The Quack Shack

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I kicked the runners out today. I put them in a thing I have that's like a covered run, sort of. This thing:

I got a good deal on two of them last year on one of my chicken pages. I attach a big carrier to the back end where that little door is and that's their 'indoor' space. It's a good way to introduce them to the rest of the birds.

I always get nervous for their first night out, though. Even though they're in the emu pasture. But they were happy to get into their little pool and play, haha. Weren't concerned in the least.

How large is this enclosure? - Could i use a couple of them as drake-jails?

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Do not say the S word!!! That's the last thing I need!

Spent an hour or so in the rain and mosquitos gathering up some daylily tubers. Came in soaked, and now the rain has intensified. Yipes!

I hope you're not trying to eat these tubers?!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Happy Saturday to Everybody!​

i finally managed to sneak into the duck-house yesterday evening while Buffzilla was thre her tantrum outside, splashing poop all over the duck yard. I had no idea that a tiny duck can contain ten times her size in poop! Or maybe she compresses that stuff and it expands when it explodes out? It was disgusting!
Anyways, there were twenty eggs in her nest i candled them all and removed five. One had the ring of death and had already started to smell and the other four are either infertile or laid during the last two nights. No sign of development in there…
The remaining 15 eggs were either completely black or i saw at least a couple of veins, so let nature work it out. I also have ordered a CCI (cheap chinese incubator) for less than $30, just in case anything bad happens and i have to keep some eggs or ducklings warm for a couple of hours or days. Don't eggspect anything of high quality, but who knows…
Weather-wise, we have started to shower here at around 11am and its still ongoing. Still warm outside, over 20° (70F), ideal for hatching mosquitos and growing plants. I have 64 tomato plants, ready to be transplanted, might have to ask the neighbors if they want some…

 

[Supercow]

@WannaBeHillBilly , exactly, trifolium family are the good guys. And yes, good for bees and other insects as well; in fact we sow crimson clover (trifolium incarnatum) over the winter so it can serve as backup if (... more like when; or, more like again, lately) black locust is hit by late frosts. It also provides nitrogen for the main season crop.

Oxalic acid can also be found in large quantities in rhubarb (the reason we don't eat the leaves) and knotweed (although young shoots are edible because of lower concentration and in fact taste a lot like rhubarb once cooked). Sorrell contains lots of oxalic as well, that's what gives it its specific taste.

In other news - I've cleaned out the straw in the duck house today for the first time. It's a rite of passage I guess It's a stinky job but not more than a human kid. It's clear how they were all afraid of everything when they first moved in from the unusual concentration of manure in one spot.

Anyway, i took the crappy straw out, moved it to the orchard to be used as mulch around young trees and (tall) berries and replaced with fresh straw. We have about a month to arrange a reliable source of good straw.

The ducks had the opportunity to discover yet another new part of the property today and had a grand time. I don't know what a 4 month Khaki Campbell should look like... But they seem fat and they honk quite loudly. Maybe we've been swindled and they are in fact (short-necked) geese.

(They get about 3 oz per duck per day of grain and the rest they forage; so I don't think we're overfeeding ... ? )

 

[Miss Lydia]

@WannaBeHillBilly , exactly, trifolium family are the good guys. And yes, good for bees and other insects as well; in fact we sow crimson clover (trifolium incarnatum) over the winter so it can serve as backup if (... more like when; or, more like again, lately) black locust is hit by late frosts. It also provides nitrogen for the main season crop.

Oxalic acid can also be found in large quantities in rhubarb (the reason we don't eat the leaves) and knotweed (although young shoots are edible because of lower concentration and in fact taste a lot like rhubarb once cooked). Sorrell contains lots of oxalic as well, that's what gives it its specific taste.

In other news - I've cleaned out the straw in the duck house today for the first time. It's a rite of passage I guess It's a stinky job but not more than a human kid. It's clear how they were all afraid of everything when they first moved in from the unusual concentration of manure in one spot.

Anyway, i took the crappy straw out, moved it to the orchard to be used as mulch around young trees and (tall) berries and replaced with fresh straw. We have about a month to arrange a reliable source of good straw.

The ducks had the opportunity to discover yet another new part of the property today and had a grand time. I don't know what a 4 month Khaki Campbell should look like... But they seem fat and they honk quite loudly. Maybe we've been swindled and they are in fact (short-necked) geese.

