Hi Zootjsj and welcome to the wonderful world of poultry. Your scheme so resembled ours I couldn't resist a reply, but as beginners, it truly is a mere 2 cents worth. We have 4 Indian runners, 2 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Brown Chinese and 2 Toulouse. How's that for a mimic of your plans! We raised all of them from a home made brooder - as wonderfully educational as it was messy - so fair warning. All were very different. As we put it, "the chicks were dizzy, the ducklings were busy, but the goslings would look you in the eye!" The "buffies" (recommended by my Mom who raised birds for years) are good layers (brown eggs) very sweet and easy to handle. I'm told they're a dual purpose bird (okay for the table) but can't verify from experience. Were so pleased with them weÂre planning for more, or a good buff roo as they do go broody and will populate. The Runners are equally reliable layers, but too flighty to sit on a nest. We have 2 drakes and 2 ducks. They are very "patterned" birds - so what ever routine you begin, know that they'll count on its repeating, everyday. They will rid your gardens of bugs & slugs (of which we have no shortage in these parts). We give ours range of the garden in the mornings, it's hard to herd them back to the pen though. Our drakes are fiercely protective too, though not at all aggressive to humans. Early last summer when the geese were younger, though 3 times the size of the runners, we would put them together in the same yard to keep them safe while we were away. Rudy, our lead drake, would not back down for the sake of size. He once latched on to the tail of a goose that got too close I guess. She ran around the coop twice bellowing and trying to shake him loose. He held on tight, flailing and bobbing along behind her like a loose diaper. Finally Lincoln, our gander got involved and then things got even more exciting! Suffice to say that after that we got busy fencing a separate paddock for the geese. We free range our geese when we can. I believe they're healthier for it. Ours do not wander much. We raised our Chinese (thinking they were Africans), and added the Toulouse after we lost a pair in a dog attack. And yes, as someone mentioned, Fido across the street, who wags his tail every day as you retrieve the mail can surprise you and become your #1 predator. In nearly a year, this was the cause of our only loss (though I think weÂve also been plain lucky). We are finding our gander to be a bit of a handful now that breeding season is approaching. We tried not to get too chummy as we raised them and I would offer you the same advice. Don't hand feed them, etc. We are simply learning to work with/and around him now, and fortunately have the space to do so. We don't have children, which would worry me at the same level as an aggressive dog with kids about. Don't know if its due to his breed, upbringing or individual nature, but he is beginning to slowly charge us at night when its time for lock down. The Toulouse are more mellow, but were flock raised and are now beholden to our gander - so can't tell you much more about them. Just be careful with these guys. Oh and yes, gosh are the Chinese noisy! Good fencing and night shelter is a must, at least around here - we went the extra mile and have been grateful for it - cage wire 8"-12" underground then overlapped with chicken wire 6ft or so up! We supply grain and layer pellets supplemented with greens we've grown on our own. All are terrific foragers if you plan to free range. We get lots of advice from the homesteader down the way who blatantly told us that despite all you do, you have to expect some losses. If you have farmers in your area, make friends and ask lots of questions. Hope this was helpful. Good luck. You'll do just fine with what ever you decide, have a ball and learn lots along the way. Please, please keep us posted. No matter where youÂre at as your plans unfold, we can inevitably learn from your individual experiences too!

