Ducks with special Needs

[Miss Lydia]

What a cutie!!

X2

 

[CyndiD]

The lady i bought my trio of rabbits from also has Angora rabbits, which are beautiful. She cuts their fur 2-3 x's a year and she belongs to a spinning group. the fur sells for $4-$6 per ounce. I googled sheep wool and found different prices from $3.85 and $10-$15 per pound, depending on how clean it is. not bad, huh?

How many sheek do you have? Maybe my next rabbits will be Angora's?

I use to knit 20+ yrs ago, but didnt get into for long, guess I got bored. I like to sew and knit. I watch youtube videos when i want to learn a new knitting stitch, it is very helpful. I like youtube, some people are too slow about getting to the point of their information, however.


I have a Canon Power Shot that is so easy to use and uses an SD card. I started photography when i was 11 yrs old, just taking corny pics of my sister and pets.. then my parents bought me a Pentax 35mm camera when i was 15 and I have been tking pictures ever since. I took lots of photography classes in high school and in college. I never published any photos or sold any, they are just personal. I frame alot of my pictures and hang them in my home. I like taking micro/close ups of delicate and intricate flowers, and pics of people and animals (mine) and everything else.... tee hee


My dh sprayed the kitchen ceiling today w/the texture/plaster, then he will paint the ceiling and then start cutting into the ceiling for the recessed lights... my kitchen is not useable right now, well the stove isn't. we have to use the microwave tonight; fine w/me, we will just heat up leftovers...

Well, i better quit yapping.

Oh, I put my Special needs Pekin Ali into the pool today for about an hour or 2. I turned on her heat lamp and put fresh straw down and got it all warm and cozy for her while she was swimming; then i took her out and put her in her pen... she was happy.

blessings to you all

No sheep as yet - still researching and want to ensure that I'm prepared to handle shearing wool sheep. I think I'd want to do it, for the lanolin as much as for the wool, but I don't have experience and am trying to make an informed decision before I jump in.    Angora rabbits is a neat idea...they'd require a lot less infrastructure than wool sheep.

Thanks for the tips about learning to knit! I went to a local library recently and the woman who was working at the desk was knitting, so I asked her where I could learn. She had several suggestions, including a knitting group in the area. Clearly, I should go check that out!

Your photos sound wonderful. I was at a craft fair a couple of years ago and noticed that a lot of people bought prints of nature and animals...could be a market there, if you were interested in offering them to the public. 

The kitchen project is moving right along! I bet it'll be done in no time and the results will make you forget all about any temporary inconveniences. lol

Glad to hear that Ali is doing well! Pekins really love the water, don't they? Happiness for them is a kiddie pool, I think. When it's warm enough to put the pools out, the Pekin/Runners commandeer them and everyone else has to wait until they're done. Fortunately, the Muscovies are mellow and don't seem to mind.

Take care.

yes, it seems certain ducks bogart the pool... I dont really pay attention, except that when i do let the drakes out w/the ducks anytime a duck hops in the pool there goes a drake right after her, usually. the ducks are so fun to watch, they are all over the backyard; e.g. in the pool, out of the pool, up the hill, down the hill, out in the field, around to the front of the house; and last summer they even went down by our dirt road. our property is across our dirt road also so i dont mind if they went across the road. we only have 2 houses past us and then the road turns into logging roads. our road does get busy w/hunters in fall and winter, but the ducks dont go that far in those seasons.

so, how do you collect lanolin? i could google it.
take care, also

ETA: http://m.wikihow.com/Extract-Lanolin-from-Sheep's-Wool
I found my answer to my Q about lanolin...
I borrowed a neighbors sheep shears, for my dog, and boy oh boy did they cut the fur off easy and quickly. I wanted to buy a pair, but they are hundreds of dollars. IMO they are worth it if you have alot of sheet or animals to sheer, the only way to get it done nice, neat and quickly.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

yes, it seems certain ducks bogart the pool... I dont really pay attention, except that when i do let the drakes out w/the ducks anytime a duck hops in the pool there goes a drake right after her, usually. the ducks are so fun to watch, they are all over the backyard; e.g. in the pool, out of the pool, up the hill, down the hill, out in the field, around to the front of the house; and last summer they even went down by our dirt road. our property is across our dirt road also so i dont mind if they went across the road. we only have 2 houses past us and then the road turns into logging roads. our road does get busy w/hunters in fall and winter, but the ducks dont go that far in those seasons.

so, how do you collect lanolin? i could google it.
take care, also

ETA: http://m.wikihow.com/Extract-Lanolin-from-Sheep's-Wool
I found my answer to my Q about lanolin...
I borrowed a neighbors sheep shears, for my dog, and boy oh boy did they cut the fur off easy and quickly. I wanted to buy a pair, but they are hundreds of dollars. IMO they are worth it if you have alot of sheet or animals to sheer, the only way to get it done nice, neat and quickly.

I was thinking I could use the lanolin to make a "severe chapping" cream for winter, when skin is red and dry (especially for those of us with animals since we end up washing our hands a lot). I'm imagining stirring a big cauldron with hot wool in it...

Thanks for the link - it looks pretty simple, a little like rendering lard.

