Vermont

[Metella]

I go with the majority here - and think so far things indicate that RIR is a hen - I have one RIR hen and she has a few black sheen feathers smattering around her .... But at this age - they all can fool you with a growth spurt and suddenly you see red waddles and shoulder feathers. ha ha they like to fool us.

Welcome !

 

[Pyxis]

Well darn, something raided my pekin's nest She was so close to hatching, too. I found one duckling obviously too young to hatch dead with its yolk sac unabsorbed and the crushed egg it came out of, and nothing else. The pekin is still sitting, poor thing, so I'm going to order her some ducklings. They won't arrive until the end of next week, unfortunately, so I hope she keeps sitting. If not, I'll be giving them to one of my broody hens to raise. I feel bad for her though, she was doing so well.

If anyone wants in on this order let me know. It's from Ideal with a ship date of the 12th. I'm happy to add anything anyone wants to this order that has that ship date.

 

[bruceha2000]

Quote:

So.. My sister brought me these, they were sent to her by accident so we are figuring them out as they feather out. She is my favorite. Her name is Oreo. Haha

Could possibly be an Ancona. Mine looked like this at 3 weeks (the upper one is either a red splash or red pyle Cubalaya, not sure I know the difference):

My photo Friday pictures

Baking, you were asking how my holderread ducklings were doing so here's a picture from today. The little one on the left is a drake, not sure on the one on the right yet.



Lacie and her new friends getting along swimmingly. I couldn't resist the pun

Two of Green's chicks posing on the fence they knocked down. They're starting to leave their mother now, but they still follow her around sometimes.

How old are the 2 chicks? My 8 week olds are always near their "mother" and "aunt". Some even still try to sleep under or on Zorra (the BIG Black Australorp I put them under at 4 days old) up on the roosts. The "family" stays separated from the older hens during the day, mostly because Zorra whips the other hens if they get near "her" chicks. Even the "used to be dominant" Anconas run scared.

How do you deal with the ducks in winter? My understanding is they need a lot of NOT frozen water which as we all know, isn't all that easy to achieve.

I need a little help. This is our first time with chickens, and one "Lady" is suspect. What do you think Ruby or Rubio?

Depends on age doesn't it? There is a small amount of comb that would probably be worrisome on a 6 or 8 week old but she looks to be a fair bit older than that. If the BAs are the same age, I'm guessing these birds are upwards of 4 months. If so, girl.

 

[Pyxis]

Welcome to the thread, glad you came! The chicks are about seven weeks old now. Green still is willing to take care of them, they just go off on their own, then come back to her. They still sleep with her on the roost at night. Green is a black australorp, too

As for the ducks, they don't get swimming water all the time in the winter. All they really 'need' is enough water to cover their face up to their eyes in so they can clean their face and blow out their nares, and I accomplish that with 3 gallon heated water buckets. Then about once a week or so I fill up what is technically a goat feeding trough with water for them. Their swimming keeps it from freezing, so as long as it's not super cold, they can usually keep it unfrozen for a few days before it completely freezes over. I'm thinking of getting an aquarium heater for it this winter - they work really well, a small one kept my five gallon waterer in my ayam cemani coop from freezing all winter.

If you ever want to give ducks a try, give me a shout I can sex them at hatch, so you wouldn't have any males, to appease your daughter.

What breeds do you keep? Sounds like a pretty varied flock!

 

[bakingintherain]

Well darn, something raided my pekin's nest She was so close to hatching, too. I found one duckling obviously too young to hatch dead with its yolk sac unabsorbed and the crushed egg it came out of, and nothing else. The pekin is still sitting, poor thing, so I'm going to order her some ducklings. They won't arrive until the end of next week, unfortunately, so I hope she keeps sitting. If not, I'll be giving them to one of my broody hens to raise. I feel bad for her though, she was doing so well.

If anyone wants in on this order let me know. It's from Ideal with a ship date of the 12th. I'm happy to add anything anyone wants to this order that has that ship date.

Well that is too bad poor girl worked so hard too

When are you ordering? I might want to add 1 or 2 Cochins

 

[Metella]

Bruce - welcome !

I used to think a little along those lines I was much more black and white in my thinking when I was younger.



I really like having a rooster around though - they do so much protecting and look so lovely.

Welcome again !!!

 

[Pyxis]

Well that is too bad poor girl worked so hard too

When are you ordering? I might want to add 1 or 2 Cochins

Soon! I'd like to get it in quickly so I don't miss the ship date. Would you like bantam or standard? Any color preferences?

 

[bakingintherain]

I will let you know tomorrow but barred and would love bantam but they only have the standard

 

[Pyxis]

Yeah, looks like the barred bantam cochins are sold out till next year. So you'd want pullets on the large fowl, I'd assume? Lol.

I'm also trying to decide if I want to order some white guineas too. I have the new lavender female so she should keep my male company but if anything happened to her I'd be back to square one. Plus the white ones would mean I'd get pied keets.

 

[bakingintherain]

Yes and I was thinking about a few bantams of some sort