The Duck Thread

[OldMissionChick]

What does everyone use for nexting boxes? I saw on Pinterest where they used 5 gallon buckets. Our birds are now 17 weeks old so I need to get motivated

 

[DoctorWhoDucks]

Ok guys I have a question and hopefully you smart ladies can help me! My ducks are now 3 weeks and 5 days old. We have a gallon water feeder thing for them and here lately they have been able to drain that whole gallon in about 3 to 4 hours. Today I was sitting in there with them watching them play with the mirror they have in the box with them and I gave them a new gallon of water. I sat there for an hour just watching them and they managed to drain that whole gallon in one hour now! My question is, is something wrong with then or could I be doing something wrong? It just seems like they are going through a lot of water.

 

[Lynn Manes]

Just found some frozen frog legs in the back of my freezer. They got hidden under other stuff and were too freezer burned. Hated to throw them away, but scared to eat them. They are sooo good. Can't believe they got shoved to the back and I forgot about them!

We are having a heck of a time finding frogs here with the drought in California so we usually only get one frog at a time to process for the freezer.Hopefully soon we'll have enough for a meal. My mouth waters for them as it's been since the '80's since I've had any. WVDUCKCHICK, if they aren't freezer burned or look dried out they are probably okay.

 

[Lynn Manes]

Just found some frozen frog legs in the back of my freezer. They got hidden under other stuff and were too freezer burned. Hated to throw them away, but scared to eat them. They are sooo good. Can't believe they got shoved to the back and I forgot about them!

Lacrystol, if you like fish and chicken, you'd probably like frog legs as they sort of taste like chicken wings but with a very slight mild fish flavor. I know that sounds odd, but to me they are a real delicacy. We met a nice Oriental man while out fishing one day at a local park and got on the subject of bullfrogs. He told us they eat the whole frog! Now that would really turn me off. Lol

 

[WVduckchick]

We are having a heck of a time finding frogs here with the drought in California so we usually only get one frog at a time to process for the freezer.Hopefully soon we'll have enough for a meal. My mouth waters for them as it's been since the '80's since I've had any. WVDUCKCHICK, if they aren't freezer burned or look dried out they are probably okay.

Aww thanks, but they were horribly freezer burned. These actually came from our Kroger store! So they weren't wrapped very air-tight. I figured I'd use them the following weekend, so I tossed them in the freezer. But forgot about them.
My boys tried frog gigging, but never actually caught any. I have a bunch of very loud frogs in my pond though. I need to learn more about them!

 

[needlessjunk]

What does everyone use for nexting boxes? I saw on Pinterest where they used 5 gallon buckets. Our birds are now 17 weeks old so I need to get motivated

I just have an smaller enclosed area in my duck house. I built it as part of the house. Before that my girls just found a corner in the duck house and made a nest. I would say 90% of the time eggs are in the nesting area but lately they have been all over their house. Let me see if I can find a pic of their house. The nesting area is the part with the feed bag for a roof. One day I'll fix it, lol.

Ok guys I have a question and hopefully you smart ladies can help me! My ducks are now 3 weeks and 5 days old. We have a gallon water feeder thing for them and here lately they have been able to drain that whole gallon in about 3 to 4 hours. Today I was sitting in there with them watching them play with the mirror they have in the box with them and I gave them a new gallon of water. I sat there for an hour just watching them and they managed to drain that whole gallon in one hour now! My question is, is something wrong with then or could I be doing something wrong? It just seems like they are going through a lot of water.

You need a new waterer. The ducks just play in it and it needs to be deep enough to dip their heads into. You can look though my pics for some ideas or this thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/277007/waterers-for-waterfowl#post_3333169

 

[OldMissionChick]

I just have an smaller enclosed area in my duck house. I built it as part of the house. Before that my girls just found a corner in the duck house and made a nest. I would say 90% of the time eggs are in the nesting area but lately they have been all over their house. Let me see if I can find a pic of their house. The nesting area is the part with the feed bag for a roof. One day I'll fix it, lol.

Maybe buckets more for chickens lol. I am thinking cutting a hole in the side of those big totes for a nesting box, easy to remove and sanitize. Their house will be an 8x12 shed type structure.

 

[Lynn Manes]

Poor little Cocktail. I've been reading the thread about her and seeing the pix, oh my, that sac is large and looks painfully uncomfortable; but she looks like she's smiling like a happy baby that has no clue that doesn't belong there. Keeping my fingers crossed you all get this figured out soon. Do you not have a duck vet that can treat her?

 

[Lynn Manes]

I'm sorry to tell everyone. Cocktail died.

Oh no! I am sooo sorry. We were all pulling for that baby. She put up a valiant try and so did you. Bless your heart.You tried so hard to help her. I'm sorry for your loss. And sorry about other posts I just made before reading this one

 

[Lynn Manes]

I'm in need if some assistance please. I have a swim pool for my ducks now but still have a small tub of fresh clean water for them to drink from but oooh nooo will they drink from it. nup they just dirty it in literally seconds. When I empty it out there is either mud or poo at the bottom. (why one earth are they pooing in it?). How can I battle this? Also when I clean it out then refill it there is almost like an oily film left on top of the water, it not from my water as the hens water is fine it only happens with the ducks. Is this O.K? Hope Anyone Can Help Me, Thanks.

I'm fairly new to duck raising, and I have 6 Welch Harlequins that are always penned. I find them to be really filthy birds. They poo everywhere, & create mud everywhere. I have to change their drinking water daily and their pool every other day. I've tried to cut back on the muddy area by putting boards down and straw where they nest and sleep, but still they manage to make a mess of it all. One thing we did was to put an automatic watering system in. It's a simple & inexpensive float valve that hooks on the side of the water tub and then you run constant water via a hose to it. It will fill the tub automatically. I just go out every morning and dump out the dirty, then let the valve put some new water in to wash out the dirt and mud, and when it's clean, it'll fill with water for them. This has been great, bc it's one less thing I have to stand there to do everyday as it takes me about 2 hours/day to feed, clean and water my small flocks of ducks, chickens and quail along with our rabbits. You can buy a float valve at TSC if you have one near you or check any feed store or try a hardware store. It looks like the tub you are using would work fine. We have one of those black heavy duty rectangle ones also from TSC. If you need a pic let me know. Hope this will help. And they swim and drink in just about anything btw. Oh and just so you know, even though they have a large kiddy pool, they still jump in the waterer to bathe and last week my drake was having his heyday with one of the females in it. So we humans probably worry more about the total cleanliness of their drinking water than obviously they care about