You must be mad! That was the comment, in various phrases and exclamations, I received when I announced my decision. I was going to give up my very well paid job in merchant banking to rear ducks, chickens and turkeys on our smallholding. From best bib and tucker to MUD and jeans - what was I thinking? Now I know it was the best thing I ever did. It's not about money, it's about being happy and fulfilled. My husband was totally in agreement and what made it even better was that we could spend so much more time together. He made the housing and I dealt with buying stock and caring for them. It was a team effort and we were so content. We started with 3 ducks and 3 chickens, and it went on from there.....
Snap, Crackle and Pop was a trio of Khaki Campbells and my very first ducks. There are various strains of this very good egg layer: mine were the Tonsel strain with a reputation of laying up to 340 eggs in their first year. I kept a record of their production and at the end of the first laying season I counted 342 eggs from one duck and 348 from the other. This meant that both girls only had a 3 weeks rest from laying – just enough time for a quick moult and then they started again. They were amazing and continued to lay many eggs for 8 years before finally retiring (although the numbers gradually reduced over the years). They finally died at the grand old age of 16.
When they first came to me, they were just 6 weeks old – and oh how loveable ducklings are. They are beautiful, comical and very therapeutic to watch, being so busy doing really nothing much at all! Once they reached 5 months of age and started laying like mad, I noticed a small manual incubator for sale in the local advertiser. Wondering what to do with so many lovely eggs, I thought it would be a good idea to hatch a few ducklings. So I invested £30 for the Brinsea Hatchmaker (this was in 1986) and loaded it up with 40 eggs which is the full capacity for this incubator. Well when 35 of them hatched, I was ecstatic and here the story begins....................
