Membrane looks brown peeping and movement has stopped help!

[K.Riggs]

These babies sound like they're going to be in duck heaven with a half acre range and a nice barn to sleep in. Spoiled birds! What kind of meat birds were you thinking? I don't eat meat, personally, but I've done enough research and have enough family members who raise dual-purpose birds to give pointers if you need them. I know Muscovy ducks are apparently one of the healthiest birds to eat, and they're great mothers that reproduce like crazy given the chance. You wouldn't have to use an incubator if you bought chicks! And I know austrolorps (spelling?) are apparently decent meat.

Being from Tasmania I do not have easy access to day old meat chicks like others do. I may be able to get some fertile eggs though.

My current ducks are Muscovy x Cayuga mules. I love them they are so adorable. I absolutely love my geese too. I have maybe considered eating excess male ducks.. I have such a soft spot for water fowl butchering would undoubtedly be a little bit harder than my spare roos which is my only experience of processing thus far.

Yes all my birds are a bit spoiled, but not in the designer coops way, basic sheds, pens and barns, but lots and lots of room and foraging to do. All my birds and even the sheep get along great with the exception of my Cayuga Muscovy crosses keep trying to seduce my gander through the fence and he politely flogs their necks and backs for them.. Spring here obviously

So how many and what breeds of birds so you have?

 

[K.Riggs]

Oh and meat breeds i'm still taking suggestions but availablity is so limited where I live. Just getting a few pullets can be a challenge at times!!

 

[Josh L.]

Being from Tasmania I do not have access to day old meat chicks like others do. I may be able to get some fertile eggs though.

My current ducks are Muscovy x Cayuga mules. I love them they are so adorable. I absolutely love my geese too. I have maybe considered eating excess male ducks.. I have such a soft spot for water fowl butchering would undoubtedly be a little bit harder than my spare roos which is my only experience of processing thus far.

Yes all my birds are a bit spoiled, but not in the designer coops way, basic sheds, pens and barns, but lots and lots of room and foraging to do. All my birds and even the sheep get along great with the exception of my Cayuga Muscovy crosses keep trying to seduce my gander through the fence and he politely flogs their necks and backs for them.. Sprint here obviously

So how many and what breeds of birds so you have?

Ooh, those crosses must be beautiful! and you don't need fancy coops to spoil birds, just spoil them with love, lots of room, and TREATS haha.
Recently i lost my chicken flock, a beautiful group of 7 sex-link laying hens, to a mountain lion, which is what restarted my incubating kick. I live in Arizona USA, so mountain lions aren't uncommon, but it definitely wasn't what i was expecting when i heard the girls yelling. It killed me to see the lion get into their coop and take them all down, especially after I had recently lost my quail to what appeared to be Merek's Disease, but there really wasn't anything I could do.. I'm tending my broken heart with ducks, it seems.

 

[Josh L.]

Oh and meat breeds i'm still taking suggestions but availablity is so limited where I live. Just getting a few pullets can be a challenge at times!!

As for suggestions on meat birds:
Rhode Island Red and Whites, Australorps, Cuckoo and Splash Marans, Buff Orpingtons, Barred and White Plymouth Rocks, Golden and Silver Laced Wyandottes, Buff Brahma, Jersey Giants, Cornish, Sussex, Dominique, Chantecler, Naked-Neck... There are more but I might have to search to figure it out. I know some easter egger chickens can be good meat birds, too. I figured a big list would be good since you did say you have limited options. If none of them are available, I'll do some searching, but those are the ones i know off the top of my head are pretty common where i live.

 

[K.Riggs]

Ooh, those crosses must be beautiful! and you don't need fancy coops to spoil birds, just spoil them with love, lots of room, and TREATS haha.
Recently i lost my chicken flock, a beautiful group of 7 sex-link laying hens, to a mountain lion, which is what restarted my incubating kick. I live in Arizona USA, so mountain lions aren't uncommon, but it definitely wasn't what i was expecting when i heard the girls yelling. It killed me to see the lion get into their coop and take them all down, especially after I had recently lost my quail to what appeared to be Merek's Disease, but there really wasn't anything I could do.. I'm tending my broken heart with ducks, it seems.

