"Louisiana "La-yers" Peeps"

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Barred Babies said:
You have quite an array of ages there!! Beautiful ducklings!! What do you feed your ducks Twiley?? I've been giving mine chick starter but not sure if I shoulf be feeding them the 30% gamebird feed!!
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I'm feeding them the nonmedicated chick starter. I wouldn't give the ducks high protein feed because a lot of what I've read claims that too much protein in their diet causes some wing disorders. Ducks/geese grow too fast and the development of the wings can't keep up with their growth. With my geese this season, I'm trying to minimize the feed while giving the goslings lots of access to fresh grass. I'm watching to see if it helps their wings grow stronger for when the big blood feathers start filling in. In nature, ducks/geese don't have nearly the problems as they do when farm raised. I'm convinced that we, while being well intentioned, often times overfeed them. Perhaps, Mike and Gracie would share their experience with this. Where the heck is Mike anyway???
 
Sprinkles212 said:
Our yard is open field, no mature trees, with the exception of the wooded South and North lines. We have 5 acres and then behind us (to the West) is 15 acres unused. Our coop sits smack in the middle of the field. Of the 3 neighbors to our east, one of them has a pond that is at least an acre in size and their lot is 3 acres total.
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They are not finished with the pond yet so I'm curious to find out what their plan is for it. I'm afraid if we get ducks and let them free range that they will leave us for the pond.
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Yeah; I'm thinking that the ducks would move from your house in favor of the pond. I'm pretty sure of it, in fact. Sometimes, I'll have one or two of the Pekins spend most of the afternoon just floating in their pool. Their whole focus in life is the water. Even as tiny babies they play in the water. It's very hard to keep drinking water available for them because they splash all of the water out and make a total mess.

Another thing about the Pekins is that because of the weight of their body they cannot fly. This makes them easy to contain but also somewhat vulnerable to predators because their only option is to run away. They don't even put up much of a fight. One of the young Pekins tried to bully a Muscovy duckling that was 1/2 its size and the baby Muscovy attacked the Pekin and was hanging onto the Pekin's back as the Pekin was trying to run away.

A small fence would be enough to contain the Pekins. With my geese, because they can't fly either, I use fencing that is 2 ft. - 3ft tall when I want to segregate them for breeding season.
 
grambysfarm said:
I'm feeding them the nonmedicated chick starter. I wouldn't give the ducks high protein feed because a lot of what I've read claims that too much protein in their diet causes some wing disorders. Ducks/geese grow too fast and the development of the wings can't keep up with their growth. With my geese this season, I'm trying to minimize the feed while giving the goslings lots of access to fresh grass. I'm watching to see if it helps their wings grow stronger for when the big blood feathers start filling in. In nature, ducks/geese don't have nearly the problems as they do when farm raised. I'm convinced that we, while being well intentioned, often times overfeed them. Perhaps, Mike and Gracie would share their experience with this. Where the heck is Mike anyway???
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Well good I'll stick with the chick starter!! Thanks!!
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grambysfarm said:
Yeah; I'm thinking that the ducks would move from your house in favor of the pond. I'm pretty sure of it, in fact. Sometimes, I'll have one or two of the Pekins spend most of the afternoon just floating in their pool. Their whole focus in life is the water. Even as tiny babies they play in the water. It's very hard to keep drinking water available for them because they splash all of the water out and make a total mess.

Another thing about the Pekins is that because of the weight of their body they cannot fly. This makes them easy to contain but also somewhat vulnerable to predators because their only option is to run away. They don't even put up much of a fight. One of the young Pekins tried to bully a Muscovy duckling that was 1/2 its size and the baby Muscovy attacked the Pekin and was hanging onto the Pekin's back as the Pekin was trying to run away.

A small fence would be enough to contain the Pekins. With my geese, because they can't fly either, I use fencing that is 2 ft. - 3ft tall when I want to segregate them for breeding season.
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Wow, it has been a long weekend! I FINALLY got ALL of my animals moved over to the property
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The geese, sheep, ducks, chickens, etc. will have plenty of grass to eat now.

About the high protein, Twiley,,, I think that they do much better when raised on pasture. I remember all the trouble I had last spring with the sebbies wings. It was a nightmare! I had to wrap at least half of my youngsters just to help their wing feather out properly. My dad has Toulouse geese raised on pasture, and he has had none of these problems with them. No angel wing or twisted wing tip. I have a few of my mixed goslings on pasture this spring, and so far I have not had to bother with any wing issues. The ducks won't eat grass like a goose will, so for them I just suggest limiting their protein intake. IMO pasture is the way to go with the geese.

I'll try to get some updated pics of everyone next time I feed. I hope everyone had a great weekend!
 
Gracie9205 said:
Wow, it has been a long weekend! I FINALLY got ALL of my animals moved over to the property
celebrate.gif
The geese, sheep, ducks, chickens, etc. will have plenty of grass to eat now.

About the high protein, Twiley,,, I think that they do much better when raised on pasture. I remember all the trouble I had last spring with the sebbies wings. It was a nightmare! I had to wrap at least half of my youngsters just to help their wing feather out properly. My dad has Toulouse geese raised on pasture, and he has had none of these problems with them. No angel wing or twisted wing tip. I have a few of my mixed goslings on pasture this spring, and so far I have not had to bother with any wing issues. The ducks won't eat grass like a goose will, so for them I just suggest limiting their protein intake. IMO pasture is the way to go with the geese.

I'll try to get some updated pics of everyone next time I feed. I hope everyone had a great weekend!
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Congrats on your move Gracie. I know that is a big relief for you. I hope for all of my animals to be moved on our property by the end of the year. I'm still in the building process.
 
grambysfarm said:
Congrats on your move Gracie. I know that is a big relief for you. I hope for all of my animals to be moved on our property by the end of the year. I'm still in the building process.
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X2 I can't imagine what a job that was!! I'm sure your glad your done!!

I was gonna ask you earlier Twiley how the building of your pens were coming along!!
 
Hey there La-yers and BYCers too,

Chris I candled the 9 NH eggs that survived the trip last eventing (day 7) had one blood ring, tossed it, and one (?) left it and 7 definite developers so that's a good sign so far.

Yawl I got some of the most awesome looking RIR pullets youve ever laid eyes on thanks to Chris and his generosity/great deal he gave me. the little roos not so much yet as they always look gangly and ragged to me for some time after the lil' gals start getting all dolled up LOL

Jeff
 

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