Recent content by WadeMD

best guess is bacterial infection. Likely some form of meningitis. Strong antibiotics worked to save some of mine but not all of them.

You certainly can add bacteria to any freshwater aquatic system filtration to help jump start it. They will occur there naturally anyway, but it speeds up the process. In regards to the duckponics system - mine was a failure. My 1200g pond received too much waste material from my 7 ducks that...

A friend's dog managed to mouth one of my 9 week old pullets. It tore the skin on her thigh. There isn't enough there to stitch, so I intend to keep it clean and keep her isolated until it heals over. The bleeding was fairly minor, but the risk of infection is high. I washed the wound with...

Anyone have any links to or reviews of or have a good pump for use in a duck pond? I am ok with a physical pre-filter to stop items like large feathers, but I need a low wattage, decent head pump that will not plug readily. Any recommendations? Thanks!

>>schphlop<< Especially not entertaining when a duck has been eating a lot of grass and needs to be handled!

I have straw in their nesting area, but they have ignored my attempts at creating boxes. Are yours open or closed top? Part of my problem is that the larger ducks haven't started laying yet - only the Chocolate Runners (not the F&W either, although I cannot tell if the black runners are or...

I just cleaned out my pond (I have to do that every 2-3 weeks) and found 3 eggs in the bottom of it. Stupid Runners just drop them wherever the urge hits them. I fear I am losing lots of eggs so I have started locking them in their hut at night and waiting til later in the morning to let them...

As noted in the other thread... It has also been introduced to the United States where its high growth rate has caused it to become an environmental problem, especially in Florida and Texas. It has been officially designated by the USDA as a "noxious weed" (the term "noxious" refers to its...

works for chickens... Maybe I should find some golfballs to put in the nesting areas if your experiment works.

A couple of my runners have started as well... they drop them where they stand! Just this morning, I watched a chocolate runner do a little dance, drop an egg where she stood, then blast off to join the rest. And she was standing less than 2' from nesting area (inside the shed is straw and I...

... and hot peppers have no effects on birds. They don't have the receptors for capsaicin.

My ducks have finally started to drop eggs (laying would be too considerate a word for them)! the ducks just hit the 4 month old mark – and we have started getting well formed, nicely shaped eggs! They are a little smaller than I expected, but that could be due to them either being early eggs...

Quote: I picked up these birds to be layers primarily, so a male just dilutes what I'm getting in the end. But, more than that, I don't want fertilized eggs, especially since I already have a good number of people asking me for them. Its very bad if someone happens to have a newly developing...

Unfortunately, both times it has been in the pond and I cannot see whats going on underwater post-stacking. The duck doesn't actually make much of a noise aside from a fast "clicking" sound - not a raspy hissing or quack, just a staccato noise. That noise seems to increase when its got its...

My cayuga is also really stand-offish. She only wants to be a part of the crowd, and usually from the back. She's totally passive when I have to pick her up or move her for some reason (far less spazzy than the runners for certain), but she will never come within reach unless she can't get...