About 6 months ago I purchased 4 ducks to raise in my back yard. 4 adorable fluffy yellow baby ducks that I assumed would be just like raising chickens, only with extra water. This post looks at everything I have experienced in the past 6 months to give you an insight into what it is like raising ducks in a suburban Sydney back yard.

The set up

I initially began with marking out a suitable space in my yard and used star posts and a large roll of chicken wire I had spare to enclose the area. I have lost too many chickens and rabbits recently to a clever fox (or some other animal) so I can no longer let my animals free range in the yard.

I picked up a large dog house that was discarded at council clean-up time to use as their sleeping quarters and also picked up a discarded baby pool for them to swim in.

Flies, flies, everywhere flies

After having raised chickens for several years, I have completely eliminated flies from the chicken coop with very little effort, just by using deep litter and ensuring that it is regularly topped up. I honestly get no flies and no smell coming from my chicken coop.

However, no matter what material I tried to line the duck coop with it always turned into a fly infested ball of mud. Not only does the duck water turn to stinking muck water and need to be replaced twice a week (more on that later), but ducks do this fun thing where they dig holes with their beaks next to the water source and fill these holes with water. No idea why, but you end up with mini-mud holes everywhere, which is a fly haven.

I initially solved the fly problem by purchasing a cheap hanging mosquito net (one that should be hanging above a bed) from Ikea and completely surrounded the enclosure. This was very ugly, but very practical. No more flies.

It really stinks

Getting rid of the flies doesn't solve the source of the problem, which is muddy stinky water everywhere. I never thought raising four ducks would be like raising a pig. The combination of water plus dirt plus duck poo makes for a giant muddy smelly mess.

My later solution for this is quite technical, which I will go into in another post on another day. But I will point out that the solution for all this is to keep their water very clean and at a minimum you will need to replace their "pond" water at least twice a week. This is not a very fun job.

And there's more

I'm not sure if this is the same for all ducks, but my ducks have a tendancy to want to consume small amounts across the whole day rather than having one or two large feeding times. There are a few problems with this. Rats and mice can be attracted to the food, they are large heavy birds so they tend to knock their food containers around and any food that is not eaten gets trampled into the dirt and mud.

In regards to the noise, I ended up getting two males and two females and surprisingly it is the females that call out. The two females will quack very loudly if they lack anything (clean water or food or attention). If you don't leave food out overnight they will quack at you first thing in the morning. However, unlike a rooster they won't do this if they don't see you.

Overall raising ducks has been an interesting experience, however in terms of having them blend in with a suburban backyard this is very difficult if you want to provide access to fresh water, somewhere to swim and a place to eat and sleep. In my opinion they are just too high maintenance for the benefit unlike chickens which are very low maintenance.

I think I gained a lot of experience and would definitely have ducks if I had an acerage with a dam. They are fun to watch and are quite easy to handle.

I want to go over some of the important points to look out for when you go to buy baby chickens. Hopefully this will save you some hassles or disappointment.

- Always call before going to the store to make sure they have stock. Most places don't keep an overstock of animals. At the same time clarify the breed, price and confirm that they are sexed so you can have your choice of males and females. Note that sexing is not 100% and not every place gaurantees their sexing.
- Once you know what breeds are in stock do a bit of research into the breed. How many eggs do they lay, what size are the eggs, what is their temperament etc.
- Ask whether or not you need to bring a box. Try to avoid travelling long distances because water won't last long before being tipped.
- Before leaving have a place prepared for where the chickens can warmly and comfortably spend two weeks. Especially if you are in the process of building somewhere permenant. Make sure this temporary location is warm and also bird proof. There are many birds that will attack young chickens and can get into small spaces.
- When you get to the store make sure to inspect each chick:

• Check that the chicken has no problem standing. 
• Check that it has all toes and that none of the toes are pointing at odd angles
• Look at both eyes to ensure that both of its eyes can open (no eye-infections)

- Try to get the largest chicks possible, the smaller they are the more risk there is. Although they are cute when they are little it is much more practical to get larger chickens even if they are a week or two older.

Hopefully this gives you some helpful pointers for what to look out for when buying a baby chicken.

We've had an explosion of animals at our house in the past month or so.

I've been gradually honing my skills with building pens, having good sources of feed and keeping my animals from being eaten.

Firstly my lovely rabbit gave birth without me noticing. I was surprised one weeked when 5 baby rabbits hopped out to enjoy the sun. I had checked two weeks earlier because I was expecting them but found none. I'm beggining to think the parents have dug a lage whole underneath their pen.

Click on the image below to see a set of photos of my rabbits.



I lost 3 chickens recently to a feral cat. We caught it when it returned one night later to finish off the last chicken. It was very disappointing as they had just started laying. This weekend I went out and bought 6 new chicks.

My mother in law found a top quality hand-built doghouse by the side of the road and the first thing that came to mind was ducks. So I've decided to try out ducks for the first time. As it is council cleanup time on our streets, I also picked up a discarded baby pool for them to swim in. They certainly require a lot more cleaning than baby chickens.

I will remember to add some posts soon about raising these animals from baby to adult and my experiences.

While taking the family out to pick mulberries today we saw a very unusual sight. On the side of the road where two geese wandering along the footpath.

On the way home we decided to stop and have a closer look. We were lucky enough to spot the owner in his yard as we drove past.

It turns out the owner has had them for 7 years with one male and one female goose. The mother goose was currently keeping four eggs ready to hatch.

The good news is after a long chat we were given an egg (not one that the mother goose was hatching) to take home and eat and the owner said he would call me when the baby geese hatched and we could have them!



Interesting to hear that this man was raising the geese mainly as guard-dogs; they would honk loudly if anyone came too close to the yard, but they wouldn't bark for no reason like dogs do (no crying wolf).

The man had at times some trouble with neighbours, including someone calling the police at one point because the geese had wandered close to their yard.

Unfortunately my son couldn't pat them as geese like eating fingers, but it was a very interesting experience and I'm looking forwarding to sharing the delicious egg!

Mulberry season has started and with the past couple of days being over 30 degrees there should be plenty of ripe ones for picking. Mulberry are a super-healthy fruit that don't keep well so you won't find them wrapped in plastic at your local supermarket.

Grab a container and get your family out this weekend with and have some fun trying to spot the ripe ones and stretching to pick the elusive ones that hang just out of reach.

Mulberry's can be used to make muffins, pies and even mulberry wine.

I got this lot from a couple of trees near a local train station. You should be able to find some in local parks or near creeks where there are plenty of sunlight.

Pieris rapae or the Cabbage White Butterfly is quite common in gardens around Sydney.

Now that the weather is warmer you should start to see these floating around your garden. The problem being the green caterpillar, which likes to munch on cabbages, kale, cauliflower and other leafy greens.

I came across this blog post which provides some good quality images of what to look out for and also some suggestions for keeping their numbers down.

Personally, I prefer biological control, by not using pesticides (organic or not) to keep the garden healthy and numbers of beneficial insects high.

Super-trawlers getting you down?

Want a way to easily identify fish to make sure you are buying from stock that is sustainable and not contributing to declining fish stock?

Well now there is an app for that! Follow the link here to find out more about the app or search for "sustainable seafood guide" on the app store.

Handy, informative and a great talking point when you whip it out at restaurants before ordering your next seafood dish.