I feed the birds all year sort of. They start with cleaning off the sunflowers that they plant the previous fall and continue to clean off the grasses, berries, and corn that I sometimes grow just for them. Of course I have water out all the time for them and a heated dish in the winter. I feed the big birds cat food with bread or cereal in it. They get any left overs when I cook a turkey or ham. I make my own concoction of peanut butter, prunes, hulled sunflower seeds, rolled oats, millet, black oil sunflower and a few other things they like to pick at. I buy millet, black oil sunflower and striped sunflower by the sack and keep it in large bins in the hall along with peanuts,hulled sunflower seeds, oats and rabbit pellets. Once in a while I will give them a treat of meal worms from the petstore or cut up fruit. And sometimes I will get a seed bell or spray millet just to watch them. I also ground up dry catfood last year and put it in the feeder. The little birds get much needed fat and protein to keep warm that way. I have the usual black and white feather dusters, the blue jays, lots of chickadees (black capped and boreal), nuthatches (red and white breasted), woodpeckers, northern flickers, juncos, finches, sparrows, the odd grosbeaks, waxwings, and redpolls and I even had a kestral last spring. Not many crows unless it is a really warm winter. My computer is in the corner of the front bedroom where there are the old corner windows. I feed the birds from about 5 feeders and baskets hanging from the big white spruce about 2 feet from the corner of the house here. I feed the rabbits under the tree and the dish feeders on the fence from big heavy ceramic dishes. It is such a routine for me to feed the birds after I feed the dogs on winter mornings. My neighbours are used to the crazy lady in her fleece pjs out feeding the birds every morning and the dogs go out and wait by the fence for the maggies to drop food for them. Quite the scene to watch! The maggies are very comical and they literally talk to me. I can't stand to see anything go hungry or be cold and the little birds seem to like to feast under the protective branches of this 50 foot spruce. My neighbour across the street says she likes to sit with her coffee in the morning and watch the bunnies and birds eating. And that reminds me: Must find a bale of hay for the bunnies. Last year I fed a cat all winter but coudln't catch her. She left me mice most mornings under the kennel....... I hope we have a mild winter or at least get some snow. It is bitterly cold without a little insulation. Ginny

I wouldn't,..only because magpies will discourage other birds from visiting your yard, they shouldn't be fed. Too many in your yard is called a pest,..are on top of the food chain and can decimate other birds. Crows/raven and magpies are tough birds and can survive northerly harsh winters in Canada and Alaska pretty well. A local town here called out for a decimation of crows the other year and got rid allot by shooting them. Remember in Switzerland about 50 years ago, there was a bounty on magpies.

DD, I was thinking the same thing about how well they'd work in a Fall harvest-type table! I'm having fun playing with them. Did a couple more variations yesterday for breakfast again but I had no time to take pics as we were heading out to our courtyard garden to lay more flagstone. OA: yes, we all noticed how lovely the cantelope looked on the cakestand. Thanks again for your input. I think it was spot on and it helped me pull my table together more . . . which it badly needed! Magpie: you have that apple and lemon pitcher, too? Cool! I don't have the watermelon but I was gifted with this tropical pineapple pitcher a few years ago (I have this thing for pitchers of all kinds, too): Do you remember back when painting ceramics was very popular? I made this pear pitcher then and still enjoy using it. This is the cab in my kitchen where I keep them displayed during the Summer & Fall months. Here a few of my veggie and fruit pieces. This cab is usually MUCH more organized, but I scrambled it up when I started searching for pieces to use with my Franciscan Apple dishes the other day: I know what you mean about Franciscan dinnerware prices! It took me quite a while to find my apple plates for a reasonable price. I was not about to pay the high price most dealers were asking for them! As for the flower arrangment, thank you! I saw a similar one on an online fresh flower arrangement site. The shop was in NYC and they wanted almost $300 to send that fresh flower arrangement . . . OMG! I can't even imagine spending that much for fresh flowers! Anyhoo, I printed out the pic and spent a morning shopping for the right pot and silk flowers to duplicate it. I think I spent $20, ten of which was for the pot . . . and it's lasted for three years so far ;^D Mo, thanks! My laundry room was a dump, too, until I decided to make it special for me . . . and to heck with it not matching the rest of our house! It makes me happy to be in there now. Karen, thank you! And thanks for the heads up on the Fourth of July placemats. I hope everyone has a chance to look for them. We leave on the 26th for our family reunion on Lake Huron in Michigan and will totally miss the Fourth celebrations here. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to skip putting up my decs for it this year. Lynn