Recent content by billw
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Mom swapping goslings
We had a new mother hatch out 8 goslings a couple days ago and yesterday was their first day out off the nest. Unfortunately, it wasn't a great day for it - cold and rainy. The mom wasn't doing a good job looking out for them and they got pretty wet. She eventually took them back to the nest... -
One of our geese has decided that it is a duck
We have a flock of 14 geese. Back in spring, when they were hatching goslings, one of the big males got repeatedly run out of the flock. The rest would gang up on him and keep him at a distance. For a while, he orbited the geese and then one day he started to orbit the ducks. Before long, he... -
Domestic Geese hatching - HELP
You might try the geese forum in order to get more advice. My experience has been that geese are very good at hatching and raising goslings and require no assistance. I make sure there is some food near the nest. Otherwise, mama goose knows what to do. Geese are very protective. The... -
Surprise ducklings
I woke up this morning to unexpected ducklings. Apparently one of our ducks has been hiding somewhere. We've never had any luck getting the ducks to hatch their own before, so now I'm not sure what to do. Currently, this duck is alone in the large yard, while the remaining ~20 are locked in... -
Geese and bindweed / morning glory (Convolvulus sp.)
Our geese are weeders and lawnmowers as a first order of business. They do a great job on grass, dandelions, and a few other broadleaf weeds, but ignore one of our biggest problem weeds: bindweed. I've read that geese may eat other plants when introduced early and we are raising a new batch... -
Eggs too orange
I've heard people report this sort of thing before, but never experienced it myself. A coworker who bought some eggs from us asked if something is wrong with our eggs, because they scrambled up to such a bright color. She threw them out "just to be safe" until she checked! In fairness, our... -
Gooseberry plants/bushes are TOXIC!
Yep. Makes sense and I appreciate the warning. Our birds are working birds, so removing them from the gooseberries would be a matter of cost/benefit analysis. So far, there has been no cost, so the benefits definitely outweigh. But, it is good to know about the problem and the symptoms. -
Gooseberry plants/bushes are TOXIC!
We use ducks as weeders in the gooseberry field and they have never had a problem. Of course, I've never noticed that they have eaten the leaves. No incidents with a couple dozen ducks working about 100 gooseberry plants. Maybe it is one of those plants that is toxic but that most birds don't... -
Help! Duckling off to a bad start and now stuck in egg
I've found that I can't do a better job than nature in hatching ducks. I tried to out-think her and hatch the eggs the way I thought would work better, but ultimately the best success I had was with the "do nothing" approach. So, that is what I now recommend. Keep them warm and keep your... -
Broken leg
I think this is good advice. We've twice had ducks develop a very bad looking leg. Each time, we isolated the duck in a cage indoors and the ducks recovered substantially within two weeks. -
Determining if ducks are getting enough to eat on pasture
About an acre, divided into two paddocks. 20 ducks. One is just grass and weeds. The other is mostly perennial small fruit in rows (so, still basically grass and weeds for the ducks.) At this time of year, there is a lot to eat - tons of slugs and bugs and huge amounts of tender greens... -
Determining if ducks are getting enough to eat on pasture
We have given the ducks access to a much larger foraging area and have cut back feed significantly as a result. We are now feeding them about 40% of the ration that they received when they were enclosed in a small yard most of the time. They act very hungry. When we enter the yard, the ducks... -
Duck tribes
Do your ducks form tribes? Ours have split themselves nearly by generation, except for one older drake that likes the younger ducks and one younger duck that hangs with the old tribe. They do this despite the fact that they are locked up in the same enclosure every night. When we open the... -
Update: Duckling pictures Edit: All dead :(. Help! My ducklings are all dying!
I wonder if the sugar was actually sugar. Any chance you grabbed salt instead? We have salt and sugar in glass jars and every once in a while I get the wrong one. -
moving ducks and goose to coyote country
You can often find a lot of the materials used. The only thing new in that enclosure was the 4x4 posts and the hardware cloth. The dimensional lumber was culls from a construction site (many warped or split, but who cares for outdoor work) and the welded wire had been used for tree protection...