Hello from the Scottish Borders

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Hello there -

A few years ago I bought some hens who had reached their first moult at the local free range place and were seemingly no longer required.. They were a wee Easter present for my three children. They have done well and we still have 2 of the original ones along now with 21 others -various breeds. Earlier this year we moved to a lovely house with lots of ground - so we got us more hens. We have some other beasties too - 6 Jacob sheep and a couple of Tamworth pigs. We are planning on keeping some geese and would love some Indian Runners - just a few. I think they are delightful. What about housing for say 3 geese and a wee group of Runners? What sort of space would they need - shed space?I assume they would not be able to be housed together? We have a huge fenced field where they would be able to run freely but I would appreciate a wee bitty help about housing requirements for our intended additions. Oh, by the way, we inherited some Muscovies but Charlie called by one night and took the drake and two females - we still have one lone Muscovy - she seems to have settled in with the hens and is laying although I think she might put the hens off ther laying a bit.. Would she be alrite with the new guys - maybe we should find her a mate or a wee friend of her own species? Looking forward to any advice from out there. Apologies for my ignorance. N
 
Hi and welcome to the forum,

I've moved your post to the General Chickens forum as you will get more of a response in there...

I would try to get another Muscovy to keep your other one company. All poultry like to have a compatible mate and Muscovies aren't classed as ducks and (I don't think someone please correct me..) will mate with other breeds of domestic duck.

As for housing, I would have separate housing for the Geese and Ducks. Basically any sort of shed is suitable - the requirements are really basic - a wide door (they all tumble out on top of one another in the mornings through a small hole and can hurt themselves), walls and a roof that won't let water or draughts in at low level (metal roofs condense and drip onto the ducks so wood is good) and some bedding (wood shavings are idea).

I only put small vents pointing North in my duck houses (at high level). Ducks are quite active at night and a shaft of moonlight can upset them in their house.

They will lay on the floor during the early hours.

Good Luck and let us know how you get on??

Tim
 
Tim - many thanks for getting back to me. I have been overwhelmed by the passion and encouragement since starting our wee venture. Piggy people are brill - lots of advice - as with the sheep farmer who helped us out. I love the birds - they are great to have around. I am amazed at just how helpful folk are and their willingness to share their advice and experience. Although exciting - its actually quite daunting to be taking on things without any previous experience and little knowledge. Guess a lot of it is about learning as you go - but its a big responsibility and I so want to "get it right" for all my beasties. Will deffo look out for a wee pal/mate for my Muscovy - she's quite a character and sadly lost the 2 chicks she hatched out pre-Charlie! One just seemed to die - quite wee - unsure what happened but wonder if it was to do with the shavings in the house. Then the second one was coming on brilliantly - and damn me if it didnt get itself in the water tub out for the sheep and drowned!!! Could only happen to me - a duck that drowned! I felt very bad about that. However, mum seemed to just take it in her stride and get on with her life - and moved across to the hens. She's laying again - quite frequently too. Anyways - thanks again Tim - and will let you know how things go here at Nisbet.
Nettle
 
Hi,

Yes, strange as it seems, ducks can drown - and get a chill quite quickly when in the water. Probably couldn't get out poor thing.

Wood shavings should only be used for ducks when they are 4 or 5 weeks old onwards - any younger and they can eat them - I usually start introducing them after 3 or 4 weeks but keep an eye to see if they are interested in them or not.

There's a small community here but everyone is helpful and I hope we can develop some really useful pages and good banter between us.

All the best and good luck with the new adventure!

Tim

P.S. A really good book I use is Chris & Mike Ashton's book - The Domestic Duck it covers just about everything you'll ever need to know.
 
Hi Nisbet and Venessa,
you both live in a lovely part of the country,the borders and the people are great.My brother is lucky and lives there too,at Gala (Galashiels for the english ;) ),if anyone on here hasn't visited the Borders I def,recomend doing so.
Anyway,back to ducks and geese.A friend of mine keeps Brecon Buff geese,they have a lake and the geese do very well.They also incubated and hatched some ducks (I don't know which breed)but the geese were not very nice to the ducks.When feeding the geese come very easily,and happily come out of the water to hand feed,the ducks are too scared to come close,and if they do,get aggresively pecked by the geese.
All the ducks have gone missing from the lake,so don't know if they have been attacked and killed by mink,fox,drowned by the geese or left on their own accord.
The lake is plenty big enough for 3 geese and 6 ducks,and have their own island with housing on the island.
I always assumed ducks and geese got on well together.Could someone with more experience say if they do get on well or not.
 
It really depends on the strain and how the geese have been reared - if they grew up with ducks, they would usually be fine. From what I understand from Chris Ashton, if a Goose is aggressive and rears her goslings, they are likely to be 'bin lid jobs' when they are older too. :o

In this case I guess it's just that the geese were there first and hadn't experienced sharing their lake with ducks when they were young enough to accept that as being 'normal'. Food only raises the stakes and will make them even worse.

Tim
 
Hi Lydia - thanks for your reply - and yes, you're right, we do live in a beautiful part of the country. Well - enquiries have revealed a couple of sources for geese. Have just spoken to a lady who has some Brecon Buffs (young ones) for sale - very locally - so that's a possibility. Couple of other potentials - so tis all looking positive. Isn't this a great site - folk are so kind and generous with their knowledge and advice. Hope the sun is shining on you today - it's a stunning morning here. Happy days. Nettle
 
Very cloudy and there's quite a breeze down here in Bedfordshire.

Brecon Buffs are great - I hopefully have a pair booked for this time next year.

Glad you like the forum, quite a small one but there's some really nice people on here.

Tim
 
That's brilliant Nettle,I like Brecon Buffs a lot.I'm very envious of you,space for poultry,sheep,pigs and sunshine as well.
Whenever I go to Scotland,well the borders,once I'm away from Carlisle and on the A7 it always feels like I'm coming home.
 
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