Hello all!
It has been a while since I last posted - In fact I'm quickly coming upon a year since I had to re-home my chicken and ducks due to a major life change. We moved from Illinois to Alaska. Yes - we have eagles, moose, bears....you name it. This is truly an incredible place to live...
Hey guys! I think after a couple of years of refining this I finally got the duck pool process down to a science. Made a 20 minute Youtube Video - I hope you enjoy!
Thanks for all you guys do here...this site has saved the lives of my backyard babies and helped me not go too insane trying to...
I saw someone say something about something to give ducks for soft shell eggs.
What is is? I’ve put the oyster shells in with feed but they eat around it.
I'm down to one chicken. Last week my oldest and last original (Biscuit) from the start of my adventure into BYC passed away over night. She had been making a respiratory growing sound when it was really hot outside but was otherwise acting healthy. In fact, her last day on the planet she was...
We've been treating our 1 year old duck Stripes for bumblefoot. First time we've ever had this condition after having had chickens for the last 6 years. We noticed her limping and unable to walk fast more than about five steps before falling/sitting down, then going again. She is one of four...
We had major flooding over the weekend. It is common in our area. We noticed a duck and drake swimming around the flooding that came right up to our chicken/duck fencing. The female popped over the fence and just hung out with my girls. The drake watched from the water and would get in the...
Since we added the ducks we have been held hostage to being there every night to get them locked up. They are really good about going in when we do this, but it is draining on our time and freedom.
The chickens are so much easier. And they work with my auto doors. Ducks. Not so much...
My once best laying hen, Sugar has had a rough summer. It started out when she had a dust up with our new ducks. She tried to do a Karate kid maneuver when she and the duck met in a narrow area by the gate while there was food around...and the chaos ensued. I had a thread about that here too...
Surprise! yesterday my wife found our first duck egg in the hutch. It was slightly bigger than our average chicken eggs. I found one this morning, it was slightly smaller. I'm feeling like we did end up with four ducks - all female. No drake feathers anywhere yet. Now, I've got to watch...
Probably a dumb question...but I'm still confused if I have all ducks or a drake or two. They were hatched in April - still waiting for a drake feather. By their voices...I'd say we have all ducks. But, I've questioned one of them based on some general aggressive behavior. I figured it was...
quick video. Do you hear ducks and drakes????
Nearest white one is two weeks younger than others, the squeaking comes mostly from the younger one. The others are about 10 weeks old. The golden retriever is male...I can confirm that. But he loves his peas now too. Hated them until the ducks...
I was passing out peas to my ducks and chickens when my best laying White Rock (2.5 years old) raised up - puffed her feathers and went after a male duck that was coming at her aggressively. The duck is only about 8 weeks old. She was doing fine back and forth when she just dropped down and he...
My coworker got two ducks (Pekin) from Tractor Supply a couple weeks after we got ours. Last night they had left them out in a dog kennel and a predator got to one of them through the wire. They only have the one left and don't want to keep it just by itself.
I agreed to take her on (Dolly) -...
So...not new to the whole coop thing - at least with chickens.
My duck babies are just now staying in the hutch at night.
My design is simple. It is built off the main coop. It is 5.5 feet long and 2 feet wide. It sands four feet high at one end and two feet at the other. It has vents...
Our three Tractor Supply ducks have grow so fast it is crazy! Having done chickens before, I can't believe my eyes at the pace of their growth. Right now our weather is typical Central Illinois spring, with lows in the 40s but mostly 50s, and highs upwards of 70s, but 60 on average. I've been...
We were putting gutters up on the pole barn when one of our girls zipped in and swollowed a 3/8" self piercing metal screw. Couldn't get her to spit it up.
Two days later and she is clearly not happy. I checked her vent last night. She had an egg in there and I can feel the screw. But there...
Our babies are about 9 months old and we are headed into winter (central Illinois). One of the girls started looking gangly and we noticed her neck and tail feathers are falling out. I have been seeing them on the coop floor, but assume that was normal.
We have checked for lice and mites...