South Carolina

[huckleberryfarm]

Quote:
Those look like eating eggs. Someone on this board has been to get chicks from him. I think it was you maybe! You send me the info on where he is since I'm so close. Or I'm delusional or drinking too much wine. Hard to say.

 

[huckleberryfarm]

Okay.... now that I don't have dogs that will eat any animals in sight....

Why do you all raise ducks? Do you raise them like chickens or do they live in your pond? My 6-yr old loves Muscovy ducks! She thinks they are beautiful! Go figure. I don't really know anything about raising ducks but we have three big ponds and one is right by the chicken area. I'd love to have some ducks back there. We have a flock of geese that come and go and one lone goose that just stays on that pond. We think maybe it can't fly. Do ducks need some kind of housing? What about guineas? I'm seriously thinking about those too.

Who wants to start me on a duck obsession?

 

[Jackie B.]

Quote:
My main roo is a frizzled giant cochin. He's the sweetest! He does a great job as a rooster, always watching out for everyone. And he doesn't pick on the other roosters. I just love him! His name is Butterscotch.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/46722_img_0256.jpg

I have 5 giant cochins in different colors. When my breeding pens are done (this weekend I hope!), I think I might put him in there with them and see if I can hatch some more frizzled cochins for me. They are too funny!

He's so beautiful! Heres my sizzle cockeral George from Amy. He sits on my shoulder and peeps. Love him:

PS Love your new website!!! Can't wait to get some girlies from you!

-Jackie

 

[ChickyChickyBaby]

Quote:
Those look like eating eggs. Someone on this board has been to get chicks from him. I think it was you maybe! You send me the info on where he is since I'm so close. Or I'm delusional or drinking too much wine. Hard to say.

I would think those are for eating. Mainly because they were washed!

 

[ChickyChickyBaby]

Quote:
My yard is a slope! No pond here! DH won't build me one! We use stock tanks (the big black rubber ones) & kiddie pools from walmart.
I knew nothing about ducks.. DH raised ducks a lot when he was 10! DD loves ducks. She is the duck girl & does all the raising & care for them.

Amy did have some ducks for sale, if she hasn't already sold them! Joy has the cutest little call ducks, too! Not sure if she has any for sale though!

Tractor supply probably has mallard ducklings again this year.

Not sure how you would keep the ducks from flying off.... our mallards have clipped wings - except for our pekins which are too fat to fly

Oh and DuckDuck - Joy gave that one as an egg to DD. She raised it completely from egg to now...... and for some reason he just will not fly

I think it is because DD doesn't fly.

He is not big on being with other ducks and, well - he likes being in a dang dog crate.

He wanders in the yard while DD is doing chores, takes a bath in a pool, and wanders around, and goes to get back in the crate and waits for her to shut the door. He has been that way his whole life. I think from staying in the house so long - getting out and wandering around, jumping in tub, then getting out and back in his crate to preen. Strange but very loved duck

There is a good pic of him & DD on Joy's website!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Awwww! Jackie, he is looking so cute! I just love those red heads! I have one like him I am keeping. They have blue undertones and red feathers so I think it will help in future generations with these colors.


Ducks! Did I hear someone ask about ducks????

I adore my ducks!

The eggs taste better, the creatures are just too funny and are always so busy getting their food from Mother Earth instead of my pocketbook. Muscovy are neat because they do not quack, they only make a hissing noise, however, picking them up will cause some deep tears in your skin if you are not careful. They have very long claws because Muscovy like to roost and other ducks sleep on the floor.
I love my Runners, too. Just very graceful birds moving silently around the farm. Those I can pick up and torture with kisses!

I do not have ponds and am glad. Ducks can make a huge mess of your ponds if not careful. Muscovy and Runners will get on water but are not as fond of it as other breeds. Also, Pekin ducks are land lovers. Please check into putting ducks on your ponds before you actually get any. I know I have read numerous testimonials that have been full of the horrors of trying to fix the pond back after ducks made a home on them. However, if you are set up for it then yeah, it would look cool.

I like my ducks where I can talk with them every day. They know certain words and react. I can say si-si to ask if they are ready to be let out of the pen every morning. Watch out or you get run over if they are ready! And at night I say bedtime and no matter where they are on the farm they come running to go back in their pen so I can coop them up for the night.
Ducks are super easy to herd and love snacks like peas or kitchen scraps. Our ducks take their daily naps by our back door so not to miss any tasty treats DH throws out.

Ducks lay their eggs during the night or early morning so cooping them for the night ensures me of a good egg collection.

 

[huckleberryfarm]

Thanks, girls! Sounds like they might be fun but I'll need to wait until we live at the farm full-time. Hopefully soon! My architect is coming Friday and we just got our lake house listed today. For some reason my husband won't build me a house at the farm until we sell our lake house. We also have a big house in town so I guess I understand! I need to do some research about the ponds. We have 10 acres of ponds and they are spread throughout the farm. They would have access easily no matter where they are!

 

[phoneman]

i dont keep hens past 2 yrs. old. i hatch replacement pullets and after they start to lay good,the older hens will be sold and i was just wondering about nothing but the wheaten ameracunas. do they lay at least average at 2.5 yrs. of age. all i am hoping for is to hatch me about 15 pullets

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Kimberly wrote...........
Not sure how you would keep the ducks from flying off.... our mallards have clipped wings - except for our pekins which are too fat to fly lau Oh and DuckDuck - Joy gave that one as an egg to DD. She raised it completely from egg to now...... and for some reason he just will not fly hu I think it is because DD doesn't fly. gig

>>>>>>>>>>

Duck Duck doesn't fly because he can't. The only ducks that can really fly are the Mallards and the Muscovy. Others can get off the ground some but not like a Mallard and Muscovy do not fly far once they have been raised domestically.
Runner ducks have no ability to fly at all and other breeds are pretty fat. Also, trying to make them fly can cause some problems if they land wrong, a broken leg or in a girl it could cause major reproduction problems, busted egg internally and what not.

I had one of the Muscovy fly out of the pen this morning after I let the others out. She looked very confused! But soon she went off for a field day with the rest of the flock and left the other Muscovy by herself...er, well, with the chickens.

 

[ChickyChickyBaby]

Quote:
I wondered why he never would fly around the yard......Believe it or not, DuckDuck loves to play chase. He will stay close to Nicole but not real close, and if she starts walking in his direction, he takes off running as fast as he can. He stops to see how close she is and sorta quacks and takes off again. He has never tried to fly away - just runs LOL! I always wondered why he has only flew once. Our deck is up high in the back-second floor I guess lol - Nicole had him on the deck one day and he flew off of it and onto the ground. Only time he has ever flown and it almost gave Nicole a heart attack! Scared her to pieces!