(They get about 3 oz per duck per day of grain and the rest they forage; so I don't think we're overfeeding ... ? )

View attachment 3512373

They are beautiful

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

@WannaBeHillBilly , exactly, trifolium family are the good guys. And yes, good for bees and other insects as well; in fact we sow crimson clover (trifolium incarnatum) over the winter so it can serve as backup if (... more like when; or, more like again, lately) black locust is hit by late frosts. It also provides nitrogen for the main season crop.

Oxalic acid can also be found in large quantities in rhubarb (the reason we don't eat the leaves) and knotweed (although young shoots are edible because of lower concentration and in fact taste a lot like rhubarb once cooked). Sorrell contains lots of oxalic as well, that's what gives it its specific taste.

In other news - I've cleaned out the straw in the duck house today for the first time. It's a rite of passage I guess It's a stinky job but not more than a human kid. It's clear how they were all afraid of everything when they first moved in from the unusual concentration of manure in one spot.

Anyway, i took the crappy straw out, moved it to the orchard to be used as mulch around young trees and (tall) berries and replaced with fresh straw. We have about a month to arrange a reliable source of good straw.

The ducks had the opportunity to discover yet another new part of the property today and had a grand time. I don't know what a 4 month Khaki Campbell should look like... But they seem fat and they honk quite loudly. Maybe we've been swindled and they are in fact (short-necked) geese.

(They get about 3 oz per duck per day of grain and the rest they forage; so I don't think we're overfeeding ... ? )

View attachment 3512373

Black Locust? - Ah, you have bees! - My land is "infested" with Autumn Olive shrubs, which for now i leave alone, despite the fact that they're invasive… Good nectar source and the roots keep my hill-site together until i have more time to replace them with fruit-trees and berry-shrubs.
Duck-House clean-out? - I have to do this at least every three months and it piles up over eight feet tall behind the duck-house. But quickly breaks down into valuable raw compost within also three months. But i also have to clean out the rotten wood-chips from the duck-run at least every three months. Fortunately these break down even faster and create the best potting soil i have ever had, just run it through an old kitchen strainer, add some barn lime and ready for sowing. I may try some of the current content of the duck-house as mulch around the new cherry-trees, gooseberry and currant shrubs, but i am afraid the weeds will grow with even greater vigor after the "duck-gold" has decomposed… (?)
As for your ducks, they are not fat, they look pretty normal to me. As long as they remain flighty - yes Khaki Campbells can fly short distances they don't have any weight issues. I have a self-made pellet-feeder for my ducks, so they have access to food and water 24x7 and they act pretty responsible. Once or twice per hour i can see small groups of ducks walking into the duck-run, helping themselves to some billfulls of pellets, gulping everything down with a couple of "sippy-sippys" from their waterer, then go back outside, pluck some fresh grass or young plantago leaves and go back to forage.
Except for Pekin Ducks and to some extend White Layers, ducks can be fully trusted with their food. They only eat as much as they really need.
Except when it comes to treats that is…
At the moment i am being "beamed" into the set of the Hitchcock movie "The Birds" whenever i step outside of my house! Surrounded by 45 Quackers demanding cat-food now!!!

 

[Canadian Wind]

The "good" clover is actually a legume, a relative of peas, lupines, lentils, beans,… I am now thinking of plowing that "useless" piece of flat land this winter and sow red clover in spring to enrich the soil with nitrogen, break down rocks and produce some clover-hay for the ducks…

I would suggest white clover, instead. I was just reading about clover yesterday, and it's better. Although the red *does* get taller for hay... But white clover can also double as a no-mow lawn.

I hope you're not trying to eat these tubers?!

Of course I am. These are *daylilies*, not Asiatic or other poisonous ones. Every part of the daylily is edible. Been munching on shoots (fantastic steamed then tossed with butter!), and can't wait for the flower buds to appear!

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Blanca Duck told me she would like a vacation trip to Texas to pick up some texas-size worms… (She ate a fully grown lizard yesterday, ½" long, whole)

This was about 4 feet. Big for a rat snake. Didn't mind being picked up but maybe because it was full of egg? I haven't seen it today

 

[Pyxis]

How large is this enclosure? - Could i use a couple of them as drake-jails?

Mine are 3 1/2 feet wide and 7 1/3 feet long. About 3 1/2 feet tall at the peak.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I would suggest white clover, instead. I was just reading about clover yesterday, and it's better. Although the red *does* get taller for hay... But white clover can also double as a no-mow lawn.
[...]

The deciding differences between whit and red clover, according to the German Wikipedia are:

• Red-clover drives its roots up to 2m into the soil, whereas white clover's roots go only up to 70cm down.
• Red-clover grows up to 80cm tall, white clover just reaches just 20cm

I want to make hay for the ducks…