The Quack Shack

[shawluvsbirds]

Her wound is fully healed, but no feathers have grown back so far - i wonder if her neck will become a permanently bald spot.

It may stay bald. One of my call girls has a funny looking head where feathers don't grow. She'll get a little down but that is it.
She got her head damaged so many times being over mated They no longer wanna grow back. (despite having plenty other girls..she is just a little flirt)

 

[Luv Ducks]

Had to cuddle with Mayhem Drake after seeing the little ones to avoid opening the duckling-poop jar…

They are so addicting. This site gets me into trouble each spring as I see the little ones and can't move one of my Hens off of a nest that I know will have drakes but beautiful little ones to look at for a while. lol

 

[Luv Ducks]

It may stay bald. One of my call girls has a funny looking head where feathers don't grow. She'll get a little down but that is it.
She got her head damaged so many times being over mated They no longer wanna grow back. (despite having plenty other girls..she is just a little flirt)

I have a Mallard hen that my drake always went after until her head would bleed so he went down the road. He had 9 hens but only liked her. I don't know why she was his one and only but now I have a new drake that I have raised so Spring will tell how long he gets to stay. I hate to see their heads bleed and her feathers all have returned since I rehomed him as soon as he started in on her.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

It may stay bald. One of my call girls has a funny looking head where feathers don't grow. She'll get a little down but that is it.
She got her head damaged so many times being over mated They no longer wanna grow back. (despite having plenty other girls..she is just a little flirt)

Yes, i have observed that too, some of the females are "preferred" by all the drakes. My white Layers, including Blanca duck all have semi-bald spots on their necks where no feathers grow, just down.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

They are so addicting. This site gets me into trouble each spring as I see the little ones and can't move one of my Hens off of a nest that I know will have drakes but beautiful little ones to look at for a while. lol

I really do miss Chaos and Mayhem sleeping in front of my bed when i wake up in the middle of the night! It was so sweet to be greeted by peeps and quax' - but on the other hand i still have some poop-stains on the hardwood floor…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I have a Mallard hen that my drake always went after until her head would bleed so he went down the road. He had 9 hens but only liked her. I don't know why she was his one and only but now I have a new drake that I have raised so Spring will tell how long he gets to stay. I hate to see their heads bleed and her feathers all have returned since I rehomed him as soon as he started in on her.

Sounds like Blanca's problem. She was the most popular hen a couple of years in a row. Thankfully she has almost stopped laying this year and is now much less interesting for the drakes. Somehow they know that she is less fertile now. Their attention has shifted more to Sandals Duck (Her feet look like she is wearing sandals), but she is by far the largest duck i have and she is always accompanied by Boots, my largest drake, so all the other drakes adore her but cannot reach out. I wonder what will happen next spring though...

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

A video from yesterday, i finished re-piling the compost to the delight of some insane dux:

Compost piles need to be prepared for the winter, which i have skipped every year so far…
I decided to build a Compost Stratovolcano: One layer of used dux-straw, one layer of compost-soil, one layer of straw,… until i ran out of compost-soil.
Finally that pile will be covered with leaves and a tarp so the warmth of the decaying straw cannot escape and the whole pile will be toasty warm. The earth worms that have not been eaten by the ducks today will hopefully multiply and turn the remaining organics into the finest compost soil that will be used to pre-grow vegetables in spring.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Yes, i have observed that too, some of the females are "preferred" by all the drakes. My white Layers, including Blanca duck all have semi-bald spots on their necks where no feathers grow, just down.

With this one though she just asked for it i swear. I can't really blame the drakes. I'd lock her up to heal and the second i let her out she was a head bobbin prancing about and flattening out for all of them. She's just a little slut.

 

[Supercow]

Winter is coming...

... And I checked what the longest period of darkness will be before the winter solstice.

It will be 15 hours 20 minutes

That sounds like a very long time for the ducks to be without not only food but also water in their coop. And I do need to close them up for the night because of many interested animals roaming around.

Should I

1 - put some water in the duck house after all, maybe with some kind of grid or small openings so that it will be at least somewhat harder to spray it all around? (I'm aware that they will find a way to some degree anyway)

2 - not worry about it, 15 hours is still OK? (sounds worrisome but I don't know)

3 - extend the day by setting up lights in the orchard so that they can stay outside a couple of hours longer? (how will foxes, weasels etc behave in this situation? will they be vary of the lights or possibly even attracted? I've seen some devices for sale that produce randomly flashing lights but not sure how effective that is)

4 - build a fully wire-enclosed run in front of the coop so the water can be left in there? (probably the best option but I'm not sure I'll be able to do that in this season)

...?

Thank you!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I vote for #4 but if you can figure out a way to have feed and water inside without completely soaked bedding by morning please share. Mine are in by 5:30pm now and out at 7:45am but tomorrow we fall back[to reg time] so things will be different.

I wouldn't leave them out after dark even with lights just too risky.