Reviews by jspeese

Nice article. I just have chickens now because we moved and don't have enough space, but in the past I've always had ducks and geese. As far as raising ducklings, I do prefer a naturally broody breed over an incubator. Duck eggs require a lot of turning and you therefore need a top of the line automatic turning incubator. With a manual one it is hard to do the turning needed for a top hatch (although they are great for chicken, quail, pheasant eggs). And you need a big incubator if you want to hatch goose eggs. Muscovies and mallards are excellent natural mothers, Rouens and Blue Swedes will go broody as well. I've even had Indian runners go broody, although I had to pen the mother and her babies or take the babies from her because runners are so hyper and will leave the babies stranded on pasture. My favorite goose breed is the American buff, they are pretty and make excellent setters and mothers. By the way, I've read Konrad Lorenz's book and it is a delightful read, written for laypeople to enjoy as well as scientists. The title is "Er redet mit dem Vieh, den Voegeln und den Fischen" (He talks to the animals, the birds and the fish) and I believe the English version is titled "Ring of Solomon" (which is the title of one of the chapters in the book and refers to King Solomon who with his wisdom could supposedly talk to animals as well).

Great article. I would mention one thing from personal experience, however. I never had any luck marking eggs under a broody hen and removing unmarked ones. Inevitably eggs get broken or pushed out. Also, broody hens are notoriously dumb about getting back on the right nest after an eating, drinking, defecation and exercise break. If there are other eggs/nests around, she is just as likely to get on them instead and let her own developing eggs chill and die. It's best to move her into a separate pen or perhaps a small separate coop. She may resent being moved and quit, but usually not, especially if you do it at night. But I've found that leaving her in a nest in the main coop with other eggs being laid is almost a guaranteed loss. Waterfowl cannot be moved, but fortunately they aren't dumb like chickens about getting back on the right nest.

This was really cool. Other than pigeons, I've raised all of these at one time or another and my experiences have been much the same. As far as chickens go, I'd pick the Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire Red and the Plymouth Rock as top utility type breeds, plus attractiveness. For less practical but pretty, I'd go with cochins or polish. Not as crazy about the hybrids because they aren't sustainable. As far as ducks go, the Rouen and the Blue Swede are my favorites, and Muscovies are very practical. As far as geese, the American Buff is my choice, hands down. Calm, pretty, excellent setters and mothers. One of the biggest advantages of (at least adult) geese is that they are too big for most hawks to bother with. A good strong fence provides protection from dogs and the like but it's so hard to stop an aerial attack. The only breed that I don't like are the Chinese, they can be mean (especially to other birds). I've only raised broad breasted bronzes and whites and if you have only a few, it's hard at slaughtering time because you do indeed become attached to them for their "goofiness". But like broiler chickens, they are not sustainable to keep because they get so large and the toms anyway cannot breed. My experience with guineas has been much the same. The adults are tough, hardy birds, but the keets are rather fragile. I've had the best luck incubating the eggs and raising the keets in a brooder. If you don't have a lot of room, Coturnix are great. You need the right equipment and the right-size feeders, waters, etc., but they are very easy to raise. Bobwhite on the other hand I found quite difficult to raise. The only pheasants I've ever raised were ringnecks. Other than the fact that the cock birds get very aggressive (to other cock birds) when they are breeding age, I never found them to be that much more difficult to raise than chickens or turkeys. But if you want a very practical small livestock species to raise for meat and maybe eggs too, you really can't beat ducks if you have enough room. They are friendly, hardy, non-demanding, largely disease and parasite-free, and you get a much better meat bird than you do with a chicken. And if noise is an issue, Muscovies are practically mute. Even with a large breed chicken (other than a broiler), most of the weight is bone, especially the breast. If you have pasture, then I'd pick geese. If space is limited, then Coturnix.