am. If you can attend a poultry auction and get a hen with
chickens I think you wll have done well. They eat bugs and seeds and weeds
and do a good job eating up the old apples they find on the ground. I've
never seen one eat up in a tree. They are resting if they are roosting from
my experience.

Pekin, Campbells and Calls are always happy. The can be messing when they
are young, but have a high survival rate, and have done a good job cleaning
the pond up. They also eat lots of bugs. Cambells lay lots and lots of eggs,
but not good at raising young from what I hear.


The muscovies greet me each day with their silly hissing and tail wagging.
They walk like an egyptian and eat bugs like there is no tomorrow,
especially mosquitoes. They have a lean meat from what I've heard and get
pretty big (12 to 15lbs). They roost which may be too much for a fruit tree
branch, but our's haven't yet. They can raise their own young and will
protect them.


Highest on my list is turkeys. As poults they need warmth and babying. They
eat lots of bugs and grass; and are trainable. The bb Whites (like what you
get for thanksgiving) are like big puppy, don't fly and so need protection.
Next year I intend on having a small flock off BBWhites to keep weeds and
bugs down and then sell off for Thanksgiving. The heritage breeds of turkeys
exhibit more intelligence, can breed,and will stay put once they get
acclimated. Another words keep them penned a few days if you move them to a
new location so they know they are home and where it is.  Possibly trim
their flight feathers too. Turkeys are creatures of habit, notice when
things change and take a few minutes to adjust. And they are not as tough as
the ducks. :-D

Geese I have not raised yet, but a friend with an orchard and grapes has
noticed they will eat the new leaves off the peach starts he puts out.
Otherwise they eat a lot of weeds and bugs.

Rondi





> [NAFEX] Fowl in the Orchard
> To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> Message-ID: <3FB7C01C.7010109@earthlink.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed
> 
> 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