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  1. Castlemaid

    Would a weasel do this?

    I recently picked up six young birds. They are about 3 months old now. On days when I'm home I let them out to free range. I have a duck pond that sits between the coop and the house - and I can't really see the coop from the house. I looked out and saw white feathers by the pond. A lot! I went...
  2. Castlemaid

    Tiny egg with scrambled yolk.

    I get a scrambled tiny egg about two or three times a year. I’ve posted about this before but this time I have pics. Any insight as to why this happens?
  3. Castlemaid

    Recued angel wind duck - what breed?

    Hello all. Rescued this drake the owner was going to get rid off. I’ve only ever had muscovies. Can anyone tell me what breed he is?
  4. Castlemaid

    Found a stash of hidden eggs, still safe to eat despite the heat?

    This might be a silly question but as a Canadian trapped in the “heat dome” I’m experiencing some of the hottest temps I’ve ever experienced. So normally I wouldn’t think twice of eating found eggs that passed the float test but with temps reaching over 100F over the last few days, are eggs left...
  5. Castlemaid

    Want to improve egg quality. What to look for in feed.

    I've been feeding 16% layer pellets, and I have noticed a huge difference this year between the winter eggs (chickens mainly getting only feed and scratch) and summer eggs (chickens freeranging on acreage). I live in a pretty remote area in BC, and we only have feed from a relatively local feed...
  6. Castlemaid

    Setting muscovy getting rid of bad eggs?

    Good day everyone! Just wanted to say I love this community of experienced, knowledgeable fowl people, LOL. Whenever I have a chicken or duck question, I know I can get help here, and I appreciate you all. My question is, would a Muscovy carry a bad egg under her wing away from the nest to...
  7. Castlemaid

    Butchering inside without making a mess.

    I've only ever butchered one bird so far. A mean rooster that I did outdoors about a month ago. I'm getting ready to do my other surplus rooster, but wiht temps in the -20 to -30 Celsius range this week, I'd like to do it inside. Any tips on how to proceed with minimum mess?
  8. Castlemaid

    How to pick a rooster to keep.

    I had a pure bred Icelandic that I got for free when he was 8 weeks old. At the age of 10 Months, I butchered him, my very first butcher, because he was aggressive. I have three 4.5 month old roos coming up sired by the dispatched jerk, either icelandic/bovan or icelandic/baryard mix, depending...
  9. Castlemaid

    Can a six month old female Muskovy practice nesting behaviour?

    My two males and one female (yes, working on getting more females) share the coop at night with my chickens. Usually in the morning I find my six month old female Muskovy roosting with the chickens. This morning I was surprised to find her siting in a nesting box down at ground level. Usually...
  10. Castlemaid

    Small egg with yolk all scrambled up inside.

    I have 3 Bovans, just about a year old. They are great egg layers, with eggs of outstanding quality. Even now, in Northern BC, with less than 8 hrs of daylight, I still can count on a couple of eggs a day, if not three. However, today I got a very small egg, like a pullet wind egg, and when I...
  11. Castlemaid

    Thinking ahead: homemade chicken-safe fly traps for the coop?

    So what's an effective fly trap that I can make for nothing or very cheap and something safe to put in the coop? Where I live we have black flies, small flies that give painful bites, and of course regular flies always cover the coop windows. They don't seem to bother the chickens, and often...
  12. Castlemaid

    Just butchered my first bird. 10 Month old rooster had white kidneys?

    So after keeping chickens for about two years, I screwed up my courage to dispatch and process my first bird: A young rooster, not quite a year old, too big for his britches. I've never killed, gutted and cleaned anything before, but with the help of Youtube videos, I think I managed it very...
  13. Castlemaid

    How and when to get chicken raising a clutch back to laying eggs.

    The chicks are now four weeks old. At night, they are in their own coop with Mama, and during the day they free range, never straying far from the coop with Mom looking after them. When I let them out of their coops in the morning, the established flock heads off in one direction, and Momma and...
  14. Castlemaid

    Young rooster fertility.

    When one of my Bovans went broody, I decided to try and see if I could get some chicks. I have a young Icelandic rooster, who at the time was around six-seven months old. He had recently started to crow, mount the girls, and act roosterly. I let the broody set on 11 eggs that I had collected and...
  15. Castlemaid

    Suggestions on how to move ducklings from in-house brooder to chicken coop.

    I have three six-week old Muskovies. They've spend the nights and really cold days in a carboard brooder in the house. I've been putting them outside in an enclosed area during the day when it is nice. As they are growing and feathering out, I'm getting ready to transition them to being outside...
  16. Castlemaid

    Brooding eggs left uncovered for about six hours.

    On Saturday, after collecting eggs for about three days, I introduced 11 eggs under my broody girl. I don't think she got off the nest for the next two days. This morning she took a break drink, eat, and run with the rest of the flock for a few minutes. Before I introduced the eggs, she would...
  17. Castlemaid

    I love my Bovans! And one of them has gone broody on me...

    A friend of mine has her kids involved in 4H, and had a bunch of Bovans for sale. Never heard of them, so did a bit of research and got four birds from her. These birds are just amazing! They started laying at 20 weeks, and after a couple of weeks of new-layer unpredictability, they settled...
  18. Castlemaid

    Help me raise my Muscovy ducklings!

    Raising ducklings for the first time. I've acquired 3 balls of fluff. They are in a brooder in the house at the moment (we've been having a COLD WET summer!). They are a week old, and I've had them for a week. Nobody told me these are crazed eating machines, holy cow! They've pretty much doubled...
  19. Castlemaid

    Missing chicken from free-range flock just showed up with 10 chicks! Now what do I do?

    Well, looks like I didn't have to worry about my missing chicken! My flock free-ranges on acreage, and I have no idea where she has been hiding all this time. I think the chicks may have just hatched and this was their first outing. The rest of the flock was milling about, and they ignored the...
  20. Castlemaid

    Tips for moving broody hen to her own coop.

    Hello everyone! Hope you can help me (I'm sure you guys can, you all rock!). I'm very happy to announce that one of my inherited chickens (a flock came with the house I bought - first time I have chickens) - has gone broody. I was hoping for one of the girls to answer the call of motherhood...
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