Farmyard animals

Garden animals or farmyard animals is a term used for a motley collection of animals that can stay in the yard such as: ducks, grebes, geese, swans, peacocks, rabbits, waterfowls, chickens, ...

The food of swans consists of aquatic plants. However, they also graze on pastures. They dive never so far that they are completely under water. They have a wide beak to pull the water plants easily off. For that reason they have such long necks, which they can easily bend. Sometimes, you only see their tail and their legs as they stand on their heads and kicking their legs to fish the deepest plants. They protect their territory, which can be very large, as good as they can. Especially when they are breeding, the nest is defended aggressively. They are aggressive towards all kinds of waterfowl, which can have negative consequences for the smaller species.

Geese are also birds which have to be kept in couple. When purchasing geese, you have to take  your neighbours into account. Geese are excellent "guard dogs". By placing a green wall for example bushes, you can reduce the sound from geese. They will less react to the sounds from neighbors. Geese can obtain an age of up to thirty years, depending on the living conditions, nutrition and care. Geese are usually kept as a hobby animal.

Rabbits can be held both indoors and outdoors. Most rabbits like to live together. But be careful, never put two rattles together. This will end badly. In principle, a rabbit needs to make in a hutch or a cage at least three leaps in length. Because a rabbit sits a lifetime in a cage, he should feel comfortable in there. Rabbits are fairly active. Do also take in account: the bigger, the better! This applies to both indoor and outdoor. We also offer harnesses to let your rabbit run around in the garden. As ground cover for the cage, you can choose compressed wood chips or straw. Sawdust is not recommended because of the high content of dust which can be an attack on the rabbit lungs.

To keep peacocks, you already need a large area and certainly neighbors that can withstand the noise. A large territory is recommended to prevent escape behavior. Peacocks are also group animals. A male peacock is called a rooster, a female peacock a hen. Peacocks are herd animals and are best taken at least 2 females and possibly a rooster. It is recommended to not hold peacocks with other poultry because peacocks sometimes respond aggressively to these animals. Peacocks can run fast and and are good flyers.

For many waterfowl, pond water is often used as drinking water. The purity of the water is certainly an extremely important point. Dirty pond water has a lot of influence on the health of waterfowl and not in the positive sense. When the quality of the pond water is insufficient, separate provision of fresh and clean drinking water is definitely needed. A clean pond is much better. If you want to grow ornamental ducks, nest boxes are not a luxury.

Poultry

For the hobbyist, pheasants are very beautiful ornamental birds. The pheasant is the most famous wild gallinaceous in Belgium and the Netherlands. All pheasants are native from Asia, with some exceptions excluded. To keep pheasants you need aviaries. However, the behavior of pheasants varies by specie. The one specie can more nervous and more aggressive than the other specie. It is unwise to place mix pheasant species in an aviary together. Pheasants can live together with other peaceful species, when there is enough space, such like pigeons, peacocks, turkeys, goats, sheep and other small birds. All pheasants must have a permanent hutch to protect against rain, wind and other weather conditions. In the hutch, there should be perches provided. As soil sand is suitable. Place also nets instead of gauze at the top of the aviary. Nets move more if a pheasant flies against it and are easier to stretch and place. Pheasants eat mostly grains as main food, supplemented with green and weed or fruit. The choice between green and weeds or fruit depends on the type of pheasants. An average pheasant eats about one cup of ornamental poultry feed per day. When the animals walk outside, bugs are also eaten. In addition, pheasants also get stomach gravel. Pheasants need a daily supply of fresh water.

Keeping chickens is relatively easy: they mainly need a good shelter against strong sunlight and cold and just needs to scramble and pook a little bit. The choice of the chicken breed is primarily a matter of personal taste, the goal you have in mind with the chicken, but also the available amount of space. The chicken coop can be bought here ready-ready and needs a stick and a tray. You must let your hens out of their pen in the morning. Also, give them food and clean water. Pick up and look for the laid eggs, the sooner the better. Never leave eggs somewhere, this prevents them to stand on the eggs and eat them, or they may fertilise them. Chickens merrily scratch and peck until dusk. Most chickens go naturally to their pen to roost. You must then close their pen to make sure they can not fall as prey to predators such as foxes, because chickens certainly stand on their menu. The feces of the poultry must be regularly removed from the scoop. In winter, this should be done more often than in summer, because in the winter chickens sit longer on pole. Additionally, the pen must be cleaned thoroughly at least once a month. To prevent infection with lice, you should use after cleaning with soapy water, a disinfectant which is also available here. You get healthy chickens through proper care and hygiene. Chickens need water and chicken feed. That feed can consist of greens, seeds and grains, worms and insects. Chicken feed has also much influence on the quality of the eggs. Laying hens who moult, generally lays no eggs.

Quails are divided into ground quails, white quails and crest quails. The different species can be kept together in one aviary, but only separated to avoid intersections and battles. Quails are suitable to keep in a group in an aviary, but not together with chickens. In captivity quails can become 5 years old. Quails search on and in the soil for food and therefore have relatively large toes. With their sharp beaks, they can eat all kinds of food. Quails are sometimes somewhat frightened and shy animals, but they can be be tamed with a calm and consistent approach. Most species of quails can only be a just caught, because the feathers are easily losen. Adult quails are best fed with a complete ornamental bird. For keeping quails, no specific experience is required, but quails are less well suited for children.

The pearl hen belongs to the family of the pheasant species. The pearl hen is originally from Africa. For centuries in Europe and America the pearl hen is kept for slaughter and its eggs. The bird gets its name from the white pearls, the white dots on the feathers. Pearl hens are lively animals that adapt easily to their environment, have few demands but are very shy and skittish, like quails. Their trumpet screams are almost unbearable. They are therefore excluded from residential areas. They are very alert animals such as geese and also make noise when they feel unsafe. pearl hens are mainly held in barns for breeding. They are real resident birds and if you have a large site with grass and an adequate shelter with low bushes, and taller trees, they will certainly also want to proceed to breed. The hen lays her eggs on a well-covered place. There she incubates the eggs out in 26 to 28 days. The number of eggs is quite large: 20 to 30 eggs. During the breeding season they are not forgotten by the cock. The male keeps a good eye on the hen. When the chickens are hatched from the egg, they can best be directly  guided to a dry place, where they can spend two to four weeks. Even morning dew on the grass can be deadly for very young animals. In captivity they can be well fed with an ornamental bird grain, cereals and some insects. As they are outside, insects and mealworms are also on the menu. They also eat small vertebrates such as mice and reptiles.

Garden animals or farmyard animals