INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Kiniska]

I have a few hens who are starting to look raggedy as well. It suvks.

 

[kabhyper1]

Do you think it is boredom due to the weather?

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

thanks for this it has shed a whole new light on what these poor birds go through,


now I don't know if I ever want to buy from a hatchery, the ameraucana's aren't really Ameraucana's, they are EE's and now any breed they carry is going to have other breeds in them, guess I'll just keep looking for breeders, and saving my money. I still have 2 different breeds I want to complete my flock.
they are good dogs,
I have never had any luck with adult dogs, have always had to get pups and raise them with my critters but that's just MO.

Yep, You get much better bird from breeders too, in my opinion. If you don't mind me asking, what 2 breeds?

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

I have a few hens who are starting to look raggedy as well. It suvks.

A couple of mien are acting "down in the weather" if you know what I mean. They are perfectly healthy, just so tired of being stuck inside

 

[BackyardBitten]

LOL!!!! Soo not kidding, my pekin hen are as loud as the geese or guineas! QUWAAAWAAAWAAAACK

!
Pekin drakes are raspy, so its not as bad. The peafowl will be much worse when they get an adult voice tho.
Scovies are a common wild South American breed. And not a true "duck" but actually more of a cousin.
Kinda like a donkey and horse... So I keep them separated from the other ducks and in the "egg coop" because they fly.
The offspring are "mules" and are sterile if crossed with other duck breeds. Scovies take at least 35 days to hatch, its not easy!
I won't eat our babies, but the meat is compared to veal, nothing like regular duck.
We are ordering the white variety for our freezer, they are a hybrid like cornish cross, If i can come to terms with the idea.
They are the birds I will bring into the porch if the weather is below -0- temps..and my peas.
My scovies have the red caruncles now, but they were only a 5 months old in the pic. I saw how old the picture is..11/2012 EEK!
The girls have very little, just the knob on the bill is red. Stanley's face is very red and bumpy. I'll get new pics, its very cute on my girls!

Hehehe! I don't think Brad has any

Thanks a lot jchny- now I am hunting for scovies!!!!!!!!!!!

a couple of weeks my DBF said, "hey maybe we can try raising some ducks." and i said "umm how bout no!" but that was before i knew about scovies, and u make them sound so nice!!! So my question is:
---Where does one find scovies? I have checked numerous websites. Found one that has some, but minnimum is i think 15, and there's no way we can have 15 ducks running around. So if anyone wants some muscovy ducks and wants to go halvsies, let me know. Or if anyone knows where to get some, please let me know. I'm thinking 5 would the maximum that we could have.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: LOL! They will start to lay in march here. It is kinda hard to find them. I don't plan to keep any this year, just sell our hatches.
I am planning to order the whites for meatbirds tho... I have found 2 breeders. heres the links..
http://www.countryhatchery.net/order_information.html
http://www.jmhatchery.com/ducks/white-muscovy-ducks/prod_4.html
If you need someone to go in, I may be able to next month. They are still somewhat messy, but not near like the pekin are.
My plans are to order and grow out at least 15 for the freezer.

 

[BackyardBitten]

LOL! They will start to lay in march here. It is kinda hard to find them. I don't plan to keep any this year, just sell our hatches.
I am planning to order the whites for meatbirds tho... I have found 2 breeders. heres the links..
http://www.countryhatchery.net/order_information.html
http://www.jmhatchery.com/ducks/white-muscovy-ducks/prod_4.html
If you need someone to go in, I may be able to next month. They are still somewhat messy, but not near like the pekin are.
My plans are to order and grow out at least 15 for the freezer.

ok thanks! was checking out videos on you tube and one guy did say that they like to muck up their water pretty good, but he re-purposed some of the dirty water for some of his fruit bearing trees. they seem pretty cool looking and the no quacking is a plus!!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote:
It was fun doing the training! My X-DH was a K9 officer, so we were involved in all parts of it. Living with a dog attack trained you must know what NOT to say or do. We later rescued a few dogs that went on to be drug dogs in other PDs. I even had a few occasions where I got to wear the bite suit and play the "bad guy" for other officers dogs

I was a few years younger then! We raised pups for a year too, but it was too hard letting them go. And after seeing so many dogs homeless doing Animal control, I decided not to contribute to the massive population problem.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote:
LOL they do muddy water up quick, we are lucky to have a small creek fed pond at the property line.
Usually, i only need to provide a kiddie pool to the young birds old enough to swim.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Do you think it is boredom due to the weather?

It could be, and so far mine aren't very active. Hens look really good. But i did move a lot of roosters to freezer camp recently too.
Wondering what age a rooster "slows down"? Red, my GLW isn't as "busy" as he used to be