The Quack Shack

[WannaBeHillBilly]

And where does one buy sulphuric acid from?

You will be surprised to learn that some of the very aggressive inorganic chemicals, like Sulphuric acid, Myriadic acid (aka. Hydrochloric acid), Nitric acid, Phosphoric acid, Ammonia, Sulphur, … are in fact being used as fertilizers. (!) So i could buy a gallon of 40% Sulphuric acid at customhydronutriens.com for a bit less than $30…

To make it clear: I will not spray sulphuric acid into my duck-house! I just wrote this as an exaggeration to picture how thorough that duck house cleanup will be! - I will use the pressure washer for the floor-boards and may even use some bleach though.

I have made personal experiences with all »classic« acids and there was a time when i was only wearing »designer-« jeans and shirts…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Pool supply. Its used to control ph in pools. I used it to try and kill a banana tree. Never plant A banana tree. They are unkillable. It came up through the acid.

Would love to have some banana trees! Their extensive root system would stabilize my hillsite and the green leaves would offer shade and cover for the ducks. But frost below -10° (14F) will kill all banana trees; We had -24° (-11F) this winter. Every neighbor is mourning their banana trees…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Have you tried terramycin. You can get it from all bird or Wal-Mart vet. It works wonders for eyes. I also have only left eyes when I have trouble. Drakes grab eyes.

The ducks call it terrormycin - and yes, i have an ample supply here! Yet if it is only one affected eye the duck sees me coming and will simply outrun me, or jump into the pond. And PomPom duck, who eats from my hand knows all too well that i will pick her up when she tries to eat from my hand, so she does not when having problems with her eyes.
I have fed them anti-biotics rice, with doxycyclin, amoxicyclin and a third one (i forgot the name) for weeks, so i doubt it is something bacterial.
I have sprayed vinegar to fight off the - very mild - ammonia smell and i have "hosed down" the interior of the duck-house with permethrine to kill all potential flees, lice, mites or whatever…
All without changing anything.
It must be something in the house, because they have their crusty eyes in the morning and by the afternoon they're much better.
Fungus, dust, pollen from the hay???? - I will buy straw bales this week and then "reset" that duck-house.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Mud monsters is a good name for them. Oh and I hear spring peepers who you would think would be whispering with that many ducks near by.

Those spring peepers are crazy this year! - Though the ducks have put a dent into their population, the relatively warm winter we had seems to have increased their numbers. Yet, the ducks are on to them. Yesterday they () were all over the place and when i came out with the supper bowl half of the flock had already put themselves to bed with full crops, stomaches and intestines. - Don't ask about how the duck-run floor looked like this morning… - Time for 2-3 wheelbarrows of fresh wood chips again...

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Would love to have some banana trees! Their extensive root system would stabilize my hillsite and the green leaves would offer shade and cover for the ducks. But frost below -10° (14F) will kill all banana trees; We had -24° (-11F) this winter. Every neighbor is mourning their banana trees…

I didn't think it was possible to kill banana trees. I tried to kill one for six years and it kept coming back.. You could always plant Kudzu. Grows really fast

 

[Miss Lydia]

I didn't think it was possible to kill banana trees. I tried to kill one for six years and it kept coming back.. You could always plant Kudzu. Grows really fast

or knot weed . lol

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I didn't think it was possible to kill banana trees. I tried to kill one for six years and it kept coming back.. You could always plant Kudzu. Grows really fast

Try liquid Nitrogen… - or, wait, in all seriousness try dry-ice! Cover the ground above the banana tree's root-system with a thick layer of dry-ice and insulate that with mover's blankets so that the cold will penetrate deep into the ground.
Dry-ice also works for fire-ants - if you find a method to cover their burrows with dry-ice without being eaten alive that is.

Kudzu?! - That would work also against banana trees. I have been in Georgia and South Carolina and have seen square-miles being covered with that stuff. A lush green carpet of death with the occasional bump of a dead tree below.
Actually it would be relatively safe to grow Kudzu here, because we can have really cold temperatures during the winter, -24° (-11F) would eliminate even the Kudzu rhizome underground.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I didn't think it was possible to kill banana trees. I tried to kill one for six years and it kept coming back.. You could always plant Kudzu. Grows really fast

or knot weed . lol

You two have a really morbid humour!

If you want to grow the real plant of horror, try to get your hands on this stuff: Fallopia Baldschuanica. It grows twice as fast as Kudzu and survives even harsh frosts.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Today was a crazy and busy day for me as well as for the Ducks:
It was WINDY, nevertheless i was working in the garden when late afternoon we had a single gust that would have knocked me off my feet, had i not held onto one of the new fence-posts. The ducks were less fortunate. Those who were resting at the bank of the pond were just simply blown away. Literally! They all ended up in the water, some head first. It was insane! Everywhere around us branches fell to the ground and we could hear trees crashing to the ground. One single gust! Just one!

Never experienced something like that before. Bright sunshine and suddenly a sound like an approaching freight train, i saw it coming through the trees on the opposite side of the holler, so i just dropped everything, hugged the fence-post and yelled a warning to the ducks.

After that gust the winds almost died down and i was surrounded by wet, frightened ducklings - they sounded like ducklings and were following me like ducklings follow a meal-worm scoop. - Until they discovered that i had tilled the potato-patch:

There were plenty of earthworms, bugs, bug-larvae and disgusting things i don't want to know available as duck-snacks.
I still haven't found my red bucket from Harbor Freight Tools, if anybody finds it could you please send it back to me? Its the only bucket i have that has a lid!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

After everybody had calmed down, i dug two large holes in my berry-garden for the dwarf cherry-trees, they have their first flowers:

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So they need to be planted in their spots basap!