Hi Kim

we have a big pond 6.5m x 10.5m holding 40000 litres ........ we put it in 2 years ago so we had extra water for fire fighting - we suffer with bushfires in summer because we live near a military training area and they just dont care and often drop live bombs into tinder dry bush when the temp is over 40C

the pond just cried out for ducks swimmng on it and we are still thinking of putting marron or yabbies (both types of freshwater crayfish ) in it ...... maybe even some fish ..........

ducks are definatly ok without a pond as long as they have a big container they can get into and especially keep their beak area wet ......... and duck eggs are yummie ....... bigger and richer than chook eggs

getting stale or left over veggies from a shop is not an option for us because what we feed our chooks needs to be pesticide residue free or the eggs make me sick .......

they do get plentiful year round grazing as we irrigate about 2000 sq m of rhodes grass, kikuya and couch grass which gives the goats green pick in summer and also helps reduce the fire risk arroud the house and also means my wheelchair doesnt get bogged in the dry sand in winter we plant pasture in the goat padocks and the chooks have access to them

there are of course also lots of bugs and spiders arround with our warm climate

mmmm I am starting to think maybe these chooks have plenty to eat without me worrying ......... but they always come running at afternoon feeding time and seem hungry

the last 2 days I tried them on a little bit of copra meal and although they didnt seem keen they did eat some so it could be a possibilty to give them a little feed .......we feed the goats copra as a part substitute for grain as it is gf and not sprayed with pesticides, high in protein and relatively low in carbs

with our infertile mineral deficient soil and the flea problems we need to give the chooks daily minerals (dolomite, copper , and seaweed extract )and sulphur .......... sulphur works well for external parasites and combined with limesand keep the fleas reasonably in check ....... I have heard about diatomaceous earth but it is very expensive here - limesand is cheap as it is mined here from the coastal sand dunes which are 90% lime

LOLOL at the dogs and the babypoo !!! our dog also likes his daily poo both chook and goat ......... he has learned with the goats that if he nuzzles them in the right spot they will provide him with a fresh serving !!!!

koz