How are everyone's ducks in this arctic blast? We are leaving ours in their coops - doors locked (vents open) - we are moving their food dishes and extra water bowls inside their coops and just keeping them in the coops until the wind chill issue is over? Anyone else?
And after all of that said about our protocols. Mrsa from what I heard years ago from a nurse friend is a colony of germs that go dormant and come back? It can spread to others and animals etc tho I have no idea which animals etc? In my life I only heard of one where a dog and it's owner both...
Just sharing our protocol we learned in England and we still use: 1- dedicated back door for coming /going off farm. 2- only where farm boots on farm and throw away gloves. 3- keep clorox clean up near a hose. Wash off backs of boots when leaving coop/barns. 4- use same spray on all mucking...
I am so sorry for your loss. One of our ducks died suddenly today too, in the pool. Heart wrenching. This group is amazing for duck owners. Again, so sorry for your loss. Is that his picture in your profile?
Thank you. I am still crying reliving these seconds. So grateful they were alive. And WALKING?!?! Incrdible to me these little ducks could walk after that. Thank you again for the kind support.
1:00 and we had just let the ducks out to forage a bit. They were in my garden area between my kitchen and their coop area. We were just eating lunch when my 13 yo jumped up and said, " mom a big bird is on Jemima' and before I knew it my 13 yo was running like David at Goliath with her sister...
found a huge copperhead - about 600 feet from the coop in the pasture? It attacked the tractor repeatedly while in use. Our coop is 18 inxhes buried down on all sides of 1/4 inch hardware cloth buried up snd over on all sides. Praying a copperhead can not get into tbat? Moreworried about when...
for real!!! Extra hay in the coops last night and we literally took all our water lines apart drained them and put a heater on in the well so hopefully when we hook it all back up this morning, no frozen lines :) - crazy weather,
We took a kit and used our scraps and made it larger. Also put insulatung boards underneath on outside and, put left over linoleum on top of the wood floor. We have two pekins going in this coop, which is inside a 8x12 enclosure wrapped in 1/4 jnch hardware cloth on all sides inckuding over the...
The coop and enclosures are separated by 1/4 jnch hardware cloth floor to ceiling - so the two drakes and 2 ducks can see each other but no contact- we don't want fertile eggs lol. They were all incubated together and grew up together, do not have the heart to rehome the drakes bc we hatched...
These girls built a walled nest together and are laying their eggs in it? lol So about duck behavior? Are they doing this to hide the eggs bc we take them? Or are they sleeping together with this cold snap abd built the hay wall around them to stay warm?
I found this- a lot of info but at bottom of page mentions garlic cut up for ducks for parasites? Can we give ducks raw garlic? : https://opensanctuary.org/article/daily-diet-treats-and-supplements-for-ducks/