Texas

[Kilsharion]

Well hello all! I'm pretty far south in Texas in good old Corpus Christi, Raising our first 6 chickens, with another 12 in the incubator. Perchance anyone near me have silkie chicks?

Welcome to the group. I love anyone who knows how to use the word 'perchance'.

I used perambulate, last night, and I thought my husband was going to swoon.

 

[yinepu]

Well hello all! I'm pretty far south in Texas in good old Corpus Christi, Raising our first 6 chickens, with another 12 in the incubator. Perchance anyone near me have silkie chicks?

I'm too far away.. which is a shame since I'm setting about three dozen silkie X bantam frizzle cochin eggs today

 

[Kilsharion]

emus
emu chicks
one lone rabbit (for now thanks to the neighbors dogs)
a couple wandering peafowl
quail
oh.. CHICKENS! (Imagine that)!

who the heck did I forget this time?....... do the neighbor's cows count?

Do Muscovies actually count as ducks? I mean, I know people call them that and such....but, isn't there some argument about where the muscovy actually belongs genus wise?

So, if we say they don't count as ducks...you missed Muscovies....

 

[Kilsharion]

I'm too far away.. which is a shame since I'm setting about three dozen silkie X bantam frizzle cochin eggs today

I can play taxi. I never mind a drive to the coast.....though my husband may beg to differ...

Kinda serious, though. If you two work something out, let me know if you need me to play taxi. It's only about 3 hours to Corpus, give or take. I'll take my hubby down there for a "date night".

 

[Cockle-Dood]

Well hello all! I'm pretty far south in Texas in good old Corpus Christi, Raising our first 6 chickens, with another 12 in the incubator. Perchance anyone near me have silkie chicks?

Welcome! Im north of houston and will be raising silkies soon. Might be able to sen ya some eggs polly next spring...but thats the best i can do

 

[StelleKitten]

Yes, I'm at the Round Rock campus. Not too bad on the drive, so long as I hit the road at off hours. I refuse to come south on I-35 between 7:30 and 9am. I won't go north on it between 5pm and 6:30pm. So long as I avoid those two time frames, the drive is short. About 20 minutes. The shortest commute I've ever had, actually. Before this, my commute was about an hour each way, and I considered that "not bad". In England, my commute was almost two hours each way....that sucked.

Yeah a two hour commute would suck. Just found out that my DH nearly quit today after they changed his schedule. He's losing his patience with that place. They fire one guy who had evidence of another one using drugs. But they kept the one that was using the drugs. They fired one person for catching a thief but kept the thief. Both of these happened in the last month. I worry about my DH since he couldn't lie to save his life. He get's to work the extra day thanks to that last firing. Even though he is actually going to be losing money on it, since that extra day is only a half day. GRRRR. Sorry for complaining but if I don't get it out somewhere else, then it just builds since I won't gripe at DH. I'm seriously amazed at the stupidity of that business. I know they are leaking money faster than they can earn because of the thieves there. Will only be a matter of time before it goes under.

Well hello all! I'm pretty far south in Texas in good old Corpus Christi, Raising our first 6 chickens, with another 12 in the incubator. Perchance anyone near me have silkie chicks?

Welcome! I hope that you find all the information that you are looking for on here. There is a map floating around here somewhere that you can get added to, that way we know exactly where you live mwuhahahaha lol. Just kidding but it is a nice way to find out if you have anyone near you.

emus
emu chicks
one lone rabbit (for now thanks to the neighbors dogs)
a couple wandering peafowl
quail
oh.. CHICKENS! (Imagine that)!

who the heck did I forget this time?....... do the neighbor's cows count?

I don't know if the neighbors cows count. I was just curious as to what all you were currently raising. That is a lot of critters to feed!

 

[Kilsharion]

Yeah a two hour commute would suck. Just found out that my DH nearly quit today after they changed his schedule. He's losing his patience with that place. They fire one guy who had evidence of another one using drugs. But they kept the one that was using the drugs. They fired one person for catching a thief but kept the thief. Both of these happened in the last month. I worry about my DH since he couldn't lie to save his life. He get's to work the extra day thanks to that last firing. Even though he is actually going to be losing money on it, since that extra day is only a half day. GRRRR. Sorry for complaining but if I don't get it out somewhere else, then it just builds since I won't gripe at DH. I'm seriously amazed at the stupidity of that business. I know they are leaking money faster than they can earn because of the thieves there. Will only be a matter of time before it goes under.

I have been surprised at the number of businesses that have significantly poor business practices and yet still manage to stay in business, and thrive, year after year. It boggles my mind. I'm sorry to hear your DH is having to deal with all of that.

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
yes and no.. but not really

they are more akin to zebras & horses scenario of crossbreeding

muscovy can crossbreed with ducks but the resulting offspring are "mules" and sterile because of the chormosome count not adding up... plus days of incubation aren't the same... but they aren't actually "ducks".. they are "perching waterfowl" if you want to get picky!

muscovy being Cairina moschata
domestic ducks being Anas platyrhyncha var. domestica
and mallards Anas platyrhynchos
in essence .. mallards can cross with domestic duck breeds and you get offspring that can reproduce with no issues.. muscovy mix offspring can't

and from Metzer Farms:

Muscovy and domestic ducks (such as the Pekin - which were developed from Mallards) are very different as they have been genetically isolated for over 50 million years. They can be crossed but you get some very interesting results. If you cross a Muscovy male with a Pekin female you will hatch moulards (or mule ducks); if you cross a Pekin male with a Muscovy female the progeny are called hinnies.
In Europe and in Asia many mule ducks are produced because of their large size, quality liver and reduced fat content in the carcass. Artificial insemination has been developed in ducks due to the desire to produce mule ducks. If left to mate naturally, the fertility is only 20-30%. Artificial insemination brings the fertility up to 80%. Whereas a Pekin takes 28 days to hatch and a Muscovy takes 35 days, a mule or hinny takes 32 days to hatch.
Approximately 60% of mule ducks are males. Some of their characteristics are like the Muscovy as they are large, quiet, slow moving and have long claws but are also like Pekin as they swim well, the males and females are much the same size and they do not fly.
Hinnies are not grown commercially. Males hinnies are much larger than female hinnies, like the muscovy, yet the females look like Pekins but fly quite well.
Mules and hinnies cannot reproduce. Both males are sterile and only the hinny females lay eggs (though they cannot hatch). If you have Muscovy and Pekin together, the chances are poor that they will cross but if they do, a hinny will probably be the result as Pekin males can catch Muscovy females easier than Muscovy males can catch Pekin females.

 

[Cockle-Dood]

Wow! Very informative!!!

 

[yinepu]

Anyone want some EE eggs?

Durr is getting ready to throw out 32

as far as I know they would be free except for cost of shipping.. but if you can toss in a few extra bucks for their feed bill it would be appreciated!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...hathon-all-poultry-welcome/1640#post_10957063