INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[kabhyper1]

I had ducks the first year I got chickens. If I were to get some again, I would gave them in their own coop. Males can seriously hurt a hen if he mounts her. So if you are wanting to free range with chickens I would only get female ducks especially if you only want a pair.

Is it possible to tell sex of ducklings in the tsc bins? I would like a pair or two females. I was thinking I might get 4 pullets and 2 ducks tomorrow. Mallards maybe.

 

[lilmizscareall]

Lol I hear they eat tons of slugs. We have to vaccinate the alpacas every month for meningeal worm.. It is carried by white tail dear and it is spread by slugs. Would one of those little coops from tsc hold a pair of ducks? Could they free range with the chickens? Do you have ducks brad?

This is going to be my first spring with either chickens or ducks, so just keep an eye on me. I'm sure that it'll be quite a learning experience maybe a bit comical.
When I first ordered my ducks I panicked...
SallyinIndiana gave me good advice and settled a lot of my fears...
Apparently they are slug killing machines. My yard is really shady and I can't wait for Slug Massacre 2014. I plan on free ranging all the birds together, but they will be cooped separate and have their own secure run. Their pond or pit or swimmin hole will eventually be built in another area of the yard.

 

[CluckAcres]

Picked up more chicks today from brad. My 4 barred rock bantys arrived from dick horstman. So happy just cant stop watching them. Lol. I have decided to sell my ducks. They have become so messy i can't stand it anymore. Lol.

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[CluckAcres]

These are some of my new babies. 4 barred rock bantys.

also here is new silkies from brad.

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[gunchief25]

Morning all Cockadooooooodledoooooo!!!

 

[minmin1258]

I'm so pieced I could scream!!!! Pretty much everyone knows I got Silkie eggs from Kab AND a friend whose hen died. Well last evening Kabs started to hatch, had three pipped by time I went t bed at 11:10, figured I'd be woken up by little peeping in a few hours. Well fat chance of that! Woke up at 4 by full bladder climbed outta bed to cold! Power went out sometime during the night!!! Bator was down to 91* grrrrrrrrrr of course no progress in bitties with it that cold!!!! Are they still going t hatch? Can they get that cold and still be ok??? I ran t kitchen tried to turn on to boil water (thinking to put a towel in there then ring it and put around bator) duh...electronic igniter! So scrambling to find fire place matches and power comes back on. Run into room crank up heater in bator get heat back to 99,5... And of course damage done so power stays on.... Bn watching for movement and listening for cheeps... Nuttin! So now what????

 

[minmin1258]

Ya

Morning all Cockadooooooodledoooooo!!!

It's mornin alright. Darn darn darn darn darn!!!!!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Big thanks to SallyinIN and Jchny2000 for stopping over at my place today to help me christen the new plucker. They and their DH's were very helpful. Sally helped me adjust the hatcher she loaned me, and Janet showed us both how to process quail. I'm very excited to try the quail she gave me. They also ooohd and aaahd at the appropriate places when they toured my new pens and runs. It is so nice to show them to people who actually know why they are built the way they are. My 'non-chicken' friends just look and nod their heads.

We had a great time and my children loved the dogs. I did not catch the dog names but my girl really likes the orange one. She keeps saying Orange loves her.
It is good to hear the eggs are pipping and peeping.

Quote: So many eggs, I'm still waiting on my most recent order of shipped eggs. I ordered 2 doz. I know mentally that they won't all hatch but still the what ifs are keeping me from even thinking about ordering more. Of course I have a few of my flock's eggs in my bater right now.

My day started off with sunshine, clear skies and 50*! So I got out my saw, drill, measuring tape and building supplies... This is as far as I got:
This is my new Bantam coop, still needs hardware cloth and exterior perches but looks ok.
The "duck box"needs door attached and a small run fenced but has easy access to the pond addition from last year.
So what do ya think is it suitable??? Any suggestions? Other than cleaning the pond that is...lol... That's already in the cards.
Unfortunately by the time I got this far the sky was overcast it was starting do drip wet stuff all over me, not to mention the temp dropped 20 degrees in 45 minutes!!!! Was down right frosty before I got everything put away until the next semi warm day.... Brrrrrr!

For the pond it was suggested to me to put fish in it during the summer to help keep the pond / pool clean. But we use a small plastic pool for the ducks.

Quote: Mallards fly good, I would not free range them right away.
Ducks are extremely messy. They splash water around more than my toddlers do during a pool splashing fight. That said my Dh wanted more ducklings because he enjoys the eggs. The eggs are great in baking too. A real big difference in cornbread.
Anytime you need to have water in the coop, it is time to get the ducks their own coop. If you plan to hatch your own duck eggs, a separate area for the male ducks is a good plan. Like Brad said the males can hurt a hen.

I'm so pieced I could scream!!!! Pretty much everyone knows I got Silkie eggs from Kab AND a friend whose hen died. Well last evening Kabs started to hatch, had three pipped by time I went t bed at 11:10, figured I'd be woken up by little peeping in a few hours. Well fat chance of that! Woke up at 4 by full bladder climbed outta bed to cold! Power went out sometime during the night!!! Bator was down to 91* grrrrrrrrrr of course no progress in bitties with it that cold!!!! Are they still going t hatch? Can they get that cold and still be ok??? I ran t kitchen tried to turn on to boil water (thinking to put a towel in there then ring it and put around bator) duh...electronic igniter! So scrambling to find fire place matches and power comes back on. Run into room crank up heater in bator get heat back to 99,5... And of course damage done so power stays on.... Bn watching for movement and listening for cheeps... Nuttin! So now what????

I would watch the temps really close since you adjusted them. This close to hatch my RIR do better getting a bit cold compared to getting hot. I understand wanting to get the bator back up to temps though. Cold can delay a hatch too but again being this close to hatching it might not be as big of a deal compared with eggs on day 6 in the bator.

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

Can ducks and chickens live together? Or geese and chickens? I mean coop and free range and all. My crazy mind is now going to geese and ducks. Somebody help me. I'm losing it.

I would not house them together I even free range. One reason, ducks are really messy. It will be a chore to keep your coop clean. The ducks I had were mean I the chickens. Not only did the two drakes I have try to mate them, they would also just randomly pull feathers out. My call ducks were okay with the chickens and not nearly as messy as the other ducks, call duck are kin if like bantam ducks. I have not raised geese, but I would also keep them separate.

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

Is it possible to tell sex of ducklings in the tsc bins? I would like a pair or two females. I was thinking I might get 4 pullets and 2 ducks tomorrow. Mallards maybe.

I believe they have two separate minimums. Last year at RK, the chick min was 4 or 6 and the duck was3