I've been looking into them as well. I'm interested in all things Florida Cracker.
I did find this address on the inter-webs
Tom Walker
278 Porter Road,
Bastrop, Texas 78602
email: [email protected]
He's been hunting for them for a long time and is interested in antique poultry. You might...
I would suggest getting a real live person with some experience to show you. If at all possible. You'll be more comfortable when it's your turn and can ask questions and form your own opinion about the amount of suffering and adjust from there.
When I process my ducks I use a really sharp knife...
I don't have them, but I did ask metzer farms about them...they're a hybrid duck. Not a a breed per se.
So they won't breed true.
I find WH to be calmer than khaki's and they do lay well.
Yea,
Your birds should handle it.
Like what ddawn said vinegar for spot weed control. Corn gluten meal make a pretty good pre-emergent weed control. There are propane torches available for weed control as well. You don't really burn the weeds, just wilt them with the torch. There are other...
It's never easy. And each time time you decide to kill a livestock animal it's both personal and business at the same time. My habit is to say thanks to the animal for providing me sustinence
and slaughtering the creature as quickly and painlessly as I can. And I try to use as much as I can...
Bungie would be making me hungry...hey, you brought it up.
The egg-laying is supposedly passed down on the drake side. The ducklets, if some hatch, will probably pitch in when old enough. There's always room for one more.
I made this http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/24/dining/241mrex.html?ref=dining with our last cull drake and rosemary from the garden.
OMG!! It was ridiculously delicious. It's making me rethink how hard it is to pluck and clean a duck, it's almost worth it. Now, I'm thinking meaties...
The WH seem calmer in general than runners. But, I've never had a problem with aggressive drakes. They're only 6 lb birds. I'm 6' 1" and much heavier:D
Teach your kids to raise their arms out to their sides like big wings, and to not back down from the drake and I'll bet they will be ok.
a 12...
I have Welsh Harlequins and their eggs are a bit larger and a bit richer tasting than chicken eggs.
We bake with them and give them to the 90 yr man across the street.
My wife sells them to a co-worker that likes to bake.
We use them for trade a the local Asian grocery.
We trade for Thai meals...
Zilla,
Have you seen this thread and/or site?
http://backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2228&hilit=ducks
or this one?
http://backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=4731&hilit=ducks
Eggs, meat and entertaiment.Don't diminish the last.Most evenings after work I'll drink some tea (or beer) in a lawn chair and watch em.Wife calls it redkneck TV.
Welsh Harlequin are pretty, good foragers and relatively quiet. They lay an x-lg to jumbo egg and are almost as productive as Khaki's.
I've 5 WH females from Holderread's that have layed 150 eggs in Jan and 137 in Feb.More than we can eat.
I sprout a seed mix for my ducks, for treats. It's meant to grow pasture to enhance omega-3 production in eggs. I didn't understand this when I ordered it. So, I thought sprouting it would allow me to use it.
The ducks eat it all except for the buckwheat hulls. It's a hard, large seed hull. The...
I grow stuff for my ducks. I can't grow enough to replace feed, so it's mostly just treats.
I grow sprouts for them in paint strainer bags, as well as collard and mustard greens in the cooler months. And give them sweetpotato greens in the summer.I let them hunt bugs and forage in the warmer...
I've had good luck steaming duck eggs for 20 minutes and then plunging them into icewater until they are cold through. Older eggs work best, like terrielacy said, but I have used eggs less than 1 week old with this method.You just have to be very careful.
They are the best for baking. I tend to...