Recent content by hooktontravel

glad to find this. i have some year-old boys i offered but no one needs them... and i have too many males! so they need to freezer camp, but i've actually NEVER eaten duck before and i'm not sure what to do for a good first-duck-experience with mature (probably more tough!) meat.

Yes. any edible oil oil should help. maybe even mineral oil in a pinch (a friend used that once to get a chunk of carrot stuck in my horse's throat to go down) (i know this is much later than you posted, but hopefully it will help someone else along the way!)...

Chicken saddles for the favorite hens are a great idea. Also you can entirely remove the outer shell of the spur with no harm to the roo. It will grow back again but meanwhile is much shorter and less tangling and tripping for him. There’s a ‘hot potato ‘ method but just holding a wet cloth on...

it can also be really bad for the birds' air sacs. i think it's only approved as an anti-caking additive for feed. I know lots of folks use it for bug prevention but it is very low effectiveness and high inhalation risk for humans AND the animals. really bad for your lungs!!

i had no idea this was a thing. from what I was just reading it doesn't sound like they're force fed at all, just allowed free choice of the mash and kept in confinement to add fat and let the muscle get less-tough... I feel a lot better about that than tube-feeding birds for foie gras (which...

I have mine sleep together. tiny flock... it's down to 5 since my duck got eggbound and died, but the drake still sleeps with the chickens. they roost, he's on the floor. no food or water inside the house, and I made bucket feeders with PVC elbows so they are outside. We have buckets to drink...

oh shoot! I never even knew I needed BYC clothing but now I know. good thing i can remedy that lack in my life. OOOO, bumper stickers! ohhhhh, tattoos!!!

That looks nice and large! Did you line it with hardware cloth or are there boards inside? anything to keep small predators out? Around here there are weasels that can go through anything down to 1 inch!! I like this idea! i've seen yard fences from pallets, but usually when I see things built...

Same boat with my 1200. I'm muddling through. I know mine are carefully 'put away' in a 'safe place'... grrrrr. might have to call the company and ask for a new set, if I can't turn them up. sorry i'm no help -- just commiseration.

Yes! Ivermectin.This study looks at ivermectin administered via feed. I did read the pour on label in the feed store yesterday and it says a 28 day withdrawl for meat animals... I would definitely try the ivermec for your birds! most of the breeders around me use it if their birds have a...

Actually, the study I read showed it in the yolks for 6 days. They have a list of all sorts of medications used in birds, approved and not approved in usa or EU and what the residues in eggs were. Try this: http://www.farad.org/publications/miscellaneous/LayingHensEggResidues.pdf It was fed...

around here in winter i'm careful feeding warm cooked things on cold days. If it's below freezing, and especially below zero, the steam can cause frostbite on the combs and wattles. otherwise, they DO love it! I actually often use crumbles or mash and mix in hot or warm water for them. chicken...

Any reason why not feed a higher protein feed to all the birds (like a grower) and just offer them extra calcium free-choice? I have a microflock of chickens and a drake right now... all over 1 year. I fed grower up until the girls started laying, and then on for a couple months after with...

It should do. Mine are all large fowl, BUT they were using it from about 2 months old if I remember correctly, and they were much smaller then. One scissorbeak was even still chick sized most of her short life, and she would use it too (despite a special creep-feed setup with wet mash available)...

Sand is supposed to be excellent for outside. my guys are just in a big pen (200 feet of snow fence zip-tied to trees) in the woods, so i let them muddle in the leaves and stuff. I haven't put a fully-enclosed area or had to do footing for it. I plan to move the pen periodically. It's one duck...