Maine

[winkle1234]

Nice tractor in your profile! Can you tell me how you use it... how often it's moved, how big, how many birds? Are you close to Bangor?

I live a few towns over from Bangor.

The tractor is for my 23 free range delawares and is 10 x 12 with 5ft side walls. I move it about 300ft or so once every 4-5 weeks when the grass is green and they have "cleaned" the area around it from bugs and seeds. The mobility also allows me to move it close to power so I can keep the water from freezing in the winter.

I built it based on ideas I gathered from BYC.

 

[kinsey228]

Would you do me a favor? Could you post pics of your doms including top of head and legs? I'd love to see how yours compare to mine regarding the auto-sexing.

I will tomorrow after they finish drying. I think I have 1 boy and 5 girls so far.

 

[longgrove]

They are really pretty! What breed are they, Ash?
Do weasels attack big birds like geese?

The new noisy duo. This is quarantine till I get their fencing finished. I did get posts in but no wire up yet. I could use a bale of straw for them. Just lost my 'purse' diaper bag so that may need to wait a week.

 

[CoopChick719]

are these not just the cutiest!!


chocolate call duck

LOL on the Cinco de Mayo Hatch Thread last year we were a bit nuts... so we all picked out virtual straitjackets for ourselves. After that hatch ended I got involved in The Old Folk's Home with many of the same people from the CdM hatch. SJ's came up again. A girl that I'm going to the Utah canyons with in about 3 weeks said she wanted one with "puppydogs, unicorns, butterflies and glitter." And I thought to myself: "I sew now. I can do this." Unfortunately I couldn't find glitter strapping so I substituted rainbow strapping. So I made her one without her knowing (as a joke) and mailed it to her since I have her address. It was a hit when it was revealed. I just did it as a funny joke but it took off and someone else is paying me to make her one... why not. Here's my final product for the first one I made... the second is still in the early stages since it's not winter and I have a lot more chores now:




It's fully functional and doesn't have any "escape hatches." It was really, really fun to make and I found myself giggling while sewing it at times. The one I'm making now I'm not having as much fun with because it's not (mostly) a joke and is made for a paying customer. I'm worried she won't like it... the first was for comic relief only and I didn't care if my stitches weren't perfect.

This is hysterical!!!

Love it!!

So far, I have 8 new fuzzy butts! 1 Ameraucana (looks lavander), 1 Red dorking, 1 Wheaten Marans, and 5 Dominiques, and more piping and hatching. I am one happy mama!

Hooray for hatchlings!!

Originally Posted by ashandvine The new noisy duo. This is quarantine till I get their fencing finished. I did get posts in but no wire up yet. I could use a bale of straw for them. Just lost my 'purse' diaper bag so that may need to wait a week.




Those are 2 good looking birds!! So beautiful with the snowy white feathers!

 

[Gallina Sarda]

Did anyone in the Bangor area happen to go to the swap at the TSC on Broadway, today? 

Hey there! I met Becky there (she was organizing it). They'll be doing it again next Saturday - hopefully the weather will be more cooperative

 

[Clover Run]

I was aware of the date and time, wondering if anyone had started a thread or a FB page or something.

Here is the Wilton Swap/Farmer's Market facebook page It was very cold but a few ventured out and set up - I had some pre-sales so had to go - wrapped it up at around 11:30 - too cold and windy.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/358608147587817/

 

[Clover Run]

Ash, that is one crazy adorable fluffy chick! Love the name. So sorry about the poults, hopefully hopp's trick will work.

Scg, what do you do with the jackets?

Kinsey, congrats!

Hoppy, you must post a photo, that duckling sounds too cute!

Going to attempt candling eggs tonight, fingers crossed!! Anyone have a favorite link on dry incubation methods? Basically you just don't add water at all until lockdown, is that right? What are the pros/cons vs regular methods?

http://cloverrunmicrofarm.blogspot.com/2013_03_01_archive.html Here is how I do it - I have great results and no drowning chicks! :-( I researched a lot and spoke to experienced breeders and they all told me the same thing and it works!

 

[ducklucky]

Hey guys, been a while, things have just been insane around the ole homestead. With Hub sick forever now, everything has fallen on my arthritic shoulders, and lugging firewood doesn't help. Oh well, keeps the old joints oiled anyway.

Nice geese Ash! How exciting, hope you don't have too many problems with varmints, but geese are pretty good alarms.. If I were a little weasel or fox, I wouldn't want to mess with them. Good luck with them, do you intend to breed them?

