In article , HC wrote:

Have you thought about a couple of ducks? They don't scratch in the
garden and will eat snails etc as well as give you some eggs. A bit
dish for water (or small tub) sunk into the ground makes a good swimming
hole for them too.

My younger son is 3 months old, so he won't be drownproofed for a couple of
years. I thought ducks had to dabble their food, resulting in a fair bit of
mud around?

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"In Melbourne there is plenty of vigour and eagerness, but there is
nothing worth being eager or vigorous about."
Francis Adams, The Australians, 1893.

The message
from Chookie contains these words:

In article , HC wrote:

Have you thought about a couple of ducks? They don't scratch in the
garden and will eat snails etc as well as give you some eggs. A bit
dish for water (or small tub) sunk into the ground makes a good swimming
hole for them too.

My younger son is 3 months old, so he won't be drownproofed for a couple of
years. I thought ducks had to dabble their food, resulting in a fair
bit of
mud around?

They don't have to dabble their food, but they will creat a fair
amount of mud whenever it rains. Also, their pooh is very copious wet
and smelly compared with hens. and iirc, more likely to be a source of
salmonella which your baby could ingest. For the same reason, duck eggs
are less safe for babies and toddlers to eat unless they have been
cooked at a high temp for at least 10 minutes (as in a cake). You
wouldn't (safely) feed a baby a soft-boiled, poached or scrambled duck
egg.

The number of eggs laid per year by ducks is tiny compared with the
number laid be a professional egg-laying hen..look it up.


Janet

Janet