Minnesota!

[Bogtown Chick]

I should still do one of those weasel boxes I guess. See if I catch him. I haven't seen him though since that one day we left for the Boys BB state tournaments. The mice seem to be back in action again in the run too They almost seemed wittled down after the initial sighting which would make sense. IDK...if we did end up getting him with the .22 that morning or what and he ran off.... And where there's one...there could be more to follow. I think I'll put DH to work in the shop this weekend building that weasel box. Just in case.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I should still do one of those weasel boxes I guess. See if I catch him. I haven't seen him though since that one day we left for the Boys BB state tournaments. The mice seem to be back in action again in the run too They almost seemed wittled down after the initial sighting which would make sense. IDK...if we did end up getting him with the .22 that morning or what and he ran off.... And where there's one...there could be more to follow. I think I'll put DH to work in the shop this weekend building that weasel box. Just in case.

If you could reduce your mice that would help. You could get some of my mice eating Buckeyes or Cochins to take care of some of them!

I have some mice that get in in winter and try to nest under the heated dog bowls I have for each pen. Every couple of days I pick up the stands they are under that hold up the bowls and kick the nest apart. You should see the Cochins especially go after them! I should video tape them, it is funny to watch. I have some in my White Silkie pen hiding under the bowl in the corner that I need to get rid of.
I haven't had a problem with weasels this year, but either an owl or an eagle is coming in and taking birds from my pasture. I am not happy! I have lost 5 birds in less that 2 weeks. I am pretty sure an owl got at least 3 of them, they were gone without a trace. There were two that were killed and left in the pasture that I found the next morning after the free rangers had pecked at them a bit. Nothing is getting in through the fence, so it has to be an air attack. I can't afford to lose any more of my roosters.

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

If you need replacement roosters, I always have extra (unless you're looking for specific breeds). I'll have some Iowa Blue mix too, and Iowa Blues are great flock protectors, especially when it comes to hawks.

 

[AlezaJ]

The BOs were not my only chickens I have 11 hens and 1 roo on the other side of my nearly 2 acre yard. The chicks were in our heated pump house which isn't predator proof. But they were going to be my broodies, now I have to buy more after I trap that weasel.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I want to ask all you Minnesota duck breeders how your hatching has been going this year so far? I have been putting in eggs for 3 weeks and nothing! I have just one call duck with two drakes and a Pekin duck with two drakes (one of the drakes had a sex change over winter. I swear he was a duck in October!.
I heard someone else say that duck hatching hasn't been going well for people and wanted to ask around.
I ordered from Metzers to make sure the kids have some for showing. I got the second batch today, 9 KCs and 8 Grimaud Pekins.

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

I hatched some mixed breed ducks at the end of March and had an 80 percent hatch rate. My call ducks have been hatching great lately! How old is your duck that turned into a drake? I have a hen like that too. She's 3 years old and turning into a drake. Has the tail curl and everything. Its not that uncommon.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Are you serious?? I was just making a joke about that! Does that really happen? I swear, I picked up every bird to make sure I knew the sex before I culled the rest so I would have a breeding trio. Then about a month or so ago, this one sprouts drake feathers and is whispering away like a drake. It is stiill smaller than the other drake that I wanted to keep as the breeding drake. That is bizarre! I know chicken hens can have this happen, but I didn't know that ducks did too. WOW! They are all a year old this month, by the way.
I remember last year the ducks were a little slow to becoming fertile, but out of a dozen and a half or so, which is roughly 2 1/2 weeks worth, I haven't gotten anything from the Pekin eggs. The Call duck has only given me about 10 that went in so far, and so far nothing there either. I have 2 drakes with her since the other female got killed by a coon shortly after I bought them last fall. I have them in a hutch I built just for them so they would be safe and couldn't fly away.

Maybe going back to straight duck/goose feed will make a difference. I have been feeding lay crumbles/mash with cracked corn added in, which is what the ducks last year were getting when they started laying and it worked. Well, at least I have the ducks I bought, even if I don't hatch any, but it is a waste of time and money to keep them around for a year and not get anything out of them to re-coop my expenditures.

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

I have my ducks on kind of a weird mix. They get an organic spring wheat, flax, oats, buckwheat mix. They also get mazuri waterfowl maintenance and layena chicken feed. I used to chop up lettuce, add oatmeal, scrambled egg, and and a fish oil caplet and serve that to them in addition to their other feed every morning. Wheat germ oil is good for them too.
My hen that went through a sex change was given to me by Dennis Fuller. She was national champion a couple of years ago. I wish she was still laying eggs!
I found this on feathersite:
In a normal female bird only the left ovary is active. Due to infections or other problems, this ovary may cease to function. In that case the right overy becomes active, but for some reason produces more testosterone and causes the bird to develop male plumage and secondary sex characteristics, although it will never become fully male.

 

[bantiesrule]

If you have two drakes to one hen, they might be too busy trying to be top dog to do any breeding. Do you know if they are "getting the deed done" or are they chaseing each other off the hen? You might have to take a drake out of each pen.

 

[Minniechickmama]

No fighting going on, and I have seen the drakes doing their business in both pens without the other bothering them. I will just wait and see how it goes. I had the worse hatch of the season so far this week too, and I am wondering if the weather had an effect on the eggs this time. That big storm sure made me feel off.
There is always the next hatch coming.
This year is proving to be a good one for learning and planning on a better system for keeping unsold birds. The last two years I had people getting chicks from me in March and waiting for me to hatch enough. THis year, I have full brooders throughout and folks are JUST starting to really come out and want them. I heard TSC had 3-week old chicks and ducklings still when someone I know went looking. It must be this late winter weather is making people wait for chicks. I am getting a lot of people looking for laying hens though. I surely do not grow out layers in the winter, and I don't know many people in Minnesota who would want to do that. Even though I put in my ads "I DO NOT HAVE LAYING HENS" I still have people asking me.