The Front Porch Swing

[perchie.girl]

OOhhhhh!!! Nice people!! Thank you for the warm welcomes!!! Sometimes my usual hang out threads get slow....and I go looking for other ones to play in. One I found last week....hmmm

Anyway.....Thank ee!!...Thank ee!! Thank ee!!

OOps sorry I missed you joining up.... I am reading fast and furious before my computer crashes again....

Welcome from San Diego My place is in the High desert near Mexican border.... I used to have chickens but thats a long story so right now Ihave one horse A Percheron and three goats.

deb

 

[Beekissed]

I finally got a chance to look at those videos... The guy is an idiot.... I very rarely criticize DIY designs. And Yes While he did make it too complicated It works for him and I would never Slam someone for trying.... He even made his own Feeder cover out of sheet metal....

First things first... What Bee said about the drain is spot on. Though I have to admit having the Four inch drain did Suck the water out of the tub in one fell swoup. I like that Idea as well. The thing is he still has to rinse the thing out to get it clean.
So skip the work and use the original plumbing for the start.

But he had entirely too many ducks in that yard.... Everyone was dirty.... Including those poor trodden on chickens. Worse case I would give some elevated perches and feeding station for those chickens.... He only had four amongst those 50 ducks who were HALF grown still....

And ONE feeder for them all..... thats crazy.... Feeding frenzy is right.

Then there is that whole ritual of cleaning out the waterers....
1. Rinse off the outside with the hose
2. Scrub the outside with a scrubber
3. Rinse the outside again
4. Now open the waterers and show how dirty the inside gets.
5 Rinse off the tray for the waterers

Me IF i were going to use those kinds of waterers It would be

Starting with the three waterers on the grass.
Two steps each

1. Unscrew waterers let the old water flush out the ikky bottom.
2, Rinse and scrub everything.


The reason he is an idiot as well is hes talking about getting 1000 ducklings next.

FWIW the electric fence is on the outside of that pen Probably to keep dogs from messing with the poultry. I liked his charger it was on the outside near the gate and seemed to be pretty roebust.

deb

I didn't even get that far in the vid....I stopped watching after seeing the overstocking in that run. Then I got to thinking how his elaborate system empties the dirty water where? Yep, right in the wet, poopy run. Let's create a complicated design to drain our duck tub....and add to the slime in our overstocked run. Yeah! That's the ticket!!!

Only a man would come up with that idea...sorry, fellas, but my mother and I both use that expression whenever we see the most impractical designs being built and implemented out there. Guys just like to do "stuff"...... but it's the rare guy that does practical, workable stuff.

If his waterers were not implementing the poultry nipples, he's missing another wise idea. Why not drain that tub out into the grass or garden? Why not use electronetting to create movable paddocks for these ducks? He could even put that tub on wheels and pull it along after draining. As for water...you can bet those ducks are just drinking out of the tub most of the time anyway. Why not feed whole grains via a turkey feeder that casts the grain out on a timed schedule so that the ducks can feed naturally and they aren't bunched up at a tiny feeder...then offer a free feed mineral supplement such as kelp meal. If that is not an option and just feeding up some meat ducks is the goal....why not a trough style feeder so they can all get a fair share without trampling one another?

So many questions but the first and foremost would be "WHY are you overstocking?????"

 

[perchie.girl]

Well, awhile back we had an old cow [20 yrs old] that had a calf and she never got up..my husband was away and I put him in the bathroom [of course] then in a few days I put him in the horse trailer at night and fed him with a bottle.
Everyday I'd put him back out with Mama in the sun, she would lick it and it knew it was her baby.
Long story short...I would go out there couple times a night at dark thirty in just as you described, nightgown, boots, jacket, big ol bottle in one hand and a pistol in the other!! What a scarey sight that would have been for any snoopers!!!!

I am a scaredy cat at night.....course I imagine I would have scared anything off with they way I looked!
End of story except he [the calf] grew up to be a gorgeous bull, I had to sell him though he followed me everywhere and when he got big and no longer needed a bottle he wasn't willing to accept that and would hook my legs...forgot to say he was a LONGHORN bull.
Cheryl

ITs funny I rarely get scared at night.... Probably good because when the wind blows out a transformer up at my house there IS NO light but star light. Though you can see a candle almost a mile away when its like that. I do walk with a six foot staff If I have to go out at night... I Have gone out to hit the outhouse in the middle of the night and stepped over a rattle snake warming up on the concrete pad at my bedroom door..... A six foot staff is pretty good at flinging a snake very far away.

People scare me more than critters.... and I have very good hearing for peeples.

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

I didn't even get that far in the vid....I stopped watching after seeing the overstocking in that run. Then I got to thinking how his elaborate system empties the dirty water where? Yep, right in the wet, poopy run. Let's create a complicated design to drain our duck tub....and add to the slime in our overstocked run. Yeah! That's the ticket!!!

Only a man would come up with that idea...sorry, fellas, but my mother and I both use that expression whenever we see the most impractical designs being built and implemented out there. Guys just like to do "stuff"...... but it's the rare guy that does practical, workable stuff.

If his waterers were not implementing the poultry nipples, he's missing another wise idea. Why not drain that tub out into the grass or garden? Why not use electronetting to create movable paddocks for these ducks? He could even put that tub on wheels and pull it along after draining. As for water...you can bet those ducks are just drinking out of the tub most of the time anyway. Why not feed whole grains via a turkey feeder that casts the grain out on a timed schedule so that the ducks can feed naturally and they aren't bunched up at a tiny feeder...then offer a free feed mineral supplement such as kelp meal. If that is not an option and just feeding up some meat ducks is the goal....why not a trough style feeder so they can all get a fair share without trampling one another?

