Minnesota!

[Coffee 1st]

I know i dont personally know you or your son, but i am curious if he needs to be close to you just as much as he thinks you need him close.  I know i would be a total wreck for a long time if I lost my dad, and us boys have unique ways of dealing with emotions sometimes (Read: most of the time)

Ohh u just made me cry,, thank you for reminding me he might need his mom because he could be missing his Dad.. And I really don't mind them moving back in, I've missed them and yes it's been a little lonely that's why I've been keeping myself so busy..

 

[holm25]

Owl I REALLY recommend Pekins. This is my favorite breed because they lay lots of eggs and are big birds. I only have hatchery quality Pekins but they are still big and all white with no different color feathers.






I have a question for you guys. I noticed that my Pekins I hatched this year are much more meaty and bigger in size than my first ducks from the hatchery. Why would they be so much bigger??

 

[KlopKlop]

Owl I REALLY recommend Pekins. This is my favorite breed because they lay lots of eggs and are big birds. I only have hatchery quality Pekins but they are still big and all white with no different color feathers.






I have a question for you guys. I noticed that my Pekins I hatched this year are much more meaty and bigger in size than my first ducks from the hatchery. Why would they be so much bigger??

I used to raise hatchery Pekins about 12 years ago when i was in 4-h and enjoyed them too. They made good meat pens at the fair then we would raise them until the first frost and butchered them. They started laying eggs shortly before that so we got to enjoy those big duck eggs for a month or so. Some people dont like to eat duck eggs and say they are rubbery, but i never noticed that. I also enjoyed eating the duck meat.

I would love to raise some again, but i think my wife would be really sad to butcher them. ducks are her favorite animal

 

[Cebarmlds]

It was a nice day, did a bunch of yard work. I bagged the oak leaves must have about 25 bags of shredded leaves that I will put in the run during the winter for the chickens to dig through.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Ok, out to be productive! it turned out to be a cool but sunny and nice day here! ive got wood to stack, and my camper to winterize!

I forgot to metion yesterday - I moved all of my bags of oats out of my shed where I am having rodent issues (NOT in my chicken coop thankfully, based on your talks of rats chewing on chickens)
and I found one of my missing mouse traps! it was wedged between a feed sack and my wood stove and had half of a mouse in it. looked like it was partially eaten.....
will rats do that? am i dealing with a weasle?

Frankly i would rather a rat than a weasle as far as what ive heard about weasles doing to chickens....

either way I am setting my traps tonight! i wanted to get all of my feed/grain/flock blocks out of there first

Mice will cannibalize. If one is stuck in a trap, others will eat on it. Same goes for rats, they will eat mice and rats both if they are already dead. However, a weasel follows rodent trails for food, which is how they usually happen upon chicken flocks.

i was out working in the sun and wouldnt you know it here comes several of my hens playing keep away with a mouse! they chased each other for over 15 minutes until they flushed a second mouse and ran that one down too!

So there you have it... Myth proven, chickens will run down mice given the opportunity!

There is a wives tale about Buckeye chickens that they are "mousers". The truth is, pretty much any chicken will potentially chase after mice and eat them. I actually feed baby mouse litters to the chickens if I find them. I know, that sounds gross, but it is great protein for the chickens and I don't need another family of mice around. I have seen some chickens just look at a mouse running by, while others will go right after them and start ripping. Chickens are basically attracted to just about anything that skitters or crawls fast in their path. However, I have yet to find a chicken that actually hunts mice - I truly believe that would be stretching it.
Speaking of mice though, I think I need to clean out my feed area and see if there is a hidden nest in there, it stinks like mouse. I will not be happy if I find that it is coming from the walls!

Owl I REALLY recommend Pekins. This is my favorite breed because they lay lots of eggs and are big birds. I only have hatchery quality Pekins but they are still big and all white with no different color feathers.






I have a question for you guys. I noticed that my Pekins I hatched this year are much more meaty and bigger in size than my first ducks from the hatchery. Why would they be so much bigger??

Did you feed them differently? Did you get these ones earlier in the year? If not, then maybe it is just the stock they come from. Did you get them from a different hatchery? Not all hatchery strains grow or appear the same, just because they are the same breed. As I have said about CRX, which the Pekins are basically the equivalent for the ducks, you will find some hatchery strains grow faster, or bigger, and some have less consistency of size.

 

[SleepyOwl]

Owl I REALLY recommend Pekins. This is my favorite breed because they lay lots of eggs and are big birds. I only have hatchery quality Pekins but they are still big and all white with no different color feathers.

Thanks, I will put them on my list to look into!

 

[The BlanchRanch]

Update on my girls ears.. they are looking good.. her cheeks and neck feathers are still stained blue from the blukote..
right ear,,it wasnt as bad as the left

Looking great!! Good job, doctor.

Im so worried my chickens are going to freeze to death this winter...i think i should just make one of the spare bedrooms into a winter coop for them...LOL

Right? I was amazed last year, which was my first. They do just fine!

Finally sold out. Can hardly bend finger to type

Yeah! I remember you saying the local farmers market. I have a pretty good messenger bag. You should let me know where this is so I can make a ride out of it.

Got some news today, son and dil are moving back in.. Apparently I could use the help.. They love me and are concerned I might be lonely and am working to hard around here, I guess I'm getting older and it's not good for my health to do all this alone. Since my husband is gone now my son thinks it is his responsibility to be the man of the house.. LOl.. This should be interesting as long as they remember there is only one Queen and I'm it... And really how old do they think I am.. I still think of myself as young and hot.. Well not as young and still kinda hot.. LOl..

Well, Klop beat me to the same response. Except the age thing. Hell. I am young and you are way younger than me....

i was out working in the sun and wouldnt you know it here comes several of my hens playing keep away with a mouse! they chased each other for over 15 minutes until they flushed a second mouse and ran that one down too!

So there you have it... Myth proven, chickens will run down mice given the opportunity!

I have found partially eaten mice and sparrows in the coop. I don't think chickens are afraid of a little hunting.

 

[KlopKlop]

Looking great!! Good job, doctor. 

Right? I was amazed last year, which was my first. They do just fine!

Yeah! I remember you saying the local farmers market. I have a pretty good messenger bag. You should let me know where this is so I can make a ride out of it.

Well, Klop beat me to the same response. Except the age thing. Hell. I am young and you are way younger than me....

I have found partially eaten mice and sparrows in the coop. I don't think chickens are afraid of a little hunting. 

You would have been pretty miserable riding down to owatonna this morning. I wanted to ride in this morning but it was still misting when we left home at 7 am

This afternoon was nice though!

 

[scandiafowl]

i was out working in the sun and wouldnt you know it here comes several of my hens playing keep away with a mouse! they chased each other for over 15 minutes until they flushed a second mouse and ran that one down too!

So there you have it... Myth proven, chickens will run down mice given the opportunity!

That they would eat a mouse,
Of that I have no doubt.
Competition for morsels is tight,
And our chickens are willing to fight,
To show their status as prey animal
Is certainly interchangeable.

 

[The BlanchRanch]

Quote: You're right. Maybe next year.