The Quack Shack

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Ooohhh Frank. I feel ya buddy. I lost 3 birds in the last couple weeks to a bellybutton hawk. 2 of my Cayugas and my new Rouen gal that my sis in law had bought over because all of her other ducks had gotten killed.
We spent all afternoon Sunday tearing apart the big ducks enclosure and rebuilding a covered pen next to the calls.
Poor things are traumatised half to death.
After the 3rd kill.. that was thursday, I makeshifted a small pen with a tarp over The remaining Ugas for a couple days till we could do something better.
They did not touch a bite of food or drop of water until I forced them out sunday so we could work.
As of this afternoon they are drinking, but have barely ate anything.
The calls are pretty freaked out too they must have saw some of it. They wouldn't come out of the pen till I made them yesterday.

Anyway. This is scrapped together but doesn't look too bad, at least it looks good from the road lol!

We've been fortunate to have made it this long without predator losses out here. Our luck finially ran out. Hopefully this summer we can build a proper bird barn.
View attachment 4263428View attachment 4263429View attachment 4263430

Your pen looks awesome! - Are your birbs not going insane if they are locked up ½ of the day? Mine surely would start to eat each other…
I am looking up prices for fencing material, chain-link fence is more expensive than welded wire but easier to run on uneven ground as it is more flexible…
Wooden posts are cheaper than T-posts but will rot in some years…
And i don't even know how tall a fence has to be to keep * out. I'm sure the opportunistic dog will be deterred by a two feet fence with electric and/or razor wire, but coyotes, trash-pandas, possums, skunks, … idk!
Fortunately the local murder of crows is very attentive to any bop, trying to set up shop here. I am only concerned about them when there's ducklings around.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Ooohhh Frank. I feel ya buddy. I lost 3 birds in the last couple weeks to a bellybutton hawk. 2 of my Cayugas and my new Rouen gal that my sis in law had bought over because all of her other ducks had gotten killed.
We spent all afternoon Sunday tearing apart the big ducks enclosure and rebuilding a covered pen next to the calls.
Poor things are traumatised half to death.
After the 3rd kill.. that was thursday, I makeshifted a small pen with a tarp over The remaining Ugas for a couple days till we could do something better.
They did not touch a bite of food or drop of water until I forced them out sunday so we could work.
As of this afternoon they are drinking, but have barely ate anything.
The calls are pretty freaked out too they must have saw some of it. They wouldn't come out of the pen till I made them yesterday.

Anyway. This is scrapped together but doesn't look too bad, at least it looks good from the road lol!

We've been fortunate to have made it this long without predator losses out here. Our luck finially ran out. Hopefully this summer we can build a proper bird barn.
View attachment 4263428View attachment 4263429View attachment 4263430

And i don't know how to react: I am sad you lost birbs, your post is very informative and i love your setup, it looks a bit like a wagon-fort, so i gave you a

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Holy smokes I have more dux than you!
Never thought I'd see that day
I am at 28 now after the hawk attacks.

I really don't know what to do about the missing females. First the prices for ducklings have gone up like they were swans, runner ducklings start at over $20 and Muscovies are over $30.
Then they need to be cared for, its not just "throw" them in a brooder with food and water, they must be properly introduced to the flock, shown where the food and water is, good places to forage, the duck-house, … basically somebody has to become momma-duck and integrate them into the flock. - Idk if i can do that, having a 40 hour job. Maybe, just maybe i can move my shift to 6am-2pm during the high-summer next year, securely pen the ducklings outside with the flock and then turn into momma-duck in the afternoon…

 

[Miss Lydia]

And i don't know how to react: I am sad you lost birbs, your post is very informative and i love your setup, it looks a bit like a wagon-ort, so i gave you a

't
Your pen looks awesome! - Are your birbs not going insane if they are locked up ½ of the day? Mine surely woul- start to eat each other…
I am looking up pricefor fencing material, chain-lin- fence is more expensive ed than welded wire but easier to run on uneven ground as it is more flexible…
Wooden posts are cheaper than T-posts but will rot in some years…
And i on't even know how tall a fence has to be to keep * out. I'm sure the opportunistic dog will be deterred by a two feet fence with electric and/or razor wire, but coyotes, trash-pandas, possums, skunks, … idk!
Fortunately the local murder of crows is very attentive to any bop, trying to set up shop here. I am only concerned about them when there's ducklings around.

