Owain Llyr Davies

Hi, I'm Owain Llyr and I've been keeping waterfowl ever since I could walk. I live on a 218 acre beef and sheep farm in  Mid Wales, it is actually the remotest farm in the whole of Wales, being 3 miles from the closest council road. We have no mains electricity, so most of our power comes from a generator, this has presented many barriers while keeping waterfowl but this is a small price to pay in order to have all of space we have for my totally free range poultry and waterfowl to roam.

It was my late grandfather who first sparked off my fever for keeping waterfowl, when he kept Khaki Campells back when I was a small child. Though I loved keeping chickens, the ducks seemed to have such great personalities that I soon had a pair of Commercial Aylesburys who were christened Sally Swimmer and Julia Duck (I later discovered that actually 'Julia' and 'Duck' didn't actually alliterate!). I soon was keeping Black East Indians, Bantam Silver Appleyards, Runners and Buff Orpingtons to name but a few. I was very fortunate to have had neighbours who also kept Black East Indians so we could introuduce new blood into each others flocks free of charge when required.

It was while looking for some geese that I first got really interested in pure breeds & showing. After searching for our nearest Brecon Buff breeder, we got in touch with the Ashtons. I was enthralled to see their collection of pure breeds, all with their own standard of perfection that breeders were aiming to match. Well, we left; still with no geese, but instead with Dr. Ashton's book 'Domestic Geese'. The book introduced me to the concept of exhibiting.

Soon I had bought a pair of Brecon Buff geese and, in the autumn of 2003 exhibited my Brecon Buff goose in the Shropshire & Mid Wales Waterfowl Exhibition. I went home with two prize cards and two rosettes, of which the biggest achivement was 'Best Medium Goose/Gander'!