Sorry guys, it's been a while, busy with sick hub. Anyway to those of you I sold my Pekins to, wondering how you made out with them (from Monroe) and if you still have them or ate them or what became of them. Still have my original bunch of 6 girls, 1 boy, they are wintering well on the screened porch off our living room on hay, it's fun that we can look out and see them and tend to them quite easily. Have a big plastic tub that they can drink from and preen with, some will jump in and bathe, and it is outside of their sleeping area. Wrapped the section they are in in plastic, and that got us thru the worst part of winter, and they sleep in boxes and dog kennels, and have been laying like crazy all winter, So many eggs, the dogs get most of them. When it was so cold they froze before we could get to them had to discard them, but for the most part, out of 6 girls, getting about 8-10 a day. These girls are LAYERS, all winter! Amazing. Would offer them for sale, but with hub sick, don't need people knocking at the door right now.
Anywho, have a question for you all. When I gather the eggs in the evening, the male Lucky is is quite possessive of them, he will attempt to roll them back into the nests, and a couple of the girls are quite upset. Last night found a clutch, and I was just out there the night before and cleaned it out, so know they were super fresh, the clutch had 6 eggs in it and some were warm, and found other eggs one or two here and there, separate from the clutch. I gathered them anyway, but thinking someone wants to make some babies, so will probably let that space be from now on and see what happens. Whoever was tending them was doing a good job, she had them pretty snuggled into the hay. This was all within 24 hours. What do you think? Lucky is very, very active with the girls, he mounts them all day long, so most likely some are fertile. Has anyone had success letting nature take its course? Surely with the days getting longer, they think it's spring!
I know ducks will leave their eggs for a lot longer than chickens, but does anyone know exactly how long? Hours? I don't watch constantly and they go in and out of their sleeping area, so it's hard to tell. But every time I approach that particular box, they go nuts and will pull at my clothes. Think it's a group effort to have that clutch! If anyone has experienced this, please let me know. Thanks for any advice! And will let that spot be for now and see...
Anywho, have a question for you all. When I gather the eggs in the evening, the male Lucky is is quite possessive of them, he will attempt to roll them back into the nests, and a couple of the girls are quite upset. Last night found a clutch, and I was just out there the night before and cleaned it out, so know they were super fresh, the clutch had 6 eggs in it and some were warm, and found other eggs one or two here and there, separate from the clutch. I gathered them anyway, but thinking someone wants to make some babies, so will probably let that space be from now on and see what happens. Whoever was tending them was doing a good job, she had them pretty snuggled into the hay. This was all within 24 hours. What do you think? Lucky is very, very active with the girls, he mounts them all day long, so most likely some are fertile. Has anyone had success letting nature take its course? Surely with the days getting longer, they think it's spring!
I know ducks will leave their eggs for a lot longer than chickens, but does anyone know exactly how long? Hours? I don't watch constantly and they go in and out of their sleeping area, so it's hard to tell. But every time I approach that particular box, they go nuts and will pull at my clothes. Think it's a group effort to have that clutch! If anyone has experienced this, please let me know. Thanks for any advice! And will let that spot be for now and see...
