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First hatch is over, set 59 eggs and got 33 chicks. Not bad considering some eggs were held for over 3 weeks and the first eggs from some pens are lower fertility.
I am keeping 16, 12 marans (3 lavender, 9 blacks split to lavender) and 4 (2 pairs) Isabel Legbars (aka Opals). Those 2 kinds are ones where I have just a pair or trio and could lose one birds and never be able to recover the genes, so I'm raising chicks in February, once again.
 
dheltzel said:
Perhaps you feed your birds too well and they don't feel it is worth the effort to go after them. That is certainly a factor with how well cats are at catching rodents.
I love ducks for many reasons and the larger ones will be better suited for running in your yard and not flying off to a pond somewhere. If they can make a mud pit somewhere, they will, and that is the exasperating part of keeping ducks. They like to be messy or wet, often both.
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I used to make "breakfeast for champion chicks/chickens" from fresh eggs daily with new country organic food as base. Then I ferment their food. They also got free choice herbs and a hand full of BOSS/flaxseeds/mealworms mix. OK, sometimes several hands full, because my son insisted "Brownie wants it".:rolleyes: I guess I can understand why they didn't want to be bothered by beetles. How messy are the ducks is the reason that I cannot decide to get them. Hubby used to have pet ducks as a kid, and they were his favorite. I guess we will have to get some in the future, since hubby and son both want them.
 
TillyPeeps said:
I used to make "breakfeast for champion chicks/chickens" from fresh eggs daily with new country organic food as base. Then I ferment their food. They also got free choice herbs and a hand full of BOSS/flaxseeds/mealworms mix. OK, sometimes several hands full, because my son insisted "Brownie wants it".:rolleyes: I guess I can understand why they didn't want to be bothered by beetles. How messy are the ducks is the reason that I cannot decide to get them. Hubby used to have pet ducks as a kid, and they were his favorite. I guess we will have to get some in the future, since hubby and son both want them.
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My cleanest and overall happiest ducks are the bantam ducks in hutches with wire floors. People who breed and show Calls always use this sort of pen. Pics are at the bottom of this page: http://welbars.com/doku.php?id=ducks:australian_spotted
I say "overall" in the above quote because when the ducks go out into a grassy field in a movable, protective hoop house, that is when they are truly at their best, but that only works when the grass is actively growing -- and you have a lot of area to use. A small number of ducks can absolutely decimate the grass in an 8x12 hoop house in a single day if the ground is wet, but if you move it often, the grass rebounds quickly because it has been fertilized, watered and aerated (by the ducks probing the muddy spots with their bills, looking for worms, bugs and roots).
No reason you can't use both, moving them to grass when the weather is good, then back to their hutch when it is wet, cold, or you need a break from their destruction of vegetation. When there are weeds and grass available, I usually put a handful into the pool in the hutches (they LOVE white clover and chickweed).
 
I have been busy. Stoping in to say hi to all. Had baby bunnies born today from our 1 French Angora rabbit. Chickens are doing good. Ducks are doing good. Slowly getting rid of my extra male ducks.hoping to get some more ducks this spring. Going to take some of the older hens and young roosters to the stock sale next week. Need to check the calender on when I want to get the incubator going.
 
Awesome! Thanks! I had no idea that was there, I was told to go to the Green Dragon in Ephrata. They’re both over an hour’s drive, so I’d have to make a day of it and go with a friend. Who knows, someday I might have extra chicks to sell! What does Roots charge to sell at auction? You would think living in Amish country I would know these things, but I’m clueless.🙃
 
TillyPeeps said:
Wait, i just notice that you have Isabel Legbars? Will you have any chicks available? They are so gorgeous!
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They are really nice looking, but the chicks I hatched last year from purchased eggs were very flighty compared to the Rees line of Cream Legbars I usually sell. I am creating splits this year and hope to improve them over the next few years.
With only a single pair, I won't have many chicks this year and so don't have any plans to sell chicks.
 

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