Chicken Lovers from Genesee County, Michigan!

Yes we got a new female duck, 7 months old, today for Donnie. He seems happy about it. She is a loud one too! I think all the females are loud though. LOL I hope they get along well. Fo rthe first night I put a little fence between them so they can get a little used to each other.

Congrats on getting your ducklings today! Aren't they so darn cute? They grow so fast, you will be amazed. Are you keeping them in the house for now?
 
Oh, that's so good that he has a friend again! Good idea with the fence. What did you name her? The two babies we have cheep like mad if one gets out of sight from the other.

We're keeping them in the house in a big wooden brooder that my husband built for our baby chicks last year. We kept the chicks in it in the basement, but decided to move it into the family room with the ducks. Never thought I'd have baby ducks in the family room! We've had them out a few times now to play with on a towel on the floor. Yes, they are SOOO cute!! They come right to the kids and hop onto their laps. They've also been swimming twice now in the bathroom sink. They're so much fun to watch. They really had a good time splashing around and getting everyone wet. Do you remember when you started giving yours access to grit? I'm thinking they won't need it until they're able to be outside and eat things besides chick crumbles. I need to research that. :)
 
We named the new duck, Marie....couldn't resist having Donnie and Marie. LOL They are doing great! The following morning I just put them together and they are already like two peas in a pod following each other around.
smile.png
He is eating like normal again and seems very happy with his new friend.

We kept our ducklings in the house too...first in a storage bin but that only lasted about a week and they got too big. We then moved them into a plastic swimming pool in our spare bedroom with some little walls built around it - what a mess they made. They would spill all of their water constantly and be standing in water and shavings. We switched to straw to try to keep them a but more dry. We ended up having to move them to the garage with a heat lamp at about a month old as they were really making a huge mess and I couldn't take them being in my house anymore! LOL I think we put them outside once the weather warmed up a bit.

I don't remember when we first gave them grit...they grow so darn fast...they are already big with feathers at a month old. I think I gave it to them when they looked big enough (maybe around 3 weeks or so?) I also know that giving them extra niacin is very good for their leg health as many are prone to leg issues because they grow so fast. Brewer's yeast is a good source and so is corn meal. When they were little I gave them corn meal with mashed up peas as a supplement. They LOVE peas!
 
Ooooh, thanks for the tips. I will give them some corn meal and peas as a treat tomorrow. We floated a small handful of minced green grass in a bowl of water this afternoon when we let them out to play. It was fun to watch them slurp it up and chase it around the bowl.

I bought DUMOR brand chick feed at the new TSC store in Davison when we bought the ducks because that was the only brand they had. The guy that helped me said they're getting another brand soon though (can't remember the name... maybe Purina). DUMOR is what I used for the chickens too though, so it didn't matter to me. I used the same feed with the baby chicks and as they got older I stayed with the same brand for the "grower" and "finisher" feeds. A couple months ago we switched the chickens to the LAYENA brand that we got at the feed store in Davison because it was closer for us than driving to Clio. I haven't noticed any difference in the chickens or eggs and they didn't seem to care that their feed had changed.

I love it! Donnie and Marie! Of course! LOL!!!! I'm having fun picturing them with big toothy smiles. ROFL! :)
 
When my ducks were babies, I made sure to really mash up the peas though.

We have been feeding our ducks the Purina Flock Raiser. We have fed our chickens Dumor brand, and also Purina Layena. Both seem OK. I really want to start doing organic food but the high price has kept me away.

How many/what type of chickens do you have? We have 8 chickens. 1 Isa Brown, 1 White Leghorn, 4 mixes (I think they are EE/Leghorn mixes), 1 Polish and 1 Polish Frizzle. I love the Polish chickens...they are so cute and goofy.

Here is a pic of Donnie (bottom) and Marie (top)
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom