We have experienced many ups and downs when we first started our poultry farm and I have to tell you, I learned a lot. Many folks when they first start thinks that raising a couple of chickens will be easy. You have to figure in all the expenses will come with the cost of raising any members of your flock. About a half a year, we started off with a few chickens and ducks. A month later, we added 100 plus different varieties of poultry and game birds. A month after that, our inventory got over 200.
Do you truly think we were prepared to expand so fast? If you answered yes, then you are mistaken from our intentions. Our first priority regarding to our flock is housing, predators, food, and most important being the health and well being of our expanding family. With over 200 birds dependent on us, we were purchasing approximately almost 1 ton of food per month. Yes.. They eat a lot. Poultry of any type can be very dirty so cleanliness and space is very important.
There are animals that love eating birds including our dog so safety is a big concern. Now you can of course buy poultry netting, wirecloth, or even chain link fence. That will help protect from ground predators but what about bird of prey? This was a very hard lesson for us since we lost 40 to 60 birds including Turkeys, quails, chickens, and ducks. A fox can be very persistent and very brave. This was our biggest problem which can chew through wire, dig holes, and being very cunning when they are hungry. The next step of protection which we thought long and hard was electric fencing. At 7000 volts, our poultry is safe but anyone or anything that is unaware of the fencing will get a shock and possibly kill them so please be very careful while working around live wires.
Now one thing that we never thought of while dealing with a huge variety of different birds is compatibility. Which birds will work well with which birds. This will definitely take some research. Turkeys are cute and sweet, ducks are slow and beautiful, some breeds of chickens are beautiful and lay many eggs. We did find that Turkeys can be unforgiven if they get messed with by another type of bird. Ducks can be stubborn and unforgiven with a memory of an elephant. Don't get me started on some breeds of chickens and there mating habits with there aggressiveness. When you plan on buying different breeds, do everyone a favor and ask questions on forums or even in person. You will save yourself from a lot of heartache and quarantine period for injured birds.
Now don't get me wrong and yet think of this carefully because everyone one, every setup, and every farm is different. Stay with what you can handle and remember, all chicks grow up with there own personalities.