4'welded wire or no climb horse fencing we had the no climb horse fencing put up first because of bears. We have 2 lines of barbwire on top of that. Metal and wooden fence posts. We haven't had any stray dogs or foxes get inside coyotes are here too. The Flood from Hurricane Helene took out our no climb horse fence at the top of our property so we had it replaced with heavy duty welded wire and barbed wire.
We live in the mountains and putting up fencing isn't easy as it is with flat ground but it is doable.
Sad part is those dogs will be back or whatever killed your ducks.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Your pen looks awesome! - Are your birbs not going insane if they are locked up ½ of the day? Mine surely would start to eat each other…
I am looking up prices for fencing material, chain-link fence is more expensive than welded wire but easier to run on uneven ground as it is more flexible…
Wooden posts are cheaper than T-posts but will rot in some years…
And i don't even know how tall a fence has to be to keep * out. I'm sure the opportunistic dog will be deterred by a two feet fence with electric and/or razor wire, but coyotes, trash-pandas, possums, skunks, … idk!
Fortunately the local murder of crows is very attentive to any bop, trying to set up shop here. I am only concerned about them when there's ducklings around.

No, my birds are used to only free ranging from about 2 to 5. They stay out later when the days are longer, but winter months it's just a few hours a day. It's whatever they get used to I think. Yours are used to free ranging all day so they are gonna have a fit.
When the weather is crap or on days I get home late I don't even let them out.
I let them out this afternoon and they didn't even come out but for about an hour and were back inside before I even went to lock them up.

I really don't know what to do about the missing females. First the prices for ducklings have gone up like they were swans, runner ducklings start at over $20 and Muscovies are over $30.
Then they need to be cared for, its not just "throw" them in a brooder with food and water, they must be properly introduced to the flock, shown where the food and water is, good places to forage, the duck-house, … basically somebody has to become momma-duck and integrate them into the flock. - Idk if i can do that, having a 40 hour job. Maybe, just maybe i can move my shift to 6am-2pm during the high-summer next year, securely pen the ducklings outside with the flock and then turn into momma-duck in the afternoon…

I know. Everything is so expensive now.
Those wooden panels we used are ones we had that were only four feet tall.
We cut the dog ears off of two of the panels and stack them up to make them taller.
We were going to just go , buy two new privacy fence panels.. but at seventy bucks a piece! Holy smokes.
I just couldn't see spending more money for something temporary
We almost have enough material stored up to build a proper barn.

They are At least safe from hawks now when they are not free ranging.
We have a perimeter fence to keep dogs and stuff at bay..
I went out yesterday and made a corral around the front of both pens with the playpen panels we had been using for the cayuga pen.
None of this is predator proof..
But at Least it is another obstacle.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I have crow friends too that chase hawks. But there are too many hawks recently for the crows to hane them all.
Across the road from us.. farmers have dozed out a ton of trees recently
I think that has caused more bop to cone to our trees.

No kind of fence is cheap.
We sourced used t-posts for our yard fence. Some were kinda bent, some rusty. I painted them black.
Welded wire is what I have. It isn't like dogs or coons couldn't get through it.. but it does slow em down.
I have this hound that smells out a predator if it comes close and raises the roof.. but that does me no good if i'm not home and he is in the house cause he's also a creature of comfort and likes to sleep on the sofa all day when I'm not home lol. I have come to terms with the fact that Nothing will ever keep them 100 percent safe.
Even at my old house, I had the duck palace all hardware cloth.. predator apron the whole 9 yards..
Still lost some to freak accidents, drowning, sickness. Keeping them constantly cooped up is no life for them either.
ok. I'm just rambling on now
All I'm sayin is do what you can do and that is all you can do.

 

[Supercow]

Provided oxalic acid for bees today. That's the winter treatment, usually in mid-December (when there is no brood) and it's very, very effective against varroa.

Right now all 5 of the hives are doing well, both the 2 older ones and the 3 from this year (1 natural swarm, 2 human-made). The real test is always February.

The ducks have some more freedom of movement during winter in order to not mess up the soil in the orchard too much. They are all in support of this change. We shoo them away when they show signs of wanting to fertilize the terrace