Pekin Duck Club!

[misschickenlittle]

I took the little Pekins to the pond for the first time today. ....much fun was had!!! ....please excuse the Rouens.... . I brought a sack lunch for them.... . I was going to bring the bigger ones down later, but they were sad...lol...so I went and got them. . There were so many plants and bugs to eat, they all kinda ignored me... . I was on the bank poutin', kinda tossin' sticks, all alone...thinkin' how I was going to word the free ducks to a goo....any home that would take them add....lol. I left them down there to go finish up some other chores. When they realized I wasn't there any more...they came running...and I was happy... ...lol.

Oh, I love it!!! I too wish I had a pond like that... Oh well kiddie pool will suffice!!

 

[Robbo]

So how do you all "walk" your ducks to pounds, ect?

I open up the run and my two ducks look at me like I am nuts and though they are friendly... they don't follow me what so ever...

 

[DenverDucky]

I started a page for Soleil on FB

She's so spoiled hah!

https://www.facebook.com/SoleilDucky

 

[3acres]

Those pictures are wonderful! I wish I had a pond like that. I have the property for it but the climate is too dry to make it worth while. Mine just use kiddie pools that we can dump to prevent mosquito larvae near the house. Your birds look like they were having a great time!

Thank you! I believe they had a great time. They also have a great time in their kiddie pool...lol. I think ducks make the most of however much water they have and are happy as long as they don't not have any at all....

. I could learn from my ducks....lol.

3acres - Love your post today - made me smile...

Thanks! That makes me smile....

. I was sitting there on the bank thinking....that I had never fought an eagle, but would find out what that is like if one tries to take one of my duckies....lol.

Oh, I love it!!! I too wish I had a pond like that... Oh well kiddie pool will suffice!!

Thanks! I bet your kiddie pool will be just fine and much appreciated! As of now, mine will be mostly just playin' in their kiddie pools....and only be in the pond when I can watch them real close and am out there. I know it happens, but can't imagine seeing a predator going off with one....trying to limit that as much as possible. LGH - live guard human...lol.

 

[Younger]

"Thank you! I believe they had a great time. They also have a great time in their kiddie pool...lol. I think ducks make the most of however much water they have and are happy as long as they don't not have any at all....

. I could learn from my ducks....lol. "




Couldn' t we all learn from this? Instead of always wanting more we should be happy with what we have. Life would be less stressful. Couldn't have said it better myself 3acres.

 

[Chickiemommie87]

Can you elaborate on mash? What exactly is it and do you have a link for where to get it? Also can and will chicks eat it?

 

[Chickiemommie87]

Could you make a list as to what is needed to buy to do this.  What is the Mother?  And what are you adding the water to?

Can't answer the rest but ACV with the mother is organic apple cider vinegar that has the thing used to ferment it still in it. Not exactly sure what said thing is...

 

[3acres]

So how do you all "walk" your ducks to pounds, ect?

I open up the run and my two ducks look at me like I am nuts and though they are friendly... they don't follow me what so ever...

As for me - I just get lucky doing stuff sometimes! ...

. I was always the only one brushing and petting their bucking bulls at rodeos I went to...lol. I've kinda trained mine along the way to do what we did yesterday.....and more so than that, trained mine to believe in me that all will be fine if I am there. I've only had ducks a couple months and am learning a lot on them everyday. I think they kinda knew by what voice I was using that good things were where I was headed. Next time will be even easier and they did great yesterday. I really rewarded them also for coming to find me when they seen I wasn't down there.

So yesterday I started in getting my ducks going before they could even see me. By the time I got to their pen, they were going crazy. I opened the gate and here they come. I fed the leaders a tad bit of grain a couple times along the way just to make sure things kept going well. All day long, I'm training animals to do stuff, sometimes doing little things a long way before I want them to do a certain thing....hard to explain. Two days ago, they might not of followed me yet.....I felt they would yesterday??? I just try stuff. Seems my ducks really need to know that things are ok....REALLY need that. If they wouldn't of followed me yesterday, I would of started in on something according to what they did and when they did it to make it to where they would someday follow me.

Hopefully someone will answer your question better than I can!....lol. I have no set plan for anything. I go with the flow and adjust accordingly and all animals are different it seems. I bet you can get your ducks to follow you anywhere you want with a little small step by step training.

 

[3acres]

Couldn' t we all learn from this? Instead of always wanting more we should be happy with what we have. Life would be less stressful. Couldn't have said it better myself 3acres.

I couldn't of said what you just said any better myself!!! I'm really trying to change my ways....lol. Getting into homesteading and self-sustaining living, watching animals and spending a lot of time just pondering life, is helping....

. ....but at the same time....I just got my pig breeding program going, now I'm wanting a milk cow(s) and sheep for wool and more turkeys and draft horses and horse drawn equipment and fruit trees and on and on... lol.

 

[countrygirl74]

Can you elaborate on mash? What exactly is it and do you have a link for where to get it? Also can and will chicks eat it?

Mash is more of a grainy, sometimes powdery looking feed. Here is where I get mine, but there are lots of other places. I like it because it's easy to ferment and drain. Even if you don't ferment it, it's best to wet it, which the ducks especially like anyway. When you wet it, there's no waste. I feed this to all my chickens and ducks. My babies are always on the chick starter mash for about the first 5-8 weeks or so, then they get switched to this grower feed mash. I never feed layer as I often have little ones that aren't laying age and I have roosters.
http://www.azurestandard.com/shop/product/1046/
*They are currently out of stock but it's $33 - no shipping since it's a co-op and I just pick up once a month at the drop point. I was feeding about 10 chickens and 4 ducks on 1 bag per month. They also get to have some supervised free-ranging for 1-2 hours a day and table scraps. Now I have a bunch of new babies, so I am sure I will need more than 1 bag per month... I ran out once and had to get some crumble at my local feed store and they were going through almost 50lbs in a week and a half!! So, I can definitely attest to this feed either having more nutrition than others, or the fermenting process providing more nutrients as they eat sooo much less!

I couldn't of said what you just said any better myself!!! I'm really trying to change my ways....lol. Getting into homesteading and self-sustaining living, watching animals and spending a lot of time just pondering life, is helping....

. ....but at the same time....I just got my pig breeding program going, now I'm wanting a milk cow(s) and sheep for wool and more turkeys and draft horses and horse drawn equipment and fruit trees and on and on... lol.

Sigh.... you are living my dream... I just do what I can on my little half acre though and I am so thankful that I can have ducks and chickens. Can't wait to someday have a milk cow and some beef.