So many questions but the first and foremost would be "WHY are you overstocking?????"

I am not a nipple waterer person... I know when they work well They are wonderful for chickens... I wont argue that.

For what its worth ducks need a deep water container for rinsing their nasal passages out while eating. At least thats what I have read. Anyhoo...

You know I have read some on duck keeping because I dearly want some runner Ducks.... They arent swimmers dont fly or dont fly well and they lay lots and lots of eggs. But because of my water situation I could only consider a duck pond IF i could use the water in the hydroponics system as well. I was on another discussion group on Yahoo. "I was told in no uncertain terms Duck Water Could NOT be used in the garden... Its too dirty and carrys Salmonilla" I was dismissed so thoroughally I left the group. Because If it truly is a problem I know how to filter water.

deb

 

[Triple Willow]

ITs funny I rarely get scared at night....  Probably good because when the wind blows out a transformer up at my house there IS NO light but star light.   Though you can see a candle almost a mile away when its like that.   I do walk with a six foot staff If I have to go out at night...  I Have gone out to hit the outhouse in the middle of the night and stepped over a rattle snake warming up on the concrete pad at my bedroom door.....  A six foot staff is pretty good at flinging a snake very far away.

 People scare me more than critters....  and I have very good hearing for peeples.

deb

I almost stepped in the middle of two big garter snakes one night BUT your rattle snake would have got peed on. LOL Another night I went out to see what the dogs were barking at and I almost stepped on a sulled up possum my dog had slobbered up real good. I use to run out barefoot in the middle of the night or whenever but I stopped doing that because of the snakes. Now I go with shoes and a flashlight. lol Those dang tree spiders hanging down in their huge webs freak me out too! Ahhhh shiver!

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I am not a nipple waterer person...  I know when they work well They are wonderful for chickens...  I wont argue that.  

For what its worth ducks need a deep water container for rinsing their nasal passages out while eating.  At least thats what I have read.  Anyhoo...

You know I have read some on duck keeping because I dearly want some runner Ducks....  They arent swimmers dont fly or dont fly well and they lay lots and lots of eggs.  But because of my water situation I could only consider a duck pond IF i could use the water in the hydroponics system as well.  I was on another discussion group on Yahoo.    "I was told in no uncertain terms Duck Water Could NOT be used in the garden...  Its too dirty and carrys Salmonilla"  I was dismissed so thoroughally I left the group.  Because If it truly is a problem I know how to filter water.

deb

If you came and took my runners and left me some Cayugas in exchange I would kiss you right on the lips. I'm not a huge fan of the runners. They weren't my idea. Not a hater, just not a fan.

I dearly want to devise a duck water runoff tank system ... So I could capture and ferment the duck water and then use it for a garden. Then I'd have my ducks near the garden and could let them in to patrol for slugs.

So many dreams ...

I got all the stuff to make salted duck eggs!!!!!! It is a minimum 30 day investment, so I hope I like salted duck eggs!!!!!! I love cooking adventures like this! But I prefer faster results.

How many should I make? I'm getting about a dozen duck eggs per day at the moment.

 

[Triple Willow]

I can't hear much of anything the guy says on the duck videos ...thank goodnesss. lol I just think the bathtub design could be a good way to water and fertilize a garden or lawn and a good way to repurpose an old bathtub. I've seen where people use swimming pools, tubs and that sort of thing for their ducks. A bathtub would be easy to drain.

 

[Triple Willow]

If you came and took my runners and left me some Cayugas in exchange I would kiss you right on the lips. I'm not a huge fan of the runners. They weren't my idea. Not a hater, just not a fan.

I dearly want to devise a duck water runoff tank system ... So I could capture and ferment the duck water and then use it for a garden. Then I'd have my ducks near the garden and could let them in to patrol for slugs.

So many dreams ...

I got all the stuff to make salted duck eggs!!!!!! It is a minimum 30 day investment, so I hope I like salted duck eggs!!!!!! I love cooking adventures like this! But I prefer faster results.

How many should I make? I'm getting about a dozen duck eggs per day at the moment.

How do you ferment the duck water?

 

[Beekissed]

I am not a nipple waterer person... I know when they work well They are wonderful for chickens... I wont argue that.

For what its worth ducks need a deep water container for rinsing their nasal passages out while eating. At least thats what I have read. Anyhoo...

You know I have read some on duck keeping because I dearly want some runner Ducks.... They arent swimmers dont fly or dont fly well and they lay lots and lots of eggs. But because of my water situation I could only consider a duck pond IF i could use the water in the hydroponics system as well. I was on another discussion group on Yahoo. "I was told in no uncertain terms Duck Water Could NOT be used in the garden... Its too dirty and carrys Salmonilla" I was dismissed so thoroughally I left the group. Because If it truly is a problem I know how to filter water.

deb

Same folks that will tell you that you can't feed your chickens their own egg shells without first cooking them to sterilize them so you won't feed salmonella to your chickens.....

If your ducks have that much of an overload on salmonella in their feces, you have bigger issues than using their water in the garden.

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

I like the outhouse idea!!.... It is a PITA to have to go all the way back inside the house, through the house, take my coat off...go pee. Repeat steps in reverse to go back outside.

I didn't watch the videos. Sounded painful for me to watch...

not even for entertainment purposes. Seems kind of like a guy trait at times.....over do things...just a teency bit..

I prefer things simple. The more simple the better.

And I DO go out in my jammies and coat on a weekend morning and let the chooks out.