The Migratory/Ornamental Waterfowl INFO Thread

[KansasKid]

I hope its not another female, you probably can't see it but there are 2 hens in one of the pic's plus the duckling. that would leave me with 1 drake and 3 hens!!! ugh, what about that little smudge line of pink on its bill around his face and the bottom?

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Quote:
That's what was originally leading me to say female not knowing the age, I was thinking the hole bill should have more pink in it,
BUT I looked closer at the second pic where it's just it's head, Its male, look at the head shape and structure. High forehead, more domed skull, hens will be smooth and rounded. Look at the older male female together (last pic) and you'll see what I am talking about

 

[KansasKid]

whew (sigh of relief) we are still trying to recover on work around here from our last road trip, lol. Its weird though, before it seemed like the closest breeder was in colorado and now that i have some it seems like everybody in my area suddenly is a breeder, and they have all contacted me asking me if i would buy em.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Quote:
Yep, that's what I try to tell people a lot, they are very common and if you're not " in the click" you wont know who has them, once you start keeping them though, like yosaid, you'll find often times, they arent as hard to come by, you just got to know people who know people, and before long you'll know breeders every where.
But yes, fairly confident the little one is a male though.
It's old enough now to be easily vent sexed and you'll know for sure, might as well practice it a little, if you're going to breed waterfowl, you're going to have to learn it eventually any way..

 

[KansasKid]

Ok I'm new at the whole sexing them thing and was successful on my larger birds but when i tried it on the younger mandarin and the older drake i was very, very, unsuccessful. I couldn't even see its vent!, there was too much down. tips? (man this forum is addicting)

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

one of the earlier post out lines it, but in a nut shell, flip them over, fold the tail down at a sharp 90 degree angle, move the fuzz away from the vent with your thumb and index fingers to expose the vent, then spread it open, it'll be pretty obvious if it's a boy or not once you get to this point.
Not sure what page the original post I did on this is on, but it's a little more detailed if you need to look at it.

 

[KansasKid]

This is kinda irrelevant to the topic of this thread but...-Aubrey i was wondering how far apart you space your posts on your chicken pin with the dark green paint? -and a question to everybody, how do i keep my flight pin net from sagging when it gets wet, or iced over? (i just thought i might get better advice because most/if not all, i think, ornamental waterfowl breeders have some sort of flight pin don't they

)

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Quote:
If they dont, they sure dont have many birds, that or they are all pinioned on a pond.
On my large bantam run, those individual stalls are 4 x 12, post at 4 foot and 12 foot.
If you didnt want small stalls, , like on my 25x 50 pens for peafowl and wild turkeys, I got every 8-10 feet per post.

As for your netting use the high strength 2 inch mesh if you have ice problems. It is very stretchy and will give with some weight to it. Rain isnt a problems, but snow and ice can be. The larger mesh size, wont let it accumulate as bad as the 1 inch.
We use tall 14 foot poles in the centers of these larger runs, about 12-15 feet apart. If needed you can run single strand wire or small cable between the poles to help support it too. Also, put something on top of the post to keep the edges smooth, a 1-2 foot diameter, piece of plywood cut in a circle works well, just nail it to the top of the center poles and it will keep from cutting into it. But, with heavy ice, it's coming down just no way around it. Had bunch of my peafowl buddies in Texas and Oklahoma have trouble with that this past winter, it's just part of it. Bare in mind though, it takes a lot to do it, I've had 4 foot ice cycles hanging off mine before in past winters with the ducks pecking at them. This was from misters going, in a 10 foot area or so, not the whole pen though. It pulls it down, but hangs tuff for the most part

 

[KansasKid]

-thanks, in the past i have had to cut my cables from my posts that were holding my net up because it rained, then froze, then snowed on top of that. I couldn't even duck in to the pin, i had to almost get on my hands and knees. But i have a buddy that runs a pheasant/quail/chuckar hunting resort and I think I can get some net off of him and i think it is the right size.

-BTW- I just went out to my pin and sexed that duckling (third time is the charm) and it is definitely a male.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

well congrats, you finally sexed an ornamental, told ya, nothing to it, just takes a bit of practice

If they cant help you on the netting, Stromberg hatchery has about the best price I have found on heavy 2 inch netting, it's what I use here on all mine, even the bantam stalls . I want to say a 25 x 50 roll shipped is $90 or so. but they come in smaller and much larger sized rolls to , just depends on how much you need.
They have a 50X 150 which is what I use on my big waterfowl aviaries.

Here's a link directly to it
http://www.strombergschickens.com/products/aviary_supply.php