Well, everyone, I am going to be a gran-duckmother! I was holding off posting this to see how things went, because I've had a Pekin in the past go broody, only to give up. But now Mrs. Lucky has decided to really do it. Going into weeks 3-4 now, and just starting to candle to see progress, I've been leaving her alone because I couldn't believe my eyes. She is setting on about 15, and from what I have candled over the past few days, all are alive and kicking, and at different stages. Some will flutter around a bit with the flashlight, some stare back at me and a few are pretty full but still moving just a bit and are pretty close to hatching. Mrs. has been diligent, very, very diligent. The only time I can get near her nest is when I let them out on the grass for their hour each afternoon, but I have to be sneaky, if she sees me she comes a runnin'. Her nest is perfectly woven, like someone knitted it, and immaculate. Not a speck of poop in there, and the eggs are extremely clean and nice and warm.
She is a demon, tho, I swear she grows horns and spits fire if I go anywhere near her nest. She'll come flying out of that nest all poofed up with her head in the downward charging position, and she has flown at my head a couple of times when I was tending to the others. She can make noises that I've never heard any duck make before, screeching almost. She is constantly knitting her nest and moving the eggs around. She'll be a good mom, I hope.

Have a couple of questions for any of you who can maybe answer, as this is my first experience with being a duck-gran. Chickens were a piece of cake, and didn't know if I should handle her the same way, separating her form the others when I start to hear the pipping. Right now they all leave her be, but they are a little protective of her. It's almost like a maternity waiting room out there! I have plenty of space to bring her into the sunroom, and it's nice and warm out there with the wood stove. That's where I brought them all up anyway last year til they feathered a bit. Never even needed a heat lamp.

From what I can see they are at different stages and will hatch probably over the course of several days. Will she continue to set on the rest til they're all hatched? Will her sisters and Dad bother the babies? I've come this far (and so has she!), and would hate to lose any now. I don't want to interrupt her routine by disturbing her and bringing her in, but will if y'all think she would be okay with it. Probably at night would be the best time to move her and her nest??? I just pray she won't get ****** off and abandon the whole thing. So rare to have a Pekin do this naturally, don't want to ruin it. And they are a REAL tight bunch, Mr. Lucky, her and the other four wives. If I do bring her in for the birth, when do you think it will be safe to put her and the young ones back out with the rest? Should I let her continue to go out everyday with the rest of them if I move her in, or just keep her separated? I am so excited I can't think straight, but know the logical thing is to bring her in, didn't know if anyone has gone thru this and will be overjoyed to get any input and advice. Wish I could read her mind and know what the right thing to do is.

Hope those of you who got ducks from me last year had or are having success with them, they are a pretty healthy group, mine continue to lay like crazy, sometimes will get a two fer. I lost one in March, unknown causes. She was find mid afternoon, eating, drinking, hanging out, and when I put them to bed, she was just lying there dead. Nobody else got sick or anything, and she had no visible injuries. They were in their pen i.e., the screened porch that freezing cold day, and it had been cold for a while, maybe it just got to her, and I know nothing hurt her as they hadn't been out in a week or more. Very strange, but I know fowl will just sometimes die for no apparent reason. And only 11 months old.

We were pretty fortunate this winter with the weather, just a few really cold snaps. Once again, it caught us with our pants down, and the ducks stayed on the screened porch all winter, which was fine. We just but plastic up around the outside to protect them from wind and snow, and plenty of dry hay every other day, and they did just fine. Even when a part of the plastic blew off in Feb, they were okay. So answered that question of the year from last fall, ducks can tolerate cold pretty darn well as long as they can get out of the wind and are dry, they're extremely hardy. They did get a little dirty, and they did not like that, but on the milder days just put a big old tupperware tub full of water for them and they would take turns bathing. They truly don't need all that water all the time, they're in, do their thing, get out and groom, like a duck car wash. It was fun having them right off the living room and watching their antics right over my shoulder, and if they needed anything, had one that would jump up on the crate and peck at the window to get my attention. Swore she sometimes sat up there and watched TV.

Thank you all in advance for any help you can give with the upcoming hatch, and anxiously await your advice. Take care all, spring WILL come!

 

[buckabucka]

Ducklucky, I've never had ducks, but I would be nervous about moving her so close to hatch. Is there any way to section off an area for her right where her nest is? Hopefully someone else with duck experience will chime in.

I moved my chicks out into a section of the coop today. The drop in temperature (from the house) must be quite a shock for them, but they seem to be fine so far.
I have one chick that seems to have narcolepsy. When they are in their first week, I expect them to fall asleep, but this guy is 4 weeks old and every time he stops running around, he starts to nod off. He's been like this since day one. His growth is keeping up with the others, and he is active, but he's always nodding off. I'm pretty sure it is a roo, but not positive. The rate at which he is feathering out is identical to the other roo, but his coloring is more like the one female chick. The roo has a pink comb now, the female no comb, and Mr. Narcolepsy has a small comb, not pink yet. I'm not terribly worried, since all these Roos are headed for the freezer, but has anyone ever seen this behavior before?

 

[ducklucky]

That's almost too funny, and by the way, thanks for your suggestion about sectioning off her nest, I think we can do that, yeah I was very nervous about moving her. Will give that a lot of thought and see what material we have lying around, thanks a bunch.

How old are your chicks? When they are very young, they nod off all the time like that. As long as he is eating, drinking, and otherwise acting normal, I wouldn't be too concerned, just make sure he's not somewhere where he will fall and hurt himself when the nap attack attacks! If he starts to act unhealthy, then it's time to worry, but right now, just keep an eye on sleepy boy.