Best chicken for the apocalypse?

[The Yakima Kid]

Interestingly enough, Muscovy ducks aren't ducks, and Egyptian geese aren't geese. Both are sheldrakes, sometimes called shelducks, a group that is intermediate between ducks and geese.

I saw a live Egyptian goose that had won some honors at the state fair, and it was the most beautiful bird. Some claim they were domesticated before chickens. It seems to be very quiet, too. Beautiful.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

risk I'll have to take I guess.

OK. A friend of mine suggested that one could simply cook the Zombies to an internal doneness of 165 degrees F; but my concern is that Zombie cooties might be like Mad Cow, and might not be denatured by the heat.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Chickens for the Apocalypse:

My husband and I were discussing this, and he wondered how we would recognize the Four Chickens of the Apocalypse.

You know the economy is bad when we can't even afford Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and have to go to four chickens. Probably can't even afford a good solid biddy or rooster - no doubt just surplus hatchery cockerels.

I tell you, this is a sign of a really bad economy.

 

[Sylvester017]

Ducks are messy, for sure. We've only 4 atm (3g/1b) & are thinking of selling off the boy/girl to just keep two girls. We've very cold winters here -20F/-28C even, so we're not yet sure if they'll stay with the chickens or be inside the garage brooder. The extra humidity in the coop would be an issue as it'd contribute to frostbite & only ducks have that higher resistance to frost-bitten feet. Right now we're using nipple waterers for the main water supply in the coop & the ducks took to that quickly. Showed everyone else how to use them (except the dumb turkeys).

We still keep a kiddie pool in the run for them so they can swim, clean their nares, etc. In winter, if we do keep them in the coop they'll only get a thin bucket (24/7) which is just enough to dunk their heads. Oh yeah our chickens drink from their pool as well. But it's fine, since it gets emptied out every day. I only wish the turkeys would stop running into the water to steal the food bits I toss for the ducks. I don't mind them eating it, I DO mind them leaving dinosaur-sized poop in the kiddy pool though.

I love these Cayugas, they're actually pretty quiet. Not as quiet as Muscovies but they're not as loud as some of the other ducks I've seen online. The males are especially quiet (shame they don't give eggs, too ) (Here's a humble link to a vid of them if you wanted to see:

)

I actually almost got a flock of Bielefelder's this year. I was looking for SFH's & at the time I only saw the Biels in the area. But then I found the Barnevelders & fell in love with those too. I still have a dream of having at least one little SFH for my flock. She'd for sure be pampered. >.>

Funny about your DH. We've the same issue on naming boys. We had a BSLW roo who I joked one day about being handsome, so DH named him 'Handsome Jack' (from Borderlands 2)...and then the name stuck. So he couldn't be culled. I made my DH find a home for him, and he did...driving 4 hours to another city to give them a free rooster. Lucky bird.

I've tried setting up a "NO CUTE NAMES" policy for our farm but it's not working. So now the rule is "If you name it, you re-home it." Which seems to be working.

The duckies vid was cute and boy do they hog that pool water! I've always found the Runner Ducks one of the funniest I've ever seen!

SFH are beautiful. The Icelandics look somewhat similar but from all the owner reviews I've read about Icelandics they are hard to keep in a confined open range area - a bit unruly - they want to fly onto rooftops, trees, escape out of fenced areas, etc. The SFH on the other hand will follow humans walking around their pen - very friendly, curious, and calm.

 

[Sylvester017]

Interestingly enough, Muscovy ducks aren't ducks, and Egyptian geese aren't geese. Both are sheldrakes, sometimes called shelducks, a group that is intermediate between ducks and geese.

I saw a live Egyptian goose that had won some honors at the state fair, and it was the most beautiful bird. Some claim they were domesticated before chickens. It seems to be very quiet, too. Beautiful.

I'm not an expert on ducks/shelducks/geese so that's an interesting bit of trivia!

 

[The Yakima Kid]

I'm not an expert on ducks/shelducks/geese so that's an interesting bit of trivia!

Yeah, the state fair was very educational. The Egyptian goose was just one incredibly beautiful, beautifully and subtly marked bird.

 

[Sylvester017]

The 19th Century settlers found a bird that worked admirably in harsh conditions, just as it had during the Colonial era. This bird is known as the American Dominique, or just simply the Dominique. I see no reason to reinvent the wheel.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

I'm not an expert on ducks/shelducks/geese so that's an interesting bit of trivia!

It is worth noting because sometimes common ducks and Muscovy ducks will crossbreed. One might as well eat the offspring as they are mules and don't reproduce as a rule. The French actually call them Canard Mulet and raise them for liver pate.

 

[Sylvester017]

It is worth noting because sometimes common ducks and Muscovy ducks will crossbreed. One might as well eat the offspring as they are mules and don't reproduce as a rule. The French actually call them Canard Mulet and raise them for liver pate.

I always thought Muscovies didn't fit well in a duck category - they have the snout/bills of a goose, are quiet, and are much bigger than the average duck class. I love ducks and the Runners always make me smile - however I have WAY too small a yard to keep both chickens AND ducks/geese/shellducks

 

[elroddo]

Wyandottes are a good breed if your in a cold environment. They grow to be good sized, are docile, mine seem to fly well and at least the GLW is dark enough to camoflage well. they are good egg birds, 250+ a year per bird and roosters can be up to 8 pounds, with the hens about 6.5. Small combs make them one of the best cold weather breeds.