- Jun 28, 2011
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Renee, known to BYC members as Ren2014, has been a member of our community since January 2014. She will most often be found in the Ducks section, where she is known for her helpfulness and lovely duckies of course.
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself. (Family, hobbies, whatever personal stuff you feel like sharing)
My husband and I have been married for 27 years. We live on a 113-acre old family farm in South Central Texas. We built our dream home in 2008. From my office and kitchen windows I can see the chicken yard and coop and from our dining room window and back porch I can see the duck yard and pond. We have Muscovy and a mixed flock of Pekin, Welsh Harlequin and Swedish ducks. One Lavender Orpington rooster, Barred Rock hens, Brown Leghorn hens and a Buff Orpington hen. We also have a large Purple Martin Colony of 76 pairs. I say ‘we’ but it’s really me. The DH isn’t into the birds like I am but he puts up with me and is very supportive. He builds all of the houses and coops. He and his brother built our duck pond. I work from home for the State of Texas so I get to spend lots of time watching and taking care of our animals.
2. Why and when did you start keeping ducks?
Wild ducks come into our stock tanks during the winter. It’s always so exciting watching and identifying them and so sad when they leave after winter. I started keeping ducks in 2013 so I could watch them year around. After joining BYC and reading about @Miss Lydia 's Muscovy, Opie, and other member’s Muscovies here on the forum, I decided I wanted to get some Muscovy. @TherryChicken gave me an adult drake, Bob, and then I got a few girls and then came the babies. Muscovy ducks are quite personable and each special in their own way. I love watching them fly. They are excellent foragers and natural pest control. They are the only breed I plan on keeping.
Coming home from the tank. This is when we were re-digging the duck pond.
Here are a few of my favorite pics. Gertrude and Gabby. Our newest girls.
Bell
3. Which aspect(s) of duck keeping do you enjoy the most?
Watching them swim and fly. I love how they just glide across the water. Then when they dive under it’s funny how you never know where they’re going to come up at. My next favorite thing is watching eggs hatch. It’s just amazing watching the embryo develop through candling and then to see the internal pip, the external pip and watching that little ling come out of its shell.
Babe and Blanche's babies. Babe though they were hers.
4. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
Bugs, my Blue Swedish duck that I just lost. She was the tiniest of the first day old ducks that we got but she was tough and she was a fighter. Bugs was my first broody. She hatched 14 babies and was a wonderful Momma. She got bit by a snapping turtle and I had to keep her inside while treating her. She turned into a snapper herself and would bite me every chance she got during her rehabilitation. She learned how to grab skin and twist making it hurt like fire. Presently my number one Muscovy Drake Bob stands out. He’s the best devoted mate and top of the pecking order. Bob protects his girls well and he cracks me up how he follows them back and forth from our tank. Bob’s wings are clipped so he has to run back and forth as his girls fly to and from. It’s kind of sad, lol. Last but not least, Fred. Fred is one of two eggs I hatched in my incubator from a shipment of eggs I bought online. The second hatchling didn’t make it. Fred was special from the start. When I had to put him out with the rest of the flock it broke my heart. I stayed out there as much as I could every day and fought for him anytime another duck came near. He learned to come to me when I called. But, when Fred reached mating age he abandoned me. He didn’t care for me at all anymore.
Bugs and her babies
Bugs after recovering from the Snapper attack. It got her on the left foot and upper leg.
Bob
Fred
5. What was the funniest (duck related) thing(s) that happened to you in your years as a duck owner?
Trying to get the ducks to stay at one of our stock tanks. I herded them out to it and then they beat me back to the house. This happened for days. Finally, I just gave up and that’s when we built our duck pond. Now they go to the stock tank often and I can’t keep them out of it, lol.
6. Beside ducks, what other pets do you keep?
A house cat named Rogi, 2 French Bulldogs, Jolie and Red, 2 Livestock Guardian Dogs Lucy and AC, a horse named Dusty, a miniature donkey named Rocket and black Angus cattle.
Lucy
AC
7. Anything you'd like to add?
I am so thankful for BYC. I have learned so much from everyone here and have been blessed with some very special friendships that I would never have if it weren’t for BYC. I am honored and thrilled to have been selected for an interview.
The Night Pen and Houses.
Our work in progress duck pond. Next comes the Skippy filter
Did somebody say TREATS??
My second broody Blanche and NINETEEN babies. I didn't think they would all hatch. lol.
The other birds... and empty Martin houses. The Martins have left until January.
