I can see that - I agree they are hardy. However I have been lucky and not had any health issues with the chickens, and for me, the ducks were a hassle due to the mess. The first three years I could deal with it as 9 months of the year it wasn't a problem and I just grit my teeth and got through the winters (since I have to haul water from the house in gallon jugs, to fill the heated dog water bowl, it was pretty aggravating to fill the bowl with nice clean water and turn around a minute later to find a duck bathing in it - and splashing all that water out so it could turn to ice for me to slip on). But the straw that broke the camel's back was when they discovered the sheep and goat water tank. I'd dump and clean it and fill it with 50 new gallons of clean, sparkling water, only to come by and hour later and find it a poopy, muddy mess. Since all my birds free-range, there was no getting around that, so they had to go.
Mine have an open door and can come and go as they please. Yesterday they really never left the coop. I never saw them out and whenever I checked on them (every 2-3 hours) they were all huddled inside the coop. But today, with the sun out and the wind not blowing, they were almost all out, puttering around. To be honest, it felt pretty good to me outside today too. Even though the thermometer said only 10 degrees, with no wind and sun on my back, I felt very comfortable out there. My sheep and goats all came out as well as the birds - everyone seemed glad to be done with that horrible wind and sideways snow of yesterday.
I have a flyer like that a well. She is a hatchery EE I picked up this spring and she has discovered that if she hangs out until after the pigs are done eating she can clean up whatever they spill. This evening I saw her sitting on my retaining wall when it was nearing dusk. I went inside and started doing dishes, saw a movement and it was her, flying back to the coop. She had some altitude and I watched as she soared across the yard, down to the chicken yard, over the 5' fence and did a neat little loop to land right at the chicken door. Who knew she could fly so well?
I hatched out 13 campine chicks last spring from eggs I got from @Wisher1000 They are beautiful, chatty birds and I really love them. They are the most interesting of all my birds to watch and interact with. One of the pullets (all are silver except for one gold) I call Cathy because she is so chatty. She comes into the coop when I'm cleaning to snoopervise and be sure I do it right. This evening at dusk, 4 of them were pacing outside the run because they hadn't come when I put everyone in, and I didn't miss them. They were really glad to get back in. They are just charming little birds. There aren't many of them in Kansas yet, but they used to be standard layers 100 years ago.
I can see that - I agree they are hardy. However I have been lucky and not had any health issues with the chickens, and for me, the ducks were a hassle due to the mess. The first three years I could deal with it as 9 months of the year it wasn't a problem and I just grit my teeth and got through the winters (since I have to haul water from the house in gallon jugs, to fill the heated dog water bowl, it was pretty aggravating to fill the bowl with nice clean water and turn around a minute later to find a duck bathing in it - and splashing all that water out so it could turn to ice for me to slip on). But the straw that broke the camel's back was when they discovered the sheep and goat water tank. I'd dump and clean it and fill it with 50 new gallons of clean, sparkling water, only to come by and hour later and find it a poopy, muddy mess. Since all my birds free-range, there was no getting around that, so they had to go.
Mine have an open door and can come and go as they please. Yesterday they really never left the coop. I never saw them out and whenever I checked on them (every 2-3 hours) they were all huddled inside the coop. But today, with the sun out and the wind not blowing, they were almost all out, puttering around. To be honest, it felt pretty good to me outside today too. Even though the thermometer said only 10 degrees, with no wind and sun on my back, I felt very comfortable out there. My sheep and goats all came out as well as the birds - everyone seemed glad to be done with that horrible wind and sideways snow of yesterday.
Well, I got ONE incredible edible egg today. All the rest were incredible frozen and therefore inedible eggs.At least they don't completely go to waste. I thaw them in a saucer and then they get fed to the pigs and the dogs who are quite happy to eat them.
I really like my ducks cause I don't have to do a lot with them. I don't even shut them up at night unless the owls are hunting in the area. Owls happen to love ducks!!! This year the ducks discovered if they sit among the geese the owls don't bother them. BUT.... I would much rather raise chickens than ducks. I have some babies in the greenhouse right now and they are so messy and it stinks in there. The adults get in every water container around and make a nasty mess out of it or splash it out. The reason I like the ducks the most are that they keep the bug population down better than anything...even better than the guineas. And I have a steady market for their eggs. And I love eating duck. I've got lots of domestic ducks, but plan to switch to just cayugas this year. After many years of raising them, for my purposes they are the best. I have Pekins and anconas as well but the eggs and meat from the cayuga far exceed the other breeds. Of course the pekin have huge eggs and bigger bodies but the cayuga taste much better. The Anconas were endangered and I did my part, raising several hundred of them and selling them. I don't plan to get rid of the ducks simply because they really aren't any work. I'd still much rather raise chickens. @lizzyGSR I think once your chickens get busy hatching more babies and becoming more hardy in time you'll find them easier. Starting from hatchery stock isn't always a great experience in that they aren't managed for hardiness or other problems like an individual person would do.Maybe I just got a good one or something but I haven't had any problems with the heated dog bowls keeping the water thaw in this cold. I did move the chicken water bucket inside the coop but that was just because I have chicks in there that refused to come out. I lost one this morning anyway. I think it just got too cold. Not enough mama bird to go around I guess.
