Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[thedragonlady]

Thanks for the quick reply! I have been doing the boss for a long time. Some people were cleaning out thier Mom's house and I got a 25# bag from a free pile and later read about it here and stuck with it. The large handfull will simplify things. Do you feed it like scatch or mix in the feed?

Thanks again,

Marty

Either way is great. Some birds eat it better in scratch, some in feed. Try it and see. It depends on what the ground color is in your coop, I've found. I think chickens do not see shade differences well in feed.

 

[neopolitancrazy]

I need to ask a quick question about ducks, please. At what age will my Ancona drakes grow curly tail feathers or experience the "voice change"? I tried asking the Ancona duck thread, with no replies so far. BTW, Anconas are supposed to be medium weight ducks per Mr. Holderread.
Thanks,
Angela

 

[fowlman01]

I need to ask a quick question about ducks, please. At what age will my Ancona drakes grow curly tail feathers or experience the "voice change"? I tried asking the Ancona duck thread, with no replies so far. BTW, Anconas are supposed to be medium weight ducks per Mr. Holderread.
Thanks,
Angela

All male mallard based ducks like the Ancona get the curly tail when they feather out. I can't tell you a certain time because it depends on a number of things. The voice is the same thing, although you should be able to tell the males at a very young age by the noise they make. The male is more of a whisper but the female is a pronounced quack. I don't keep track of these things because they are not important to me. Generally I know the sex just by observing them, but I can't teach that online.

If you care...the Ancona is not an APA recognized breed. They should lay a lot of eggs for you. Dave Holderread has quality waterfowl.

Walt

 

[neopolitancrazy]

Thank you, Walt! I appreciate a straightforward answer, even when the answer is "it depends."

My extra ducks have an appointment with the butcher later this month, so I want to distinguish ducks from drakes by then. As I was scrutinizing the poultry yesterday, I believe I could hear both 'quacks' and more muffled 'wahnn' sounds. Also, some of the non-quackers definitely have more heavily boned, less refined skulls so I suspected they might be drakes.

I realize Anconas are not recognized by the APA, but they were my favorites from the assorted ducklings we tried last year. Perhaps when I retire (in 15 years) I can exhibit poultry, too. For now, I enjoy the Anconas' assorted colors and markings, and their general ducky cheerfulness.

By the way, the Holderreads sold their Anconas to a couple doing business as Boondockers Farm in Oregon. I have a surviving (blue or lavender) drake from Boondockers; plus one chocolate duck and 15 blacks from a local hatchery.

Take care,
Angela

 

[darkmatter]

I have a homemade box trap that some kind of weaselly varmint has been able to open the door and escape. So I rednecked it to fix that. I built this years ago from plans in a magazine (Pre-internet) and it has worked quite well for possums, rabbits, small coons, neighbors cat, etc.

 

[mississippifarmboy]

I have a homemade box trap that some kind of weaselly varmint has been able to open the door and escape. So I rednecked it to fix that. I built this years ago from plans in a magazine (Pre-internet) and it has worked quite well for possums, rabbits, small coons, neighbors cat, etc.

Gosh, that brings back memories. I bet I built a hundred of these out of sawmill slabs and a forked stick. Never saw one with that fancy-shamancy mousetrap though.

Now THAT'S ingenuity.

 

[Greybear23]

Gosh, that brings back memories. I bet I built a hundred of these out of sawmill slabs and a forked stick. Never saw one with that fancy-shamancy mousetrap though.

Now THAT'S ingenuity.

Wow that is a great idea for the lock!!! i like it, I may have to build a few of these, we have a lot of cats so I like to use live traps so i can catch and release!!! Lynn

 

[darkmatter]

Wow that is a great idea for the lock!!! i like it, I may have to build a few of these, we have a lot of cats so I like to use live traps so i can catch and release!!! Lynn

The picture doesn't show it, but the end of the trap is not a solid plank of wood. I have hailscreen over the end so it doesn't look like a blind hole to varmints. The door also has guides it fits in and I've never had anything lift the door until recently, like I said, some kind of weaselly varmint has found my chicken coop/run and has been chewing holes in the fence. Whatever it is, it isn't big enough to set off the trail cam and it can fit through a 2 X 3 inch slot in the fencing.

 

[rosewolf22002]

Anyway you would be willing to post how to make one of those traps? I have opossum like crazy out here.

 

[darkmatter]

Anyway you would be willing to post how to make one of those traps? I have opossum like crazy out here.

Sure, I built it from a drawing from a magazine. If you have any woodworking skills at all or just a saw, hammer, nails and a tape measure you can cobble one together from the picture. The actual size is up to how big you want it. Here's another pic:




Just remember you will have to deal with the varmint, don't expect the Missus to handle the deed:

Now that you have a possum, what are you going to do with it, you can: