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fangedknight said:
Oh my god, she's getting so spoiled! (That's okay though she needs it lol). I still have 2 more GLW hens in case anyone wants them, still $15 each.

So the farm show is coming up, is anyone going to be there? @LeBlackbird and I are going to be going this weekend, I'll be there Saturday and Sunday. I'm actually picking up a Black Cochin Bantam Pullet from Jamie Matts (hope I got his name right) she's going to be gorgeous. Show quality bird for a show quality price.... $75 for a pullet!!! :thBut! It's worth it! I'm going to breed her to Little Butt, my splash Cochin Bantam since he's decent so I can get started on my own line of Blue Cochin Bantams for show. God it's going to be so funny.

Also, does anyone have any good prefab coop recommendations that might not break the bank? I've been trying to shop around but I need something for the Cochins and then something full size for the Ameraucanas. And if anyone has any ideas on something to do for the geese, i'm all ears. :bow
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Hhmm... Those GLWs, how old are they? I should be able to get away with getting them since I lost two recently, right? As soon as these temps rise above freezing, I will be fully enclosing my run. Also, this spring I am going to completely redo it so I won't be in this situation again. I want to be able to go on vacation and not worry about all of my peeps.

Have you looked on craiglist in the free section? An old dog house with some modifications could do nicely. I also made a temporary mini coop out of a 3'x3' shipping crate. That worked very well. If you ask around to anyone working in construction, I'm sure they could track down a shipping crate for you.

dheltzel said:
Re the bantam duck pen, I'm having technical difficulties downloading pics from my camera. I really want to make a video too, but that is for later. Here are links I used for inspiration:
My birds are coming from duckcreekfarm. The other link is really more detailed. This pen would work great for bantam chickens or quail too, just leave out the pool. There are a bunch more great examples on YouTube, search for "bantam duck pen".
I am using the largest mortar pan available from Lowes. It costs about $12 and holds about 30 gallons (those who know me, know my motto is "go big or go home"). It will be heavy, so I have a 2x4 structure under it. I will probably design that part better in the next one (this is a working prototype to give me experience). The pool has a stainless steel sink drain installed for easy draining and a board angled out of the pool to give them a ramp. A brick on top of the ramp should make it stable and give them a place to stand if they should get waterlogged and need to "preen it out". I also ordered a stock tank heater to keep ice from forming in the pool. They have a separate heated water bowl with rubber tie-downs stretched across the top in an 'X' to discourage swimming in the water bowl.
The who structure is designed to be movable, though I don't expect to move it much. Maybe in the summer it will go close to a garden area with additional pipes to drain the water into the plantings (duck "tea" for fertilizer!).
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Sounds great! I have that large 8' pool/stock tank thing I got last year. It is almost 2' deep. If I house the ducks separately, do you think that will be too big or deep? I want to elevate it so that I can drain it also. I'm sure some pallets can help me achieve that.
 
@fangedknight I got this other shipping crate from a friend. I believe it held rubber pieces for a children's playground originally. It is a perfect frame and will be used for either a duck, broody, or breeding house. I can't wait until spring!!!







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dheltzel said:
Re the bantam duck pen, I'm having technical difficulties downloading pics from my camera. I really want to make a video too, but that is for later. Here are links I used for inspiration:
My birds are coming from duckcreekfarm. The other link is really more detailed. This pen would work great for bantam chickens or quail too, just leave out the pool. There are a bunch more great examples on YouTube, search for "bantam duck pen".
I am using the largest mortar pan available from Lowes. It costs about $12 and holds about 30 gallons (those who know me, know my motto is "go big or go home"). It will be heavy, so I have a 2x4 structure under it. I will probably design that part better in the next one (this is a working prototype to give me experience). The pool has a stainless steel sink drain installed for easy draining and a board angled out of the pool to give them a ramp. A brick on top of the ramp should make it stable and give them a place to stand if they should get waterlogged and need to "preen it out". I also ordered a stock tank heater to keep ice from forming in the pool. They have a separate heated water bowl with rubber tie-downs stretched across the top in an 'X' to discourage swimming in the water bowl.
The who structure is designed to be movable, though I don't expect to move it much. Maybe in the summer it will go close to a garden area with additional pipes to drain the water into the plantings (duck "tea" for fertilizer!).
Click to expand...

Great Info! Thank you. I like the idea of ‘duck tea’. Are the Bantam Ducks you’re getting as small as Calls?
 
dheltzel said:
Re the bantam duck pen, I'm having technical difficulties downloading pics from my camera. I really want to make a video too, but that is for later. Here are links I used for inspiration:
My birds are coming from duckcreekfarm. The other link is really more detailed. This pen would work great for bantam chickens or quail too, just leave out the pool. There are a bunch more great examples on YouTube, search for "bantam duck pen".
I am using the largest mortar pan available from Lowes. It costs about $12 and holds about 30 gallons (those who know me, know my motto is "go big or go home"). It will be heavy, so I have a 2x4 structure under it. I will probably design that part better in the next one (this is a working prototype to give me experience). The pool has a stainless steel sink drain installed for easy draining and a board angled out of the pool to give them a ramp. A brick on top of the ramp should make it stable and give them a place to stand if they should get waterlogged and need to "preen it out". I also ordered a stock tank heater to keep ice from forming in the pool. They have a separate heated water bowl with rubber tie-downs stretched across the top in an 'X' to discourage swimming in the water bowl.
The who structure is designed to be movable, though I don't expect to move it much. Maybe in the summer it will go close to a garden area with additional pipes to drain the water into the plantings (duck "tea" for fertilizer!).
Click to expand...

What a wonderful idea! Now you're making me want ducks right next to my garden! Reusing the water is such a clever idea :bow
 
Blarneyeggs said:
Great Info! Thank you. I like the idea of ‘duck tea’. Are the Bantam Ducks you’re getting as small as Calls?
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Calls are highly selected for small size (like seramas) and short bills. Australian Spotteds are slightly larger than calls, but smaller than mallards. They have normal length bills and so aren't harder to hatch. They also, supposedly, lay more eggs than calls and have a more calm nature than black east indies. I did a lot of research, and other than being exceptionally hard to find, they seem like a perfect pet duck.
I also looked at mini silver appleyards, they would have been my second choice. The 3 color variations of AS (green, blue, and silver heads that breed like blue in chickens) and the history (they were created in PA, quite a long time ago) were the deciding factors.
The Livestock Conservancy (https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/australian) lists them as "study", but given that I only know of 1 source for them and the breeds they list as "critical" are much easier to find, I think they are in need of conservation.
 
AnneInTheBurbs said:
Sounds great! I have that large 8' pool/stock tank thing I got last year. It is almost 2' deep. If I house the ducks separately, do you think that will be too big or deep? I want to elevate it so that I can drain it also. I'm sure some pallets can help me achieve that.
Click to expand...
Ducks float and dive, no water is too deep, as long as they have a ramp to get out easily. Actually, bantam ducks can fly (like wild ducks), so even if there is no ramp, they are unlikely to get trapped in the pool.
Give a *lot* of thought to water changes. There are few sights more delightful than ducks on clean water, but few things more odorous than a stagnate duck pond. I found some great videos of ducks pond ideas on YouTube. Seeing it in an established pen (not when first setup) gives me confidence they worked out the kinks. Some even explain what they would do differently. Nothing like learning from the mistakes of others.
 
Okay we are getting snow in the eastern end of the state today. We’ve got about 2-3” so far and lots of wind.

The chickens were still in the coop even though their door was open. I was able to herd the turkeys back in there also. I will let them out this afternoon, when it stops coming down. They have a light in there, and hopefully, they are not having fights in there. :rolleyes:
 

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