Oh awful I am so sorry!! In Tasmania we literally have no predators other than hawks and domestic dogs if they were to get out. Not even foxes like mainland Australia. I had one Araucana pullet taken by a hawk and a few weeks later a car of young hoons hit her sister on purpose with their car. I don't like to lose them :'(

 

[K.Riggs]

As for suggestions on meat birds:
Rhode Island Red and Whites, Australorps, Cuckoo and Splash Marans, Buff Orpingtons, Barred and White Plymouth Rocks, Golden and Silver Laced Wyandottes, Buff Brahma, Jersey Giants, Cornish, Sussex, Dominique, Chantecler, Naked-Neck... There are more but I might have to search to figure it out. I know some easter egger chickens can be good meat birds, too. I figured a big list would be good since you did say you have limited options. If none of them are available, I'll do some searching, but those are the ones i know off the top of my head are pretty common where i live.

Thanks fertile eggs i can probably find on most breeds.

Even if i could get day olds i didn't just buy a $600 incubator to hatch one difficult nightmare lot of shipped Cayuga ducks. That would make them very expensive ducks in fact the eggs cost me $80 so if I only end up with the two and never use my incubator again I spent $340 dollars on each duck. I like them but not THAT much

 

[Josh L.]

Oh awful I am so sorry!! In Tasmania we literally have no predators other than hawks and domestic dogs if they were to get out. Not even foxes like mainland Australia. I had one Araucana pullet taken by a hawk and a few weeks later a car of young hoons hit her sister on purpose with their car. I don't like to lose them :'(

That's terrible! I can't stand people who hurt/kill animals without reason. Smh. At least you don't have the predator issue, which is really nice. If you can find a BIG rooster, maybe of RIR or Australorp breed, you'll be better able to protect hens from ariel predators, as a large rooster sometimes will take on a predatory bird, and at the very least he will always be on the look out to keep the hens safe.

 

[Josh L.]

Thanks fertile eggs i can probably find on most breeds.

Even if i could get day olds i didn't just buy a $600 incubator to hatch one difficult nightmare lot of shipped Cayuga ducks. That would make them very expensive ducks in fact the eggs cost me $80 so if I only end up with the two and never use my incubator again I spent $340 dollars on each duck. I like them but not THAT much

Jeez, why are ducks so darn expensive over there? I mean, they are definitely expensive here, but that seems outrageous unless you got 24+! What kind of incubator did you get and how many Cayugas do you have still in the bator??

 

[K.Riggs]

Jeez, why are ducks so darn expensive over there? I mean, they are definitely expensive here, but that seems outrageous unless you got 24+! What kind of incubator did you get and how many Cayugas do you have still in the bator??

Yeah I know.. They better bloody lay golden eggs

River System Covina. It's Italian and apparently very set and forget for chickens.. not so much for ducks which apparently if you follow the manual you will get problems.. I only just found this out

I have 7 left. I had 12, One was cracked on arrival. One infertile at first candle. All 10 made it alive to lockdown and the first loss was the one yesterday that half zipped and died of exhaustion and shrink wrapping while I was asleep They were the three early pippers I think had the huge saddles.

 

[Josh L.]

Yeah I know.. They better bloody lay golden eggs

River System Covina. It's Italian and apparently very set and forget for chickens.. not so much for ducks which apparently if you follow the manual you will get problems.. I only just found this out

I have 7 left. I had 12, One was cracked on arrival. One infertile at first candle. All 10 made it alive to lockdown and the first loss was the one yesterday that half zipped and died of exhaustion and shrink wrapping while I was asleep They were the three early pippers I think had the huge saddles.

Well, hopefully its smooth sailing from here. You sure do a number on your wallet getting Cayuga eggs there!