➡I accidentally bought Balut eggs: 2 live ducks! Now a Chat Thread!

[NanaKat]

They are only 3 weeks old. Honestly, I'm more worried about the hassle of rounding them up once I set them "free". It's a big fenced in yard haha. I will probably give it a little more time and maybe do a test run when my DH is home so I can have an extra pair of hands to help.

Duck move as a group if you slowly walk them to the intended location. I use an 8 foot cane pole as a guide stick for my 15 juveniles as I walk behind them. A gentle touch on the ground opposite the direction I want them to go works. Also ducks learn commands. I use "duck duck duck" means come to food, "go to coop" for night time, "splash time" for the swimming pool and "Treats!" is a favorite.

Anyone know how to contact a lost homing pigeons owner?
Trying to catch it now, unsure if the band has useful info or not.

Band should have owners phone number. Just call. They will come get him.

Info on tracing the band.
https://www.pigeon.org/lostbirdinfo.htm

Had that happen two years ago. Used the numbers on the leg band to identify the registered owner. Ended up meeting the owner five days later in a town half way. Nice grizzle colored pigeon that was infested with feather mites. Treated it before taking it home. He told me not to be surprised if the bird showed up again.

 

[Tesumph]

How cool what it have been if you caught him and called his mom.
I would to have loved to have known exactly where he was from.

I know right! I hope his owner isn’t missing him too bad.
Then again a lost homing/racing pigeon isn’t exactly a good pigeon.. right? Lol.

 

[biophiliac]

Duck move as a group if you slowly walk them to the intended location. I use an 8 foot cane pole as a guide stick for my 15 juveniles as I walk behind them. A gentle touch on the ground opposite the direction I want them to go works. Also ducks learn commands. I use "duck duck duck" means come to food, "go to coop" for night time, "splash time" for the swimming pool and "Treats!" is a favorite.





Had that happen two years ago. Used the numbers on the leg band to identify the registered owner. Ended up meeting the owner five days later in a town half way. Nice grizzle colored pigeon that was infested with feather mites. Treated it before taking it home. He told me not to be surprised if the bird showed up again.

Good work! Was he easy to catch?

I know right! I hope his owner isn’t missing him too bad.
Then again a lost homing/racing pigeon isn’t exactly a good pigeon.. right? Lol.

If the green band is a 2018 band this is a young bird born this year. He may still make his way home.
If he come back put some seeds out for him and a water dish more than an inch deep.

 

[jwyles]

One of my students was Mary Vagina because her mother liked the word the nurse used when she delivered during the Christmas season. The nurse talked her out of Merry fortunately. Hubby knew her later a "Baby V" as one of the prostitutes arrested in the downtown district.
Other students who went thru my inner city 5th grade center were Formeca Dynetta R...., Sky Blue Cloud, Candy Crumb, Imhard Wood, Pa-Jamah N... I was told by the school counselor that often non-English speaking parents would like the sound of words in the newspapers (ads, sports pages) or a song they heard. And someone would phonetically spell the name.


When the males get their peach colored breast feathers, begin chasing the girls and/or begin alarm vocalizations.

Since you have several colors, keeping a pair of each color would be fun.


Look up Coturnix quail....there should be an audio file of the Co-trrr-nix call of the males. Kind of cute.


I have and LG I use as a hatcher, icu brooder. I have three Hovabators too. Love both. Be sure to get replacement water reservoirs. You can change one out quickly for a new hatch. Then clean and sterilize the used one to use again later. Also a replacement motor for your egg turner is helpful. Got most all my hatching "stuff" from Amazon.

Poor kids! It's kind of hard to laugh when you think about how hard it must actually make their lives.

 

[NanaKat]

Finally caught up and thought you might be interested...We have never had this predator in the 20 years we have lived on the farm.
We have had a few assaults on the 6 foot tall Cochin chicken pen this past week...lost a rooster and two hens. Made repairs to that pen and have locked up the rest inside their coop at night. Then set out the trail camera and a live trap for the past several nights.
Last night this bobcat was not interested in the food bait in the live trap and snagged another one of my hens from a different pen. We think she flew over the four foot fence because there were no cat prints in the soft mud in that pen. Nor were there any prints around the barn pens.
The war is now on! Bobcats will keep returning until there are no easy prey left. We have snap traps and snares ready.
The remaining chickens in the breed pens without tops will be moved back to the hen house.
The duck pen is only 4 feet tall and has a more sturdy fence that the bobcat could have easily scaled but that pen is under a pole lamp at night. Without chickens to catch, it may go after the ducks.
The duck hens are hatching ducklings this week...so I'll be moving the duck hens and their eggs into cages in the hen house. The remaining ducks will be locked in their houses inside the pen at night and released in the mornings until the bobcat is eliminated..

