ALABAMA!!

[rancher hicks]

The scovy ladies are on the prowl for nest sites. They thought they needed an aerial view. "Dad" is lavendar.
Eggs for sale soon!

I understand Muscovy's are not prolific layers is that so?

 

[BexB]

I seriously thought about heat, but my flock did fine, the younger ones all piled up in a nesting box. They are smarter than I thought.

I did lose my head roo, but not to the cold, to a stupid cat.I think it was attacking just for fun. I tried to nurse my roo back to health but his injuries were too great. And I didn't want him to suffer any more. He was such a good roo. I am worried I won't find another as good as him. How do I keep cats away? My dog does a great job, when he is out there, but he's not a real dog LOL he is a couch potato . Since we moved here, 1&a half years ago, we have trapped 5 cats. One, I caught in the act of pulling a baby out of the cage, ripped it right in half.
I'd just rather them not come around, I am a vet tech, after all, shooting cats won't look good on my resume.

 

[dan26552]

I understand Muscovy's are not prolific layers is that so? 

They are more of a dual purpose breed they don't lay as many eggs as runners or some other breeds but they set three or so clutches a year each clutch can be anywhere from 1 to 20 something eggs. They are also used for meat, they are leaner then mallard derived breeds so they have less fat. Some people use them to catch flies and bugs like that as those are some of they're favorite food. They also happen to be the ONLY breed of domestic ducks not derived from mallards

 

[rancher hicks]

I seriously thought about heat, but my flock did fine, the younger ones all piled up in a nesting box. They are smarter than I thought.

I did lose my head roo, but not to the cold, to a stupid cat.I think it was attacking just for fun. I tried to nurse my roo back to health but his injuries were too great. And I didn't want him to suffer any more. He was such a good roo. I am worried I won't find another as good as him. How do I keep cats away? My dog does a great job, when he is out there, but he's not a real dog LOL he is a couch potato . Since we moved here, 1&a half years ago, we have trapped 5 cats. One, I caught in the act of pulling a baby out of the cage, ripped it right in half.
I'd just rather them not come around, I am a vet tech, after all, shooting cats won't look good on my resume.

Do you have Bantams. Been to a show once while visiting family. It was for Bantams. I have large fowl so our cats never bothered them.

Norma Jean, my DD's cat got in the brooder and went to sleep under the heat light. Chicks were afraid but she just wanted to sleep under the light. She woke before I could get the camera. She never seemed interested in eating any, but I still did not trust her.

You could put up 1/2" hardware cloth around them so the cats paws can't get through.

 

[BexB]

Do you have Bantams.  Been to  a show once while visiting family.  It was for Bantams.  I have large fowl so our cats never bothered them. 

Norma Jean, my DD's cat got in the brooder and went to sleep under the heat light. Chicks were afraid but she just wanted to sleep under the light. She woke before I could get the camera. She never seemed interested in eating any, but I still did not trust her. 

You could put up 1/2" hardware cloth around them so the cats paws can't get through.  

I don't have small birds they are quite large. That's one reason I think the cat was just having fun. I free range unless some one has babies, I have tractors for them. They have a big coop, so I keep them safe at night.My entire property is fenced in. That works for larger predators ,but not the cats. I was just curious if there was some kind of deterrent. I'm pretty sure they are feral. When I trapped the first one , I asked the neighbors, only 1 has a cat.

 

[kimberly35042]

Quote:
I agree with Dan to a point. When they are laying and not broody, they lay a lot of eggs. I'll say 5-6 a week but will try to keep better tabs on them. I don't have a "show" strain so that could be part of it also.

 

[rancher hicks]

I agree with Dan to a point, when they are laying and not broody, they lay a lot of eggs. I'll say 5-6 a week but will try to keep better tabs on them. I don't have a "show" strain so that could be part of it also.

Well now imho, pretty birds that don't lay are like a pretty woman who can't cook. Fortunately I got both. A pretty woman and she can cook.

I'm not into show anyhow. Folks who are work very hard to win a prize and ribbon. Can't eat ribbons. Well ribbon candy, but not much other types of ribbons.

Course Red Green says, if a woman can't find you handsome she should at least find you handy.

 

[Tomtommom]

TTM - The chicks I kept, from that same hatch, stayed in an un-insulated room with a 60 watt light bulb in one corner. They were fine.

I had them outside (plexiglass on one side, haybale wall on the other 2 sides, coop interior on the front) with the heat plate, but they got too big. Not sure why you decided to cross them with eagles

These babies are BIG. So I put a light up, and that was perfectly fine with them, until 10F hit.

They were piled up and shivering. Tomorrow they're all going back out. Justin has been overly protective about the cold. I swear he'd buy them all little jackets if he could.

Intuition has always served me well, and my intuition says they would've been ok outside last night. But hey, whatever lets him sleep at night.

 

[Talithahorse]

As far as the feral cat situation, you might consider a big "bird friendly" tom. We had many feral cats around until we had one young tom came and moved in. He is a great cat and does not mess with the birds, gets along with the dogs and since he has arrived and staked his claim we have had only a couple feral cats. Most are young males and once they figure out there are no eligible women and that this property protected by our tom, they move on. The dogs discourage them too, but Oscar the cats lets them know not to come back. He has also reduced the number of "female cats coming to have babies on the property. The year he arrived we had five young kittens show up. Since then we have had none and that was 13 years ago. We did of course have him neutered and he does have a friend, a spayed female. The two of them are a wonderful asset to the farm.

 

[BexB]

I thought about a LGD but I'd probably have to buy a bigger couch LOL. I'm surprised there's not a chicken in here.