Our insulated and vented metal building chicken coop and run.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/u/256893/ren2014
See here for more about the interview feature and a complete list of member interviews: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/905602/introducing-vip-member-interviews/0_30
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself. (Family, hobbies, whatever personal stuff you feel like sharing)
My husband and I have been married for 27 years. We live on a 113-acre old family farm in South Central Texas. We built our dream home in 2008. From my office and kitchen windows I can see the chicken yard and coop and from our dining room window and back porch I can see the duck yard and pond. We have Muscovy and a mixed flock of Pekin, Welsh Harlequin and Swedish ducks. One Lavender Orpington rooster, Barred Rock hens, Brown Leghorn hens and a Buff Orpington hen. We also have a large Purple Martin Colony of 76 pairs. I say ‘we’ but it’s really me. The DH isn’t into the birds like I am but he puts up with me and is very supportive. He builds all of the houses and coops. He and his brother built our duck pond. I work from home for the State of Texas so I get to spend lots of time watching and taking care of our animals.
2. Why and when did you start keeping ducks?
Wild ducks come into our stock tanks during the winter. It’s always so exciting watching and identifying them and so sad when they leave after winter. I started keeping ducks in 2013 so I could watch them year around. After joining BYC and reading about @Miss Lydia 's Muscovy, Opie, and other member’s Muscovies here on the forum, I decided I wanted to get some Muscovy. @TherryChicken gave me an adult drake, Bob, and then I got a few girls and then came the babies. Muscovy ducks are quite personable and each special in their own way. I love watching them fly. They are excellent foragers and natural pest control. They are the only breed I plan on keeping.
Coming home from the tank. This is when we were re-digging the duck pond.
Here are a few of my favorite pics. Gertrude and Gabby. Our newest girls.
Bell
3. Which aspect(s) of duck keeping do you enjoy the most?
Watching them swim and fly. I love how they just glide across the water. Then when they dive under it’s funny how you never know where they’re going to come up at. My next favorite thing is watching eggs hatch. It’s just amazing watching the embryo develop through candling and then to see the internal pip, the external pip and watching that little ling come out of its shell.
Babe and Blanche's babies. Babe though they were hers.
4. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
Bugs, my Blue Swedish duck that I just lost. She was the tiniest of the first day old ducks that we got but she was tough and she was a fighter. Bugs was my first broody. She hatched 14 babies and was a wonderful Momma. She got bit by a snapping turtle and I had to keep her inside while treating her. She turned into a snapper herself and would bite me every chance she got during her rehabilitation. She learned how to grab skin and twist making it hurt like fire. Presently my number one Muscovy Drake Bob stands out. He’s the best devoted mate and top of the pecking order. Bob protects his girls well and he cracks me up how he follows them back and forth from our tank. Bob’s wings are clipped so he has to run back and forth as his girls fly to and from. It’s kind of sad, lol. Last but not least, Fred. Fred is one of two eggs I hatched in my incubator from a shipment of eggs I bought online. The second hatchling didn’t make it. Fred was special from the start. When I had to put him out with the rest of the flock it broke my heart. I stayed out there as much as I could every day and fought for him anytime another duck came near. He learned to come to me when I called. But, when Fred reached mating age he abandoned me. He didn’t care for me at all anymore.
Bugs and her babies
Bugs after recovering from the Snapper attack. It got her on the left foot and upper leg.
Bob
Fred
5. What was the funniest (duck related) thing(s) that happened to you in your years as a duck owner?
Trying to get the ducks to stay at one of our stock tanks. I herded them out to it and then they beat me back to the house. This happened for days. Finally, I just gave up and that’s when we built our duck pond. Now they go to the stock tank often and I can’t keep them out of it, lol.
6. Beside ducks, what other pets do you keep?
A house cat named Rogi, 2 French Bulldogs, Jolie and Red, 2 Livestock Guardian Dogs Lucy and AC, a horse named Dusty, a miniature donkey named Rocket and black Angus cattle.
Lucy
AC
7. Anything you'd like to add?
I am so thankful for BYC. I have learned so much from everyone here and have been blessed with some very special friendships that I would never have if it weren’t for BYC. I am honored and thrilled to have been selected for an interview.
The Night Pen and Houses.
Our work in progress duck pond. Next comes the Skippy filter
Did somebody say TREATS??
My second broody Blanche and NINETEEN babies. I didn't think they would all hatch. lol.
The other birds... and empty Martin houses. The Martins have left until January.
Our insulated and vented metal building chicken coop and run.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/u/256893/ren2014
See here for more about the interview feature and a complete list of member interviews: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/905602/introducing-vip-member-interviews/0_30
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