The Quack Shack

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Don'y buy plastic containers I had a heavy-duty plastic trash can sitting outside the coop and had thrown some wet feed into it the rats chewed straight through the heavy plastic and I mean a large hole too.

Fortunately its just a mouse-plague!
No rats!
No Ratcoons!
And no deer made it into my garage.
But i know that the ratcoons are able to take the lid of the cheapest trash-cans to get to their yucky treats. I know from experience… had to clean the whole road not once but a total of three times.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Blanca is quite the, ah, character!

As a duck, surviving five years being bullied by drakes, attacked by hawks and pestered by ducklings and their mommas, you learn a thing or two. I must send some simple instructions to the vet and his assistants ahead of the actual visit:

1. Always wear heavy gloves when holding Blanca.
2. Never take off your helmet while examining Blanca.
3. Never hold your nose or ears too close to Blanca's bill.
4. Never stand between Blanca Duck and her favorite food.
5. Always remember, Blanca Duck will kill for a French Fry.
6. If Blanca Duck slips out of your grip, run!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Talented deer!



You don't need to build anything. There are those that just fit on a bucket. Garbage cans are an idea, but as Miss Lydia said not plastic ones.

By accident i killed about 15 mice in the garage: The drain pipe of the freestanding plastic-sink is leaking. So as a lazy @SS that i am i will fix that later and just placed a bucket under the sink… Discovered the dead mice in the bucket only after the it had warmed up for some days…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

As a duck, surviving five years being bullied by drakes, attacked by hawks and pestered by ducklings and their mommas, you learn a thing or two. I must send some simple instructions to the vet and his assistants ahead of the actual visit:

1. Always wear heavy gloves when holding Blanca.
2. Never take off your helmet while examining Blanca.
3. Never hold your nose or ears too close to Blanca's bill.
4. Never stand between Blanca Duck and her favorite food.
5. Always remember, Blanca Duck will kill for a French Fry.
6. If Blanca Duck slips out of your grip, run!

Remembered my fried ChatGPT and asked it:
»Can you transcribe the following rules into more pompous English, presume Blanca Duck to be a dragon like creature«

That's the result:

1. Thou shalt, at all times, adorn thy hands with substantial gauntlets when handling the esteemed Blanca Duck.
2. It is forbidden to divest oneself of thy protective helm whilst scrutinizing the countenance of Blanca Duck.
3. Let it be known that one must never approach the bill of Blanca Duck too closely with thine own nasal or auditory appendages.
4. Under no circumstance shalt thou position thyself betwixt Blanca Duck and her most favored sustenance.
5. Bear in mind, Blanca Duck is apt to resort to lethal measures in pursuit of a solitary French Fry.
6. Should Blanca Duck elude thy grasp, swift and decisive action is imperative - flee with the utmost haste for thy very survival!

 

[Canadian Wind]

By accident i killed about 15 mice in the garage: The drain pipe of the freestanding plastic-sink is leaking. So as a lazy @SS that i am i will fix that later and just placed a bucket under the sink… Discovered the dead mice in the bucket only after the it had warmed up for some days…

Years ago, when I was 18 or 19, a bucket put to the same use in the house I was living in revealed the same result. OMG THE STENCH!!!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Years ago, when I was 18 or 19, a bucket put to the same use in the house I was living in revealed the same result. OMG THE STENCH!!!

Exactly! The stench of death…

 

[Supercow]

Hey, it's a new year but not yet a full year of our duck story so I'm back with newbie questions

I've read that
- after a hen has been covered by a drake, the next egg will be fertile;
- an egg, if taken away and stored, will remain fertile for a couple of weeks.

What I'm missing is:

A hen is mated. The next egg is fertile. What about the next one and the one after that? Does one mating produce of series of fertile eggs laid on following days during a certain period - or just the one egg?

Don't laugh, we also have bees where one mating is sufficient for the queen's entire lifetime...

 

[Luv Ducks]

Hey, it's a new year but not yet a full year of our duck story so I'm back with newbie questions

I've read that
- after a hen has been covered by a drake, the next egg will be fertile;
- an egg, if taken away and stored, will remain fertile for a couple of weeks.

What I'm missing is:

A hen is mated. The next egg is fertile. What about the next one and the one after that? Does one mating produce of series of fertile eggs laid on following days during a certain period - or just the one egg?

Don't laugh, we also have bees where one mating is sufficient for the queen's entire lifetime...

All of the following eggs will be fertile. I am not positive for how long but it has been my understand that they only have to mate the one time and the clutch is fertile. Like how a dog is mated, she can end up with 10 puppies from just one mating. Just my understanding of the situation.

 

[Miss Lydia]

All of the following eggs will be fertile. I am not positive for how long but it has been my understand that they only have to mate the one time and the clutch is fertile. Like how a dog is mated, she can end up with 10 puppies from just one mating. Just my understanding of the situation.

Most also say not to try and hatch the first eggs laid wait a week or more so the eggs are larger.

 

[Supercow]

Thank you!

I also found (on Quora) an answer from a retired vet which says that a single mating can be enough for 10-14 eggs, so basically an entire clutch the hen would assemble before sitting, if she were inclined to sit. The link seems long, I hope it works.

https://www.quora.com/How-many-eggs...&share=371023a5&srid=5yMXF&target_type=answer