Recent content by Nandinaberry

  1. Nandinaberry

    Need help with thin shelled eggs

    It could very well be the peas! I have Cayugas. I was giving mine a few peas each day with their other greens, and after a while one duck started laying abnormal eggs. By abnormal I mean deformed, small or very soft shelled.This happened to be the duck that was always first to gobble up all the...
  2. Nandinaberry

    Traumatized ducks?

    I have had 4 Cayugas, which free range in our yard/garden. A desperate mother raccoon got one one them in broad daylight one morning and the surviving ducks hovered around their pen more after that for some time. After a month or so they got braver and would venture out, but it depended on how...
  3. Nandinaberry

    want to introduce two new ducks to flock, same age, sex and breed as existing

    And what about feed? Did you transition them from the feed they were eating before, or just start them on what you already feed your other ducks?
  4. Nandinaberry

    want to introduce two new ducks to flock, same age, sex and breed as existing

    Thank you for easing my mind about the ducks' adaptability! Even though mine compete with each other, they've never hissed or pecked at each other. One day a male mallard flew into our yard and tried to flirt with them for quite some time. They were curious, and then just ignored him, even...
  5. Nandinaberry

    want to introduce two new ducks to flock, same age, sex and breed as existing

    The many threads already posted have been very helpful about introducing new ducks, but I still have some questions. I have raised three female Cayugas together since they were a day old. They are now almost 2 years old. One died about 6 months ago, and the two left have been getting...
  6. Nandinaberry

    Oregano oil for chickens

    That's a great idea! They are crazy about chopped greens in water, too, so I could possibly sneak in some fresh leaves there. I am growing some of the stronger Greek oregano that is used to make oregano oil.
  7. Nandinaberry

    Oregano oil for chickens

    My ducks could not stand any oregano oil in their feed or water, even in tiny amounts. They took one whiff and backed off! ( I take it myself, but for that matter I can't stand it either, so I put drops of it in gel caps so I can get it down...) I would think a prepared feed containing oregano...
  8. Nandinaberry

    dosage of echinacea for sick chicken

    I found the book Natural Remedies for Poultry Diseases by Mark Gilberd, which is excellent, available for Kindle...
  9. Nandinaberry

    veterinarian information for San Francisco Bay Area

    Thanks for these additional resources!
  10. Nandinaberry

    veterinarian information for San Francisco Bay Area

    After calling quite a few veterinarians and hearing "we don't treat ducks" I finally found one in Santa Clara (near San Jose) California who is a bird specialist and was willing to see my duck with a foot abscess. He is very knowledgeable and comfortable handling poultry. He keeps chickens at...
  11. Nandinaberry

    Broody duck

    Thank you
  12. Nandinaberry

    Broody duck

    I am new to keeping ducks, and have three Cayuga females which started laying the week before Easter this year. Ordinarily they all lay at the same time in the same spot in the duck house or pen, plop that egg and then keep quacking until I let them out. But one has always taken to making nests...
  13. Nandinaberry

    humanely dispatching a badly injured bird

    I am the kind of person who catches insects and spiders inside the house and lets them go outside, so the thought of having to kill one of my ducks that I'm keeping for eggs is just horrifying. But I feel I need to be prepared for what might happen if one of my birds was badly hurt by a hawk...
  14. Nandinaberry

    Duck head bobbing behavior??

    I have three Cayuga females, 20 weeks old. They start swimming in a circle together in their tank, bobbing their heads and doing a little staccato ack-ack-ack, then one will assume the posture you described. Soon another duck will grab the back of her head with a bill full of feathers and...
  15. Nandinaberry

    Composting with duck bedding?

    I live in an urban setting so my cleaning methods may be considered excesssive, but I do this for the neighbors and because I'd rather do a little work cleaning every day than be faced with a large task every so often. Because ducks are so wet and messy, I found that trying to deep mulch was...
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