Good to know about the shears - having the right equipment for the job is definitely smart (from personal experience trying to use the wrong tools for jobs, lol). I know professional shearers can shear a sheep very quickly without accidentally cutting them, but I'm sure it takes a lot of practice to get there: "a professional shearer can shear a sheep in less than 2 minutes. The world record is 37.9 seconds. It was set in 2016 by Ivan Scott from Ireland."

http://www.sheep101.info/shearing.html

 

[CyndiD]

yes, it seems certain ducks bogart the pool... I dont really pay attention, except that when i do let the drakes out w/the ducks anytime a duck hops in the pool there goes a drake right after her, usually. the ducks are so fun to watch, they are all over the backyard; e.g. in the pool, out of the pool, up the hill, down the hill, out in the field, around to the front of the house; and last summer they even went down by our dirt road. our property is across our dirt road also so i dont mind if they went across the road. we only have 2 houses past us and then the road turns into logging roads. our road does get busy w/hunters in fall and winter, but the ducks dont go that far in those seasons.


so, how do you collect lanolin? i could google it.

take care, also


ETA: http://m.wikihow.com/Extract-Lanolin-from-Sheep's-Wool

I found my answer to my Q about lanolin...

I borrowed a neighbors sheep shears, for my dog, and boy oh boy did they cut the fur off easy and quickly. I wanted to buy a pair, but they are hundreds of dollars. IMO they are worth it if you have alot of sheet or animals to sheer, the only way to get it done nice, neat and quickly.

I was thinking I could use the lanolin to make a "severe chapping" cream for winter, when skin is red and dry (especially for those of us with animals since we end up washing our hands a lot). I'm imagining stirring a big cauldron with hot wool in it...   Thanks for the link - it looks pretty simple, a little like rendering lard.

Good to know about the shears - having the right equipment for the job is definitely smart (from personal experience trying to use the wrong tools for jobs, lol). I know professional shearers can shear a sheep very quickly without accidentally cutting them, but I'm sure it takes a lot of practice to get there: "a professional shearer can shear a sheep in less than 2 minutes. The world record is 37.9 seconds. It was set in 2016 by Ivan Scott from Ireland."  http://www.sheep101.info/shearing.html 

Wow, 839 lambs and 720 ewes in 8 hours, yikes, my back would hurt. my back hurts when i shear one dog, my australian shepard.
I would think that while boiling the wool, it would not smell real nice? Maybe get one of those burners that you connect a propane tank up to and boil your wool outside, ?? good shearing to you when you do get sheep, tee hee. ttyl

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Wow, 839 lambs and 720 ewes in 8 hours, yikes, my back would hurt. my back hurts when i shear one dog, my australian shepard.
I would think that while boiling the wool, it would not smell real nice? Maybe get one of those burners that you connect a propane tank up to and boil your wool outside, ?? good shearing to you when you do get sheep, tee hee. ttyl

It probably smells like wet dog!

Thanks - will get back to you on it when I have actually done it!

 

[quackers619]

Hey everyone how are you doing? How is everyone's ducks? We are doing good and the ducks are good too.....dandelion is doing ok she could be better but she could be worse......seems like we have adopted some new friends 4 geese 2 male and 2 female the come up to the house and start making all kinds of noise until we feed them its pretty cool and they don't bother my ducks so i don't mind having them around lol........hope to hear from you guys soon

 

[littlelisa2412]

Im new to ducks and just got 4 adults from aady who didnt take very good care of them. She may have raised tbem5from ducklings because she said one got stuck under a bowl for 4 days or so, but she couldnt remember which one. Ive determined it was probably my pekin hen because sometimes she acts neurotic and cant walk well at all. I dont mind a special needs duck. She gets long fine I just need to make adjustments for her. She holds her own in our flock of ducks, chickens and guineas. She doesnt care for chickens much though lol

 

[donkeydew2farms]

hi quacker619 I was thinking about you and Dandelion over this week end I am glad you are doing ok. Chester is doing fine he even bred carrie I filled the large kiddy pool and there they were going to town I was happy for him. there are three other drakes with him and some females but they don.t mess with him or carrie. could be they are afraid of Charlie his body guard. HA

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Hey everyone how are you doing? How is everyone's ducks? We are doing good and the ducks are good too.....dandelion is doing ok she could be better but she could be worse......seems like we have adopted some new friends 4 geese 2 male and 2 female the come up to the house and start making all kinds of noise until we feed them its pretty cool and they don't bother my ducks so i don't mind having them around lol........hope to hear from you guys soon

Hi! Glad to hear Dandelion is doing ok - but hope she'll be doing even better by your next update.

Your geese sound fun. I'd like to add some geese at my place, too.

Elliott's enjoying being a big drake - chasing girls, hanging out with the other drakes - he's just one of the gang. Some of the girls seem to like him, so he only tries to romance our boots once in a while now. lol

Good to hear from you!

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

hi quacker619 I was thinking about you and Dandelion over this week end I am glad you are doing ok. Chester is doing fine he even bred carrie I filled the large kiddy pool and there they were going to town I was happy for him. there are three other drakes with him and some females but they don.t mess with him or carrie. could be they are afraid of Charlie his body guard. HA

That's great news.

Glad to hear Chester and Carrie are happy and doing well.