Recent content by RPw1690

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    When do hens most often go broody?

    I had one stubborn Black Marans brooding for a month & a half in spring, feeling sorry for her, finally left her two Marans eggs, of which she only hatched one, someone ate or broke the other one. Within 2 weeks of hatching the chick, she was back laying, still in the nursery. Then two more...
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    Niacin Question for the Folks at Purina

    I received a very timely and complete reply from Purina, signed TeamPurina, and in checking back, found the same person handled the request, not a robot(!) I quote: Purina® Game Bird Starter is not an appropriate feed for starting ducks, including mallard ducklings. The protein level in Game...
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    Niacin Question for the Folks at Purina

    Asked the question again, today, specifically for Game Bird Starter. I see Niacin in the ingredients, but no estimate of the amount. From the response, you could imply that the amount was at least 70ppm, but no statement. Their duck feed pellets, which are large for ducklings, have 55ppm Niacin.
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    Coop building isn't working out, running out of time and not sure how to proceed

    I will build something like this, and if it is too flimsy, add a brace, then push it around some more, and see in what direction it’s too wishy washy, where the next brace should be. On the end, I misstated the brace location, you want it from the floor next to the door part way up the outer...
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    Coop building isn't working out, running out of time and not sure how to proceed

    That looks like a very good design, well executed, all it needs is a few more triangles at a few corners. Kind of like the wood design that it looks like you could drive a car on top of. You can just add some 1x3 strapping, and attach braces at a few corners, making triangles where you see...
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    This is a duck/predator question

    I don’t know when they were attacked, but I have read where a hawk can take a bird like a duck with no feathers left behind, big bird and must be hard hitting. Did lose 2 ducks with feathers left behind, one a lot, one just a few, about 70 feet separation.
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    This is a duck/predator question

    Fox leaves no feathers?
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    This is a duck/predator question

    I lost 6 Rouens all of a sudden in January, two with some feathers, 3 in one night no trace, and the last one I think around 10AM, before the guinea fowl were out on watch. I suspect a red tailed hawk, pretty big, has gotten adept at plucking them off the ground, leaving no feathers, no trace...
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    Rouen Ducks Trainable to return to coop in evening?

    Thank you so much for your insights. We leave food out all the time, since someone is not there every day. With so much food available naturally, they seem to be quite lackadaisical about polishing off the duck pellets. They come actually running for millet and for the sound of a hose filling a...
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    Rouen Ducks Trainable to return to coop in evening?

    Thanks, I have never free ranged ducks before. Going into a protected area where they are fed at night definitely seems optional to them.
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    Rouen Ducks Trainable to return to coop in evening?

    I raised 4 ducklings from TSC, 3 males 1 female starting April, this year, and two more females from July. The one female was laying eggs, all over the place, and the 2 juveniles needed to be separated until late November, but all on a 70 acre rolling former cattle farm, with a good size pond...
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    Housing a feral cat inside the chicken run for rodent control?

    Guinea fowl, 17 of them, will keep the rodents out of sight during the day, but rats tunneling under the 1” square fencing wait until evening to raid the feeders. Even found a nest of them underground in the run, moved in through the tunnel and stay in the run. Food & water, big fat ones with...
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    Review by 'RPw1690' in article 'The Deep Litter Method: All You Need To Know'

    One of the more obvious reasons this is not a reasonable choice is that you have to initially design your chicken coop to be able to have 6”-8” of fill and still function.
    • RPw1690
    • Article rating
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    Semi-automatic coop and flock - can it exist?

    I tend a farm in Union Grove, NC, 20 guinea fowl 4 ducks and 10 chickens including young of each. They free range on 70 acres. We have 3 coops, guineas, chickens & ducks, with some mixing in between. There is a covered 12 ft x 6ft pen between 2 of the coops. We use ChickenGuard auto doors...
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    Chicks drowning in rain?

    I had 10 5 week old guinea keets, today, they were all out in an enclosed pen, under trees, and after the rain, I came out and found one keet in the transport cage, laid out flat, no trauma, but quite dead. The other 9 were fine. All of them have been out in the rain before, and never went under...
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