Taking On Livestock, Part I
(Page 6 of 8)
March/April 1987
By John Vivian
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Ducks can be raised in a pen or on pasture as easily as chickens, and grow to a plump maturity quickly on just about any feed you offer or they forage. Unlike chickens, ducks never seem to get tough and gamey with age, either.
The same virtues can be attributed to geese. But geese are mean and aggressive and can harvest your garden to bare soil if you let them "weed" it. Duck and geese eggs are delicious, if a little leathery when fried. However, they taste fishy if the birds have a pond to grub in, and tend to come on only in spring. (One exception: A good Khaki Campbell duck can lay almost year-round.)
Guinea birds, peafowl, domestic quail, pheasants, pigeons (raised for the young offspring, or squab), turkeys, and wild-strain quail and ducks are all special projects needing special equipment and skills, but offering special rewards. If you have the heart to slaughter milk squab, for instance, you can enjoy some right fancy eating. Guineas screech horribly, but make great watch birds and roasters. Game birds require state fish and game permits and are terribly nervous, but sell well for put-and-take shooting. Turkeys convert feed to meat more efficiently than even ducks, but are hard to raise. They sicken easily, and young poults are so dumb that if they see one of their number stick its head in an unscreened water bowl and drown, they're all apt to try it.
If at all possible, visit with an expert before trying any of the specialty birds. Some helpful books are Van Hoesen's Guinea Fowl ($6.95 postpaid from Stromberg Publishing, Rt. 77, Pine River, MN 56474), the Luttmanns' Ducks & Geese in Your Backyard ($10.45 postpaid from Rodale Press, Inc., 33 E. Minor St., Emmaus, PA 18049), and Leonard Mercia's Raising Your Own Turkey ($8.95 postpaid from Garden Way Publishing, Schoolhouse Rd., Pownal, VT 05261).
One buck and two does can produce over 100 pounds of meat a year.
Rabbits
Rabbits are good for meat (the flesh has more protein and less fat and calories per pound than any other home-raised meat), hides (or fur, if you raise Angoras), and lots of excellent manure (which won't burn plants if applied fresh to a garden). They need very little space, won't disturb you (or the neighbors) with any noise, and-of course-are very prolific. A good doe can produce a half-dozen two-pound (dressed) young rabbits every two to three months. So with a home rabbitry of just one buck and two does, you can enjoy well over 100 pounds of delectable fried rabbit every year.
Our domestic rabbits came from burrowing European stock, so they'll dig right out if kept in an outdoor pen. Surprisingly, perhaps, adults will also fight-silently but viciously. So the animals require secure individual cages (Fig. 9). You can build simple hanging cages out of wire mesh (see Bob Bennett's Raising Rabbits Successfully, $10.45 postpaid from Williamson Publishing Co., address above). The open mesh will let the manure and urine fall below, where you can raise wonderful red worms for fishing. Each doe's cage should contain a nesting box (Fig. 10) if it's exposed to strong drafts or winds.
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