***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[GeeGi]

Some pics of the babies at 13 days old

The more pics I see the more I want!! I would have to crochet coats for them in the winter. LOL

 

[GeeGi]

​Like mentioned your fine. Just make sure you don't keep an egg that floats.

Sure you already know but a good time to mention it since others may not.

I didn't know so thank you for posting this message.

 

[NanaKat]

Moved eggs to the hatcher...32 out of 32 Columbian Wyandotte, 9 of 11 Cochin, 3 of 5 assorted layer, and 11 of 11 ducks. The hatch is due the 20th. Some of the ducks are already internally pipped!
May be the best hatch % yet.

Roger and I worked in the garden the past few days including today. We set out all the plants...tomato, peppers, cucumber, squash, melons, more cabbage, broccoli. Now need to set out seed. Got to get the 16 X 20 bed ready for okra and a 5 X 23 foot bed ready for zucchini and patty pan squash. Haven't planted beans or Lima because a rabbit has been nibbling my sugar snap peas and carrots. War on the rabbit now,

Love all the flowers that are blooming!

 

[NanaKat]

Okies must be really busy!

 

[GaryDean26]

Okies must be really busy!

We are just waiting on pins and needles for the count of how many of your eggs hatch.

I moved 22 (out of 24) Cream Legbar Eggs from the Incubator to the Hatcher last night. We will see on Thursday what we get. I have them separated into 4 different grouping/pairing. I am excited to how the groups shape up.

1) One set of eggs in from our "pink" breeding line. Eggs are from two full sisters in their 2nd year of laying bred to our #1 cockbird (yellow line).

2) One set I suspect is our Orange line hen's eggs. She is with the main flock (mix of yellow, orange, green lines) with our #2 cockbird (yellow line). I am not sure which hen is laying those eggs but they are all Jumbos on the egg scale and by the color and shape I know they are all from the same hen. I only have two hens is that flock right now so I am guessing it is one of them and not any of the pullets in their first year of laying.

3) One line I suspect is our yellow line hen (the other hen in that flock). These are XL eggs that some time break into the Jumbo's. They are much rounder and much bluer than the Jumbo eggs and have a glossy finish as opposed to the matte finish of the Jumbo eggs. I did a hatch from the Yellow line hen in February. She started laying 10 days before anyone else in the flock. I loved those chicks and am hoping for more to add to the grow out pens.

4) The last group are yellow/green line pullets bred to the #2 cockbird. It is fun to break the chicks up into small groups and pairings. We see a family resemblance in the pairings (and often in the small groupings) that we don't see from larger breeding groups.

 

[NanaKat]

Sure hope your hatch is great too.
So far one duckling has hatched and another has pipped. These two are early birds!

 

[Karen523]

Okies must be really busy!

I don't tend to hang out here much. I'm usually on the hatching pages. But yes, I've been really busy lately. I've been hatching out lots of cute fluffy little chicks. So far I've hatched out some silver laced orps, buff orps, spitzhaubens and spitz crosses, and frizzled cochins. I still have eggs from some true ameraucanas, more frizzled cochins, and lavender orps in the incubator. I'm working on making an extra flock that will be used to till the garden. We probably won't use about 3/4 of the garden this year since my husband hurt his back. We are mostly using containers this year. I'm planning to work on improving the soil in the part of the garden that we won't be using. I want to throw in lots of compost, steer manure, and whatever other organic material I can find. We sold off our cattle, (except for the one we had butchered) but still have lots of manure that we can use.
What's easy to grow in a small garden area that I can throw to the chickens?
We just bought 25 meat birds today. We plan to wait two weeks and then get 25 more. That should be plenty for the whole year.
We are almost finished making a simple coop with a mesh wire floor for the meat birds to go into at night. Some of the wood is recycled from other projects and the roof will be made from sheets of tin that we have laying around. There are coyotes in our area and we don't want them snacking on our chickens.
We have also been working on a container garden. My husband loves to garden as much as I do, so I set up lots of containers on the back patio for him to grow veggies in. We have potatoes tomatoes, and a few other things growing in the containers. I set up some containers for rain water harvesting too. The plants always grow and produce so much better when they get rain water rather than well water.

 

[Remy_Flock]

New Duck mom from Oklahoma!! Please see my welcome post... I need help!

 

[NanaKat]

New Duck mom from Oklahoma!! Please see my welcome post... I need help!
Hello!!

I have the pleasure of being a Duck Mom! Of course, since I have never done this before I will have lots of questions.
I'm not sure if this site is meant for ducks, since its called backyard chickens, but I have seen a lot of things on here that have already been helpful.

I have, what I believe to be, a white female Pekin... I've only had it a couple of weeks and already things have rapidly changed.
This may sound silly but, I got a little duck to aid my "baby fever"... it seems to be helping, and I definitely feel like a mom.

Unfortunately, my boyfriend took this wonderful thing and got it a friend. I love the little thing, but my heart is crushed... as cute as the new (I believe a male Swedish) duck is, it has changed how my Pekin acts. With the difference in age and size my Pekin is "mom" to the Swedish...

My biggest concern is that they are different breeds and different sexes. Will they try to mate? If they do, is that bad?

My biggest goal is to still aid my "baby fever"... I want them to be friends, but would still like them to be somewhat dependent on me, and very social. Is that even a possibility?
I hope there are answers...
Also, my profile pic. Those are my ducks... please tell me if I'm wrong about the breeds.

Thank you!!
Edited by Grace1020 - Yesterday at 5:03 pm
!

I copied your welcome post here....so several duck owners can offer help.
There is a great duck thread in the "other backyard poultry section.

Your two babies are cute!
Yes, the breeds can mate. You won't know the sex on the males until they get a drake curl on their tail...the feathers actually curl backwards. Voices also indicate sex...females are loud and talkative, males are softer sounds.
What are you feeding?
How are they housed?

My ducks are Pekin/Cayuga crosses.

 

[dunnmom]

My hens are starting to lay smaller eggs. I was getting large to jumbo eggs, and now they are medium to large. I don't mind the change, but am curious about why. They turned a year old late last month. They don't seem to have any health issues, no mites or worms that I can see. I wonder if it's because I took BOSS out of their diet. I only did that because the weather is getting warmer and I didn't think they needed all of that extra fat in their diet. I'm feeding more wild greens since they are more plentiful now. What do you think?