Hechicken - on the duck vs chicken thing. I have had a lot of bad luck with chickens. Danz can attest to the fact that I can't seem to keep my chickens healthy. I have lost quite a few.I've currently got one hen that is acting "slow". Danz thought it might be a breathing issue... she has one day left of treatment and then we'll reevaluate her situation.
I have not lost a duck and don't have problems with them. Sure they make a mess with their water but I don't have to worry about them getting sick all the time. They seem hardier to me.
For everyone else on here that has had ducks and chickens... which do you prefer and why? I'm interested in what everyone else has found!
I basically just cut a short piece of the fencing and then tied it back on itself ot make a cylinder. I then just set the cylinder over the water bowl. I went and looked more closely at it, and the field fencing I have is the kind that is somewhat smaller holes at the bottom and bigger ones at the top. Probably 3x4" at the bottom and 6x4 at the top. I'm terrible at guesstimating distances so take those with a grain of salt. Dimensions aside, the "water cages" as I call them work great at keeping the birds from bathing in their water bowls. They can still make it all dirty but at least they aren't splashing it all out!@rlh1 I agree with danz that you need some air circulation in that coop, that's one of the most important things for chickens. They're actually pretty tough birds like danz said. I have chickens in all kinds of pens outside & I only cover the top to keep them dry & the north sides in winter to help stop the wind. In winter the birds are inside more so more droppings build up & you will get an ammonia problem in there with it so sealed up & then you will get respiratory problems & even deaths. In my main coop I have vents & I keep a window cracked open on both sides of the coop & on the door all winter.
lizzzy I really like my ducks, I have Anconas, but I do have to agree with HEChicken that they are very messy. In warm weather they're out free ranging & they get into every water bowl around. After they go in at night I have to change out all the water bowls. I have to close up the sheep & goat pens while they're out in the fields as well because they do get into their troughs & mess them up if I don't. I may have to try your trick with the fencing for the dog & cat bowls & see it that helps this spring. How do you keep the fence on there?
@sharol those Campines are pretty little things, but way too flighty for me. I had that one & she never did get used to me at all, she would fly right out of the coop in the morning & stay as far away from me as she could.
Well I figured out yesterday that my heated base wasn't plugged in, that was the problem, duh. I have so many things plugged in inside the coop that I hadn't noticed there was one cord not hooked up. I hope that fixed the problem. So far my chickens haven't wanted out but I think today they might. I noticed that when I looked out the front door this morning my guineas were all standing on the porch. I guess the cement is warmer than the snow.
I took the little Japanese Ohiki pair out to the BLRW pen where there are chicks Friday & watched as the others checked them out. They're bantams anyway so even at 8 weeks they're small. The bigger chicks came over & were looking down on them & the rooster just stood his ground as to say what are you looking at. It was comical to see, they aren't a bit intimidated by the bigger birds. It was time for them to go out because the rooster was crowing in the house. Then the one Isbar chick that had been with the Ohiki pair was yelling his head off so I had to put the 3 oldest chicks from the other brooder in with him to give him company again, yes he's a rooster. I can't tell any of the others yet, but that one is old enough now to tell. I think I will have all 3 colors when they're grown. I really like the splash & the blues.
I got another of my Christmas gifts early the other day & boy Saturday & Sunday I put it to the test. My DH gave me a Ski & Rescue Suit made by Rothco that is wonderful in the cold. I had asked him to buy me a pair of coveralls to do chores in the cold so he told me to research them & just get what I wanted. The regular duck material they had in the farm stores didn't sound from the reviews like they would be warm enough out there as long as I have to be out so I kept reading & found these. I wore them this weekend with just a couple of base layers underneath & boy was I cozy warm, I was so happy. I don't even need a coat with it. I put a stocking cap under the hood for extra warmth for my head & carhartt gloves & my warm boots so the only thing that was cold was my face. This is what it looks like:
I might wait for the cold snap to pass to do the broody breaker. As cold as it is, she may need to be with other chickens to keep warm, and a wire cage is extremely exposed. Silkies are pretty delicate, I understand. I have 3 true Araucanas, and one went broody in January last year in the middle of an ice storm. I finally let her (and her equally broody sister) hatch some eggs. Between them they ended up with 3 or 4 really nice English Orpington and Breda/Araucana chicks. I had to rig a heater in the portable coop, but they did fine. We WON'T be doing that again this spring. LOL
