Texas

[Fentressfarmer]

Thanks everybody, I know it takes time, but knowing she's in a better place helps.

 

[PSJ]

Those are beautiful!!!

Thank you

 

[PSJ]

Is that a big black hen in the front center? If so she has some size on her, I like that.

which one? Smack dab in the middle? My roo is right in the middle. The rest are hens.

 

[showbarnmom]

We are retiring several Californian rabbits. If anyone is interested in raising meat rabbits, these are proven producers. PM me if you are lookin to purchase any. We live in New Braunfels. These rabbits are show quality, too, if you have 4-H kids.

 

[Cockle-Dood]

We are retiring several Californian rabbits. If anyone is interested in raising meat rabbits, these are proven producers. PM me if you are lookin to purchase any. We live in New Braunfels. These rabbits are show quality, too, if you have 4-H kids.

ohhh DW wants bunnies! not set up for them at the moment though, unfortunately. and that is the breed i want...

 

[yinepu]

Good Morning everyone!! Glad to announce that all my chickens (both older and the younger ones that i released into the group) are friendly enough with each other. first few days the older ones would run the younger ones back into the coup anytime they came out, but yesterday evening they were all out free-ranging in their yard together like a happy family. the guineas found a frog that was cause for some excitement for a while, even Pearl (my light brahma) joined in on some frog-leg treats. today i am going to pick up some meal worms for treats to attempt to convince a few, if not all, that i am not a big mean creature...even though i let my 3 yo niece who is staying with us for a couple weeks wear herself out with some chicken chasing from time to time so she will sleep, lol.

On another note, started easing the idea of some ducks to DW and she seemed onboard...so now i get to start looking into those breeds. From everything i hear from this thread, 'scovies seem to suit my situation best. I know alot of you have some of these and i am curious as to your housing for these guys. I understand that they are migratory and must rendered flightless, but how do you all do their water? I have 2-3 kiddie pools that i can use, along with an old outdoor goldfish pond that i can put in as well, will this be enough of a "body of water" for say 3-4 scovies to be happy? Penny for you thoughts?

muscovies don't NEED shelter (remember they are considered to be migratory by some branches of the law

and the ones in the wild sure as heck don't have a cute little house to curl up in at night)

They do however like some "cover".. bushes or small shrubs (though they will hide eggs under them)

So you can use anything from an old dog house to a few trash cans on their side or get super fancy and make them a little house.. mine set up housekeeping in the shrubs and ignore their house

for water.. anything from hog pans and dish pans to kiddie pools are fine.. I rarely ever see any of my scovies in the water.. mostly it's the other ducks and geese.. the scovies will "bathe from the shore" so to speak.. the other ducks are the ones who are messier and love splashing out as much water as possible.

if your interest is just meat, muscovies are great.. if you want layers.. you'll need to find a different breed (anconas, pekins, runners, the production breeds and so on)

if you want "quiet" birds.. go with the muscovies

for making them flightless.. i pinion the day old's wings (bet you already knew that though)

 

[Cockle-Dood]

muscovies don't NEED shelter (remember they are considered to be migratory by some branches of the law

and the ones in the wild sure as heck don't have a cute little house to curl up in at night)

They do however like some "cover".. bushes or small shrubs (though they will hide eggs under them)

So you can use anything from an old dog house to a few trash cans on their side or get super fancy and make them a little house.. mine set up housekeeping in the shrubs and ignore their house

for water.. anything from hog pans and dish pans to kiddie pools are fine.. I rarely ever see any of my scovies in the water.. mostly it's the other ducks and geese.. the scovies will "bathe from the shore" so to speak.. the other ducks are the ones who are messier and love splashing out as much water as possible.

if your interest is just meat, muscovies are great.. if you want layers.. you'll need to find a different breed (anconas, pekins, runners, the production breeds and so on)

if you want "quiet" birds.. go with the muscovies

for making them flightless.. i pinion the day old's wings (bet you already knew that though)

I honestly dont think i have ever eaten a duck egg...but would love to make my own tur-duck-en one day! and yea, knew about the pinioning. but as far as that goes, i would pretty much HAVE to hatch them myself, right?

and do you have any ancona's? thats another breed that caught my eye...same housing requirements for that breed as well?

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
our duck eggs taste just like all the other eggs.. duck eggs only taste "off" when they have been eating fish or really mucky nasty stuff)

I have 40+ (43.. 46?.. somewhere around there) ancona eggs enroute to me right now.. plus a few in the bator.. plus ducklings.. lol

they would probably appreciate a shelter in the winter.. but as mild as our winters are i doubt they would use it unless the weather really got to be bad (everyone I have ignores the ducky shelter.. lol)

you CAN pinion older ducklings.. but I wouldn't go over 2 weeks of age.. and even at that you'll find that they bleed more.. (so it's: grab duck.. pinion.. immediately put back into brooder.. grab duck.. pinion.. put back into brooder.. and so on since the longer you hold them the faster their heart beats ..and the more they will bleed.

 

[Cockle-Dood]

right, i think u have taught me the pinioning process...just whether i can can do it another story! im so looking forward to processing and becoming more and more self-sufficient. but you know those first time jitters...gonna be a big step for me when that time comes, lol!

how bout u hatch and pinion and ill pick them up, lol!!!

 

[Mi Ranchito]

Good Morning everyone!! Glad to announce that all my chickens (both older and the younger ones that i released into the group) are friendly enough with each other. first few days the older ones would run the younger ones back into the coup anytime they came out, but yesterday evening they were all out free-ranging in their yard together like a happy family. the guineas found a frog that was cause for some excitement for a while, even Pearl (my light brahma) joined in on some frog-leg treats. today i am going to pick up some meal worms for treats to attempt to convince a few, if not all, that i am not a big mean creature...even though i let my 3 yo niece who is staying with us for a couple weeks wear herself out with some chicken chasing from time to time so she will sleep, lol.

On another note, started easing the idea of some ducks to DW and she seemed onboard...so now i get to start looking into those breeds. From everything i hear from this thread, 'scovies seem to suit my situation best. I know alot of you have some of these and i am curious as to your housing for these guys. I understand that they are migratory and must rendered flightless, but how do you all do their water? I have 2-3 kiddie pools that i can use, along with an old outdoor goldfish pond that i can put in as well, will this be enough of a "body of water" for say 3-4 scovies to be happy? Penny for you thoughts?

Greetings from San Antonio! I have Scovies and they are amazing. The pen is very basic, nothing too fancy. They are hardy birds and can withstand the elements pretty good, however, during the summer or sunny days, they need lots of shade. Mine spend the better part of the day relaxing under the shrubs in the back yard. They are not migratory...at least not mine. They have their flight feathers, but the males are too heavy to fly. The females enjoy flying up to the roof of the back porch and down...but have never flown away. I prefer to keep their flight feathers so that they can escape from a predator or a frisky drake, lol! I have a small gold fish pond that I built for them. They will swim for about 30 minutes in the morning and more in the late afternoon and at night...but really not as much as other ducks. I thought I would have a very messy and stinky pond...but that has not been the case. I do weekly pond maintenance, basically topping off the pond and cleaning the pump filter from the grass they track into the pond. They spend more time out of the pond than in it. They are excellent foragers and like to poke their bills into everything, seeking out tasty treats. They are not flighty and will waddle up to you. Anyway...good luck my friend with your scovies.