Hey all, been a while.
Looks like a lot of new folks, and some of the reliables have moved on some.
Used to post a bit, and circumstances meant that we moved and had to part with the flock. I may finally be getting back to the country, and I'm excited about it, so I'm trolling around again...
Pleasant surprise last night.
Over the weekend I had moved the four five-week old chicks, and the adopted three week old chick to the coop. They were in a wire dog crate. I expected integration to take a couple weeks.
The last couple days, I open the door enough so they could explore the...
ugggggggggghhhh....
I was out with the birds last night and grabbed the one BR that doesn't mind being handled. Once I had her I got looking and I think I have a leg mite issue. Doing some more checking tonight, but ugh. Was proud that I hadn't had to deal with anything like this to this...
If anyone is interested in a large fowl black cochin roo, let me know.
He's been a pretty decent flock roo, keeps an eye on the girls, but he and the boss hen that preceded him don't seem to be able to co-exist. He's not human aggressive in any way, and he's great with the rest of the hens...
Don't over estimate the water needs of ducks. A large rubber pan, or small kiddy pool is more than enough to keep ducks happy, especially runner types. They're less water oriented than most other breeds.
They don't need a pond to be happy, or productive.
Feeling pretty impressed with myself, though I'm sure I'm not the first one here to have done it.
I have a large wooden box that used to be a shipping container that works well as a brooder for large batches. The problem is the internal framing makes it tough to clean out and the weight makes...
The picture is two weeks old now, but these EE chicks have been the most pleasant and laid back chicks I've had. Solid beards on three of the four.
The khakis on the other hand despise human presence. Lol.
The RK in Fort Wayne seemed to have more birds than I've seen before as well. They had Pekin and Campbell duckings, and had signage for Rouen and runners as well.
They had loads of chicks. Much of what you listed, as well as leghorns.
I'm using an 18% non medicated starter crumble for now, and will for a few more weeks.
Then I'm planning to make a mash of the 18% all-flock pellets I use for everybody else until they're big enough to handle the pellets.
I don't expect issues.
Can the duck keepers clear something up for me?
I've seen conflicting suggestions on feed for ducklings. Some say that an 18% starter or all-flock is fine, (so long as it's unmedicated), but I've seen others that say you need to get down to 14-16%
Anyone care to weigh in?
Expanding it this year. It isn't just for the birds, as I will use most of it too, but mint, lavender, oregano, sunflowers, cucumbers (halved and frozen is a great treat when it's hot outside),
I'll be saving marigold heads this year also.
Hey all,
Finally have internet back. We had a lightning strike take out our phone line early Friday morning. Vaporized the line, blew up the modem (literally, blew it apart) and melted the plug. Quite the ordeal. Strike was close enough, and shook the house hard enough, to knock two screens...
Just a heads up, the Big R in Warsaw has it's chick cages up, and I'd guess they'll get their first shipment today, but don't know for sure.
Also of note, they've put a lot more time and effort into ducks from the looks of it. They've got twice the area for duckings, and better signage. They...