Recent content by Dux

Exactly: I don't want to keep a drake full time.

Can someone weigh in about whether this idea is a reasonable one and how they would go about making it happen? The situation: I have three female Welsh Harlequins who will turn 4 at the beginning of April. They haven't been laying much since mid-summer and I wonder if they are slowing down...

I'd make sure that they actually are bullying her before even thinking about separating them. My Welshie Clementine suddenly molted a whole ton of her feathers overnight this past week (mostly the dramatic long wing feathers). If I didn't know my girls' personalities and Clem's demeanor as...

I like the second photo where they’re both standing tall but your Welshie is making herself even taller. What a sweet photo bomber!

They are SO cute!! I know what you mean about thinking that the silver are more beautiful - I feel the same way about mine...though of course I wouldn’t tell them that! I love when they stick their feet out behind them like your gold phase one is doing. So tempting to play with their toes. I...

I’m so sorry for your loss. Even though there have been so many helpful replies already, I thought I would chime in because I fairly recently lost a duck for the first time and because of and egg binding problem as well. She was sick and in decline for several weeks before her inevitable death...

Ack! That chest and tummy are so fluffy, I can’t take it! :love

Today I handpicked about two dozen slugs off the lettuce in a couple of minutes. If you'd told me before I got ducks that I'd be combing through heads of lettuce for slugs and holding them in my bare hands I would have said "no way" but seeing how happily the girls devour them definitely makes...

Over planting sounds like the right way to go, for sure! I started mine indoors for the first time this year and the rows are so nice and tidy-looking that I’m hesitant to turn ‘em loose, even though we have a bit more than we will likely eat. Maybe I try out just ten minutes or so of...

Awww...you have such a tender heart. I admire you.

I like the elegance of your system! If only I could trust my ducks around my otherwise-thriving lettuce - it could use a thorough de-slugging....

x2 on what KaleIAm said about needing to make sure the area is large enough to sustain the wear and tear. I wanted my girls' run to be grassy as well but it has been tough to maintain, even with just 3 ducks in a 16' x 32' space. Over the winter it gets too muddy and I need to use wood...

You're welcome. No comments on the noises - I'm not experienced enough to know, since I've never heard a young male to have a basis for comparison. Try not to worry too much about it either way - I think it's great that you already have a bit of an idea of what you might do with any extra...

I'm not so sure it's a male. I had the same concern about my WH ducks when they were starting to feather in: they were all supposed to be girls but one of them had a yellow bill and was darker than the others and I was terrified she was actually a boy and I might have to rehome or butcher her...

My two Welshies that were light when they were babies grew up to be gold phase and my two that were dark when they were babies grew up to be silver. All are girls and I’m not sure whether the light/dark thing would be different with males. Also four ducks is a pretty small sample size...