Garden Machinery
Garden Leisure
- Greenhouse Heaters
- Loungers
- Midgeaters
- Gas Barbecues
- Charcoal Barbecues
- Masonry Barbecues
- Furniture Sets
- Benches
- Greenhouses
- Water and Light
- Garden Sheds
- Gazebos
- Firepits
- Wildlife Boxes
- Rock and Stone
- Weather Vanes
- Rabbit Hutches
- Urns & Planters
- Sundials
- Birdbaths
- Garden Swings
- Climbing Frames
- Croquet Sets
- Wildlife Cameras
- Bird Feed
Develop your garden.
Livestock Gardens
Keeping any form of livestock requires careful consideration. You must ensure that your garden or plot of land will adequately meet the needs of the animals you are planning to keep.
There are many choices, some of the more usual are chickens, hens, goats, and rabbits. The following brief guides are design to help get an understanding of the basic upkeep and care requirements for your livestock gardening plans.
You should also seek professional advice from suppliers in your local area, they will be able to help you with any specific questions that you may have.
Duck Ailments
If you keep your ducks in a clean environment, they should live happy and healthy lives. Make sure that they have clean, dry bedding in a house with good ventilation.
Water should be clean and accessible. Ducks require access to a water source of some kind, ideally a pond, in order to wash their eyes and feathers.
Watching for problems and ailments are part of the general care and maintenance that come with livestock. Watch your birds each day for any signs of illness: lack of appetite, limping, straining or generally slow behaviour -which generally means a bird is not well.
Worm the birds routinely twice a year.
Note: A vet can only prescribe Antibiotics in the UK. Follow appropriate withdrawal times for antibiotics and any other treatments.
The following list covers a range of ailments and their symptoms, you should always seek professional advice from you local vet to confirm any problems, and also to ensure the best cure is selected.
Aspergillosis
Symptoms: laboured breathing, which can also be a symptom of pneumonia. Cause: spores from mouldy bedding, especially hay, which should be avoided.
Botulism
Symptoms: loss of muscular control of legs, wings and neck - hence the term limber-neck. Birds are unable to swallow. Cause: toxins produced by bacteria (Clostridia) in decaying animal and vegetable waste. The toxins cause the problem.
Coccidiosis
Symptoms: red blood in the droppings; thin birds because coccidia attack the lining of the gut and nutrients from food are not absorbed. Birds may be ill for some time: weeks, not days. Cause: ground dirty with droppings from other birds which carry coccidia. Coccidia are protozoa and cannot therefore be eliminated with antibiotic. They are more common in summer in hot, wet conditions.
Enteritis
Inflammation and bleeding in the gut can be produced by bacteria or duck viral enteritis. DVE is rare, but will kill most affected birds. Prompt treatment with a vaccine obtainable from Holland, obtained through your vet, is the only solution. Symptoms: if birds are listless and suffering from pinkish droppings in hot spells in summer, this is more likely to be a bacterial form of enteritis. Watch the wild birds. If blackbirds etc. are ill too, then your ducks do not have DVE.
Lameness
Symptoms: hot leg, swollen ankle or swollen hock. . Cause: bacterial infection. Maggots Symptoms: dirty vent. Maggot infestation may not be readily noticed. Cause: birds do not have enough water for keeping themselves clean, particularly at the vent, during hot weather in summer. Injured birds may also have flies' eggs deposited at the injury.
Mites
Symptoms: birds scratch a lot. Cause: mites are caught from other birds at bird shows, and from new birds you may have introduced. It is possible that they can also be caught from wild birds. Lice, which are insects, also live on the birds. These live on bits of feather, and are grey in colour instead of red.
Pasteurella
Symptoms: loss of appetite, increased thirst, watery (then green) droppings, loss of co-ordination. Cause: bacteria in the environment. Respiratory problems Symptoms: the bird sits hunched up and bobs its tail up and down to assist in breathing. Cause: bacterial infection, especially in spells of intensely wet weather. Bear in mind that the symptoms of Aspergillosis are similar, but this will not respond to antibiotic treatment.
Sinus Problems
Symptoms: weeping nostrils and puffed up cheeks. Cause : bacteria in the environment infect the sinuses.
