Eastern Tennessee Thread

[grawg]

Thank you so much for posting that. Questions: If I get some and let them free range, can I put them up at night? (It wouldn't be safe here because our back yard is all woods). Would it be best to start in the spring? And what breed would you recommend for someone who has absolutely no idea what to do with a duck?

I free range mine all day and herd them in to their house every night. Takes about 2 minutes at most to put them up every night. Spring might be a better time to start. As far as breeds go, that really depends on what you are looking for. Metzer farms has a decent comparison chart for a lot of breeds here.

 

[StacyTN]

StacyTn : I saw that CL ad--What they didn't want them free?? Have any Specked Sussex to sell? eggs or chicks--where did you get them around here?? TNBarnQueen: I think you have to bait a trap with live food because they drink blood. If you could re-cage something inside a trap so it would be safe-but I don't think that's possible. I know of someone who had a raccoon problem with a interesting way of dealing with it. After locking his hens away at night he set 2 tires in front of their pen, adjusted a long piece of pipe right over that and set house current to the steel pole--killed 5 the 1st time used. Now, he had tried traps and lost 5 hens before that. I found this for you:
MINKS
Minks dig but not avidly. They will use abandoned gopher holes or muskrat dens rather than dig a new home for themselves. Mink can easily get past the electric wire around the perimeter fence but can't climb a five-foot fence.
They can, however, easily get through two-inch wire gauge; hence, smaller gauge wire fencing is a must. Most mink cannot run down a chicken or a rooster, but they can corner them in the coop and are stealthy enough to approach a sleeping rooster in the dark. Keeping minks from getting into the coop in the first place is the best way to prevent predation by them.
Minks will chew through soft wood; therefore, metal flashing (at least 18 inches wide) needs to be attached to the bottom of all older (possibly
rotten) wood walls of a coop. this:http://www.instructables.com/id/Keeping-your-Chickens-Safe-at-Night-with-those-lit/ and rags soaked in diesel and hang around the area is suppose to be effective. I guess I could't smell any chickens if I came upon those smelly rags. I hope anyone or all of these help!

I got my eggs from James Meeks in Cleveland (he is know for his Meeks Line Blue & Splash Langshan), I bought an incubator from him and he gave me 18 various eggs from his different breeds. But BYCer - oldfort_mailman (Chris) also in Cleveland, also has breeds SS. He works with James with his Langshan project. If you want I can PM you both their phone #'s. Both super nice guys and very reputable breeders. Matter fact, James is VERY strict about his biosecurity. Neither would mind you calling them at all.
As for me, these are my first 3 SS. I didn't set out wanting to work with or breed these but just happened to be some that ended up hatching. Not ready to let them go yet, but we'll see, I would like a hen or two.

 

[itsthelaw37801]

I free range mine all day and herd them in to their house every night. Takes about 2 minutes at most to put them up every night. Spring might be a better time to start. As far as breeds go, that really depends on what you are looking for. Metzer farms has a decent comparison chart for a lot of breeds here.

I am so in..........operation subliminal buy duck messages will start next Wednesday. He's off for 7 days. I think I'll start by showing him your post. Then the next night show him the chart. Then every night after that, I'll mention something about ducks. Eventually he'll broach the subject. I'll be "that sounds like something we should try!" with enthusiasm. Before you know it, he'll think it was his idea. (see I've learned a thing or two about honary yosemite same type men.)

 

[StacyTN]

I am so in..........operation subliminal buy duck messages will start next Wednesday. He's off for 7 days. I think I'll start by showing him your post. Then the next night show him the chart. Then every night after that, I'll mention something about ducks. Eventually he'll broach the subject. I'll be "that sounds like something we should try!" with enthusiasm. Before you know it, he'll think it was his idea. (see I've learned a thing or two about honary yosemite same type men.)

 

[bairo]

@ Stacy
I can not believe I missed on the Speckled Sussix,

I loved mine when I had them. I wish I could find pics of when they were chicks and when they grew up...but here is what they will look like in about 4 more weeks

 

[grawg]

I am so in..........operation subliminal buy duck messages will start next Wednesday. He's off for 7 days. I think I'll start by showing him your post. Then the next night show him the chart. Then every night after that, I'll mention something about ducks. Eventually he'll broach the subject. I'll be "that sounds like something we should try!" with enthusiasm. Before you know it, he'll think it was his idea. (see I've learned a thing or two about honary yosemite same type men.)

Lol ... hey wait a second, I don't know that I'm on board with this. And now that you mention it, I'm fairly certain my wife has been doing that to me for years. The cats, a new car for her, and now she's wanting the new iphone. I'll have to question everything! Was it even my idea to get married?! Don't answer that...

I need to get a better video of the herding process every night. According to the length of the video it took me 37 seconds to get the ducks from the front of the house to their pen. I'm fairly certain they would put themselves to bed if I moved their house around a little.

 

[ladyride]

Many thanks to everyone talking about molting ! Here I thought a couple of weeks ago when everyone stopped laying then it looked like someone opened a down pillow in the coop. I had turned butts up looking for bugs didn't see any sprayed & emptied the coops out fresh new litter everything. Then I read about all the molting & went ah ha that's what is going on. Oh well the coops are ready for winter. Thanks to all. Had I been keeping up with reading I would have known what was going on before all that work but it had to be done anyway before winter so may as well been now.

But my poor roo has naked tail with stubby feathers.

 

[itsthelaw37801]

Grawg, wait until she thinks you've gone to sleep and see if she is whispering in your ear. lol

 

[StacyTN]

Awww, thanks for sharing the pics - pretty birds. They are so sweet right now. I put my hand in the brooder & they run up to it and act like they get jealous if I pick up another. I am surprised with your pics & what I'm seeing that they look like they matrure rather quickly, same with the wellies.

@ Stacy
I can not believe I missed on the Speckled Sussix,

I loved mine when I had them. I wish I could find pics of when they were chicks and when they grew up...but here is what they will look like in about 4 more weeks

 

[bairo]

Awww, thanks for sharing the pics - pretty birds. They are so sweet right now. I put my hand in the brooder & they run up to it and act like they get jealous if I pick up another. I am surprised with your pics & what I'm seeing that they look like they matrure rather quickly, same with the wellies.
Quote: I was guessing on their age going by the fact that they were still in the basement workshop at the time. We were modifying the coop and left them in the brooding area for 8 weeks. The pics may have been taken up to 8 weeks old, but I was thinking they were even younger than that. Hard to say....as I did not have the camera set to tag the pics with the date

Here is a pic when they were still under a year old