perchè le anatre....... Many ask me why the ducks and how I am.
I tried something as a craftsman, without the need to slaughter, and rabbits but also discarded milk and honey for logistical reasons remained the poultry.
Why do not the ducks and hens?
breeding ducks, compared to that of chickens, has the following favorable characteristics (taken from Giuseppe Zanotti "Anatracoltura" Edagricole):
1) Duck, bird, very quiet, no scratch and therefore does not damage gardens, parquet etc.. Indeed free of vegetation and soil by larvae, insects, mollusks, etc.. being tireless in the pursuit of cibo;
2) Se ha libero accesso nei luoghi paludosi, può migliorare le stato sanitario di quelle zone, contribuendo alla distruzione delle larve di zanzare;
3) L'anatroccolo ben presto non ha bisogno né del caldo artificiale, né di quello materno. Poco freddoloso, fa a mano del calore già a 15 giorni in estate e a 1 mese in inverno;
4) La sua alimentazione è molto più semplice, perché essendo meno esigente e di facile accontentatura sono sufficienti un unico pasto al mattino e pochi grani alla sera, quando è in libertà. Per la voracità di questi palmipedi, possono servire residui e sottoprodotti di mulini, zuccherifici, caseifici, oleifici, alberghi, mense, ecc.
5) Meno sensitive to the weather, the cold, sudden changes in temperature, the duck is not even demanding in terms of admissions. Just a rustic wooden huts, with walls and roof of reeds or straw;
6) The installation of a herd of ducks from eggs is much less expensive than an equal, potential for production of laying hens;
7) Another prerogative of the duck is his innate rusticity, almost established immunity from Newcastle and the fact of being subjected to very few diseases (practically only two cholera and pneumonia);
8) Given the evidence, the duck can compete very well with the chicken. The Khaki-Campbell continues to regularly produce up to 5 ° year with an average not less than 25% of that of the first year. The outline of the duck is shorter than that of the hen. A good duck is able to produce so many eggs in one year exceed 10-12 times the weight of his body. This justifies the greater voracity and speed of digestion compared with that of the duck, chicken,
9) of the duck breeding, for the limited needs of adults, the strong and early strength of ducklings, is the simplest and safer outcome;
10) The percentage of subjects required for the recovery of the breeding, since 50% of the ducks are kept depositrici also good on the 4th and 5th years of age, is less that of chickens;
11) and 'immune, or almost, from pica and cannibalism.
There can be no doubt, abandoning the idea of \u200b\u200ba hen, the question arises: What duck?
My requirements are:
a) a good hen
b) an animal that does not fly, I did not want to clip the wings and just as I did not want to find the ducks in the garden of a neighbor.
c) a social animal that can live with the family and especially children.
d) an animal, not noisy
e) an economic animal. I am not willing to spend tens of Euros for a duck.
After a long search on the Internet, especially in Italian and English documentation, I find that all these caratteristiche sembrano presenti nella Khaki-Campbell.
Quindi, mi dico, le Khaki-Campbell saranno le mie anatre.
Una altrettanto meticolosa ricerca mi porta a 100 km di distanza per acquistare da un appassionato al prezzo di 5 € due esemplari.
Ora, a distanza di 6 mesi, cosa posso dire?
Per quanto riguarda i punti menzionati da Giuseppe Zanoni:
1) --- gli anni passati mettevo il veleno per le lumache mentre ora non c'è alcun bisogno.
2) --- dove abito le zanzare la fanno da padrone, nella zona d'azione delle anatre le zanzare sono diminuite. Ho persino fatto uno stagno dove le zanzare non hanno accesso. In camera da letto le zanzare però persistono...
3,4,....11) A number of qualities that I appreciated. I'm inexperienced, I have little time and the results were excellent.
As for my research ..... the results were not so good.
c) Ducks, male and female, were friendly without giving too much confidence until 15 days ago. In the last two weeks, the male feels very territorial and tend to want to chase and catch the intruders. No problem, a duck-billed is not nothing but a blurred panataloni on, but seeing the duck that runs after the kids is a little "pet".
d) Sleeping outside under the windows of my bedroom, gave him a bit of discomfort. The problem was solved inviting them to andare a dormire in un pollaio fai-da-te. Ora i rumori sono attuti e si dorme tranquillo.
Quindi in definitiva, sono soddisfatto se non per il maschietto che si deve tranquilizzare altrimenti..... aspetto il periodo delle arance.
Dear colleagues and friends, the Italian Association 
