Raising Chickens and Ducks in a Backyard Flock

Check out our Backyard Chicken & Fowl Keepers Facebook group. It’s a place for you to share ideas, ask for help, and make connections with your neighbors across the Finger Lakes Region.

If you want to raise ducks as pets, to sell eggs, or even for meat raising ducks has its pros and cons, it’s important to know the honest truth about caring for ducks before you begin.

It is highly unlikely a Blue Jay would make an attack attempt at a full grown chicken, but they have been known to hunt and kill chicks, and raid nests for eggs, and harrass bakyard flocks.

Predators like foxes, coyotes, and even small carnivores like weasels are incredibly smart animals that shouldn’t be underestimated, I learned that the hard way. The attacks were incredibly stressful for not only my flock, but also myself.

As chicken keepers, we want to provide our flock with nutrition that will keep them healthy and laying lots of eggs! How and when to supplement chickens with additional vitamins and extra protein.

Winter is the unoffical chicken-planning season! Use this time to be sure place your hatchery order, and plan the housing and care for your new baby chicks.

Domestic ducks can peacefully cohabitate with backyard chickens. Duck and chickens basic feed and shelter requirements are very similar, which makes it possible for them to be coop mates, but there are a few considerations that you will need to keep in mind when adding waterfowl to a chicken coop.

When managed properly, the deep litter method provedes your chickens with dry, fluffy and absorbent bedding, and you will have a happier, healthier flock with less maintenance.

Five gadgets that will not only making keeping chickens easier, but help to keep your flock safe and happy.

Preventing problems in ducks due to niacin deficiency is as easy as offering your ducklings a healthy well rounded diet that includes niacin rich foods that they need to grow healthy and strong.