NY chicken lover!!!!

[Nuttyfrom6kids]

Beautiful Kids!! Nigerians? <3

Yes they are Nigerians and will be registered as mommy and daddy are.

Is the one with the white cap on it s head a boy ? Id call that one Friar if it is

The one with the white cap is a girl

 

[BusyBearMama]

Yes they are Nigerians and will be registered as mommy and daddy are.
The one with the white cap is a girl

All time favorite goats are Nigerians. We aren't set up for them right now, but in a few years, they are WONDERFUL :-D congrats on 2 beautiful new babies!!!

 

[LadyHawkeAvry]

My ducks never made any messes, they stayed outside on our three acres with pond. They wintered in the neighbors huge pond that had a section that didn't freeze because it had running water going in it all winter. When the first bunch of little ones were in the house they were worse than pigs. All little ones after that were taken care of by the broody mom's.

I brought this pair in to treat bumblefoot, and halfway through the hen went broody... Totally wasn't planning to have a houseful!! My birds are free range on 2 acres with run in sheds - not enough protection for mom in the middle of winter, so she stayed in. I was planning on imprinting 2 of her babies, but she had a breech pip and a failure to progress, so I ended up with 4 after the assists. Honestly, I can't wait to get the adults and the siblings that can stay toasty under mom outside, much as I love them, because the mess they make is truly epic! Much easier outdoors where I can rinse the epic waterfowl manure slurry off the back porch every day and be all done! (They like to peer in the back door, and the geese knock on the glass asking for food) The imprinted crowd is still small enough that I can get away with drop cloths on the soft surfaces they like. Next will come fitting for diapers....
I would love a little more space and a pond!! Your birds must be so happy with open water in the winter!!!

 

[Lynzi777]

You


You are correct, individual circumstances play a lot into it. The adage "never get more animals than your mother can take care of" is also true! I have also had a duck we raised from a day old grab a hold of my daughter's face, barely missing her eye, and leaving a significant bruise. She is 23, and works with poultry for a living. Chickens are a lot more mellow, and when she was really little we had a small mixed flock of them. We have not had problems with our ducks that we incubated ourselves, but some of our breeder stock from outside farms are downright mean. I have a broody duck in our bathroom where she hatched out a clutch last week. I would not attempt that with a toddler - too much mess, and our broody girl is very protective and won't think twice about attacking to protect her babies. (She got my leg yesterday) I love my ducks and geese - they are engaging and very social birds, but with their intelligence comes a strong need to convey their feelings, including anger, and every bird is different. Some are just not all sweetness and love, no matter how much you spoil them, and it is important to be aware of that, whatever decision you make.

I would definitely recommend raising from day olds if they can. My kids loved the ducks, so much that only the two of them could actually hold their ducks, the would run from me or anyone else. We called my daughter the "duck whisperer" because of how friendly her ducks were with her, and they were runners! Lol

 

[Beer can]

@LadyHawkeAvry Yeah they loved the water in winter. It was a awful walk in over knee deep snow to feed them though, the neighbors are soon to retire from NJ and don't come up in the winter only for the first weekend of deer season so their driveway isn't plowed. Really nice couple and loved having our ducks in their pond though they usually stayed in ours during warm weather. They didn't mind our guinea hens trespassing on them either, good neighbors are hard to find, most locals put down city people I guess we got lucky. Unfortunately no ducks or guineas anymore, got rid of all the ducks when predators were eating more of them than we were, and the guineas for some reason liked to play in the road even though it
our house is over a hundred yards from it. Didn't have a predator problem before we moved here, lived on top of a hill, long private driveway and a free ranging Beagle. When we get ducks again I want flying mallards, hopefully they are more predator wary. If I could find them I hear cotton patch geese are good at free ranging and evading predators.

 

[dragonlord483]

billie

no name

 

[Gramma Chick]

billieno name

Billie is cute.. is un-named a adult ?

 

[Gramma Chick]

What will life actually be like with so much poultry and two toddlers?

I don't understand why anyone would ever discourage someone with kids from getting something their family has a great interest in raising.
Ducks are more work ..and with 2 toddlers I thought they might be overwhelmed ...toddlers are a lot of work too
I am overwelmed with the 3 ducks I have ...But I am keeping them .
I am almost retired ...maybe coz they are younger ..they can handle it .
Anyways ....they already have the ducks ..

 

[LadyHawkeAvry]

A beautiful batch of eggs from Rancher! Weighed, logged, and ready to go!

The babies came along for the ride!

 

[dragonlord483]

[quote url="/t/231485/ny-chicken-lover/43370#post_14911115"] /img/forum/go_quote.gif billie no name

Billie is cute.. is un-named a adult ? [/quote] Yes she is a yearling