The Quack Shack

[Miss Lydia]

I am doing fine Elly how about you? Busy with all your ducks I bet.

 

[Claires Poultry]

Good morning everyone! I hope y'all have a great day today!

 

[Claires Poultry]

I am doing fine Elly how about you? Busy with all your ducks I bet.

I'm doing good. Ducks are keeping me busy too, but more than anything I've had a lot of canning to do. That's why I haven't been here quite so much.

 

[Trimurtisan]

Good morning everyone! I hope y'all have a great day today!

Good Morning!!

Good morning ladies! I hope y'all are have a good start to the day.

Pretty chicks Chris.

Thanks Patti!

The Guinea was mounted by the General again. It's kind of funny as he can clearly not reach her vent. Strangely (at least to me) is the guinea seems to accept him, and just goes about her business once he jumps off. Today is the Generals first day off a tether to free range, and so far he is staying in his comfort zone.

Speaking of comfort zones, the Turkens are awfully comfortable in the front yard... It's only happened 3 times so far, but they just hop and fly right over the fence. Thankfully they don't go anywhere, but it still makes me a bit concerned. I didn't know how good at flying they were prior to getting them. I'm not a big fan of clipping wings, but I'll consider it for safety reasons. Personally, and I could be wrong, but I feel like clipping their wings makes them more susceptible to predators. I know if Pearls wings were clipped, she would already have been a goner. Flying in to a tree has already saved her from a cat attack.

Any ideas on setting boundaries without restricting the ability to fly? I currently can not afford to build a complete aviary.

 

[Miss Lydia]

About the only thing you can do is clip since you can keep them inside the fence. Stray dogs and other predators could get them in the front yard. If it isn't fenced. I clip my Muscovy wings to keep them in and have never lost a one. Always up to you.

 

[Claires Poultry]

Good morning Trim!
I don't like clipping their wings for the same reasons. I can't think of anything else that would work though.
I'm sorry about that. Maybe someone else will have a better idea.

 

[Trimurtisan]

Well I'm going to have to look in to clipping then. I'm not totally against it, and my thoughts are only based on ideas. I guess when I think about it, the main predators they are going to face in the backyard are the coons who hopefully won't be out while the birds are.

The alpha cat, Chase, doesn't really go in the back much. Plus the flock is 26 large fowls. I think that much noise and commotion frightens him some. Lol and besides airplanes, Big Momma is not scared of anything, including cats.

Actually speaking of BM, I feel like I have 2 alphas but 1 flock. BM will push anyone out of her way, duck or chicken. The only exception is Umbra, the AC cock. He is the other alpha, and has asserted his rank over pretty much everyone but BM. Both alphas pretty much stick to their own species for domanancy, but are happy to set the other straight too if needed. BM and Umbra don't seem to bother each other at all, and almost look to have a partnership. It looks to be working okay, nobody is getting bullied. I've been caught being naive a couple of times already though, and I'm not sure what to make of it. So...
Does this sound like a normal dynamic for a mixed species flock?
Anything I should be weary of or is this what harmony looks like?

I've got a couple of chicken mating questions too, but have a few chores to attend to first. Chat with you folks later!

 

[quackiemama]

Mornin Y'all! I am finally back but now have a mountain of laundry to do. I hope everyone stayed safe with all of the weather issues. I flew out of Charlotte at midnight last night so I was able to dodge any bad weather myself. I have missed you fellow duck lovers!

 

[Claires Poultry]

Mornin Y'all! I am finally back but now have a mountain of laundry to do. I hope everyone stayed safe with all of the weather issues. I flew out of Charlotte at midnight last night so I was able to dodge any bad weather myself. I have missed you fellow duck lovers!

Good morning!
Welcome back! We missed having you here with us! It's nice to have you back again!
I hope you had a nice vacation!

 

[quackiemama]

Good morning!
Welcome back! We missed having you here with us! It's nice to have you back again!
I hope you had a nice vacation!

Thank you! We had the most beautiful vacation ever and now are planning on going back to Aruba next year. (as long as we save enough $$). It was perfect. Once I get settled back in reality I will post some pics. It is paradise!