Yep, one of my hens in its mouth. A friend said it was a female...I sure can't tell from the night photo, but he is a hunter.

 

[Kiki]

Finally caught up and thought you might be interested...We have never had this predator in the 20 years we have lived on the farm.
We have had a few assaults on the 6 foot tall Cochin chicken pen this past week...lost a rooster and two hens. Made repairs to that pen and have locked up the rest inside their coop at night. Then set out the trail camera and a live trap for the past several nights.
Last night this bobcat was not interested in the food bait in the live trap and snagged another one of my hens from a different pen. We think she flew over the four foot fence because there were no cat prints in the soft mud in that pen. Nor were there any prints around the barn pens.
The war is now on! Bobcats will keep returning until there are no easy prey left. We have snap traps and snares ready.
The remaining chickens in the breed pens without tops will be moved back to the hen house.
The duck pen is only 4 feet tall and has a more sturdy fence that the bobcat could have easily scaled but that pen is under a pole lamp at night. Without chickens to catch, it may go after the ducks.
The duck hens are hatching ducklings this week...so I'll be moving the duck hens and their eggs into cages in the hen house. The remaining ducks will be locked in their houses inside the pen at night and released in the mornings until the bobcat is eliminated..
View attachment 1504474
Yep, one of my hens in its mouth. A friend said it was a female...I sure can't tell from the night photo, but he is a hunter.

Oh my.
I'm sorry this idiot is stealing your birds.
KILL IT! Tonight!

 

[biophiliac]

Finally caught up and thought you might be interested...We have never had this predator in the 20 years we have lived on the farm.
We have had a few assaults on the 6 foot tall Cochin chicken pen this past week...lost a rooster and two hens. Made repairs to that pen and have locked up the rest inside their coop at night. Then set out the trail camera and a live trap for the past several nights.
Last night this bobcat was not interested in the food bait in the live trap and snagged another one of my hens from a different pen. We think she flew over the four foot fence because there were no cat prints in the soft mud in that pen. Nor were there any prints around the barn pens.
The war is now on! Bobcats will keep returning until there are no easy prey left. We have snap traps and snares ready.
The remaining chickens in the breed pens without tops will be moved back to the hen house.
The duck pen is only 4 feet tall and has a more sturdy fence that the bobcat could have easily scaled but that pen is under a pole lamp at night. Without chickens to catch, it may go after the ducks.
The duck hens are hatching ducklings this week...so I'll be moving the duck hens and their eggs into cages in the hen house. The remaining ducks will be locked in their houses inside the pen at night and released in the mornings until the bobcat is eliminated..
View attachment 1504474
Yep, one of my hens in its mouth. A friend said it was a female...I sure can't tell from the night photo, but he is a hunter.

So sorry for your losses, that's a scary one!

Oh my.
I'm sorry this idiot is stealing your birds.
KILL IT! Tonight!

X2

 

[Kiki]

I've never in my life used the phrase KILL IT! until BYC.
KILL ALL PREDATORS!

 

[CrazyCrttr75]

Finally caught up and thought you might be interested...We have never had this predator in the 20 years we have lived on the farm.
We have had a few assaults on the 6 foot tall Cochin chicken pen this past week...lost a rooster and two hens. Made repairs to that pen and have locked up the rest inside their coop at night. Then set out the trail camera and a live trap for the past several nights.
Last night this bobcat was not interested in the food bait in the live trap and snagged another one of my hens from a different pen. We think she flew over the four foot fence because there were no cat prints in the soft mud in that pen. Nor were there any prints around the barn pens.
The war is now on! Bobcats will keep returning until there are no easy prey left. We have snap traps and snares ready.
The remaining chickens in the breed pens without tops will be moved back to the hen house.
The duck pen is only 4 feet tall and has a more sturdy fence that the bobcat could have easily scaled but that pen is under a pole lamp at night. Without chickens to catch, it may go after the ducks.
The duck hens are hatching ducklings this week...so I'll be moving the duck hens and their eggs into cages in the hen house. The remaining ducks will be locked in their houses inside the pen at night and released in the mornings until the bobcat is eliminated..
View attachment 1504474
Yep, one of my hens in its mouth. A friend said it was a female...I sure can't tell from the night photo, but he is a hunter.

Boooo!!! I hope you catch it soon! So sry that you’ve been losing birds but now that you know what it is hopefully you can stop it! Beautiful cats but awful predators!

 

[CrazyCrttr75]

Am outside with the duckies. They lay down a lot. Can’t say that I blame them. It’s HOT! But in between resting they are having fun making a mess:

and trying to attack my toes:

Omgosh it tickles!