So @Miss Lydia has been patiently waiting for my "Duck" story, so here it is:
My husband Mark, my son Arie (9), and I moved to Western NY in 2016.
We are both disabled Veterans and had bought a 55 acre plot of land in 2012 and we finally moved here when my husband retired from the Army.
We started with our Rottweiler Wrigley and our tabby cat Tiger.
Then last winter we thought about expanding our animal family. My husband suggested we get some chickens. So I started researching like crazy. My husband is a strictly white egg kind of guy (silly I know), so we decided on Leghorns. So after some more research, we picked CackleHatchery to buy from. After viewing their stock, I completely fell in love with the Cayuga ducks. After a little more research I found that Cayuga’s are originally from New York. It felt like fate. In February we ordered 3 leghorn chicks and 3 Cayuga ducklings. When they finally came I drove to the post office. They all looked good, if not a little scared.
When we got them home we took each out of the box, dipped their beaks/bills in water and checked them out. All 3 of our Cayuga’s had pasty butt. The chicks weren’t doing too well either. Within an hour we lost 2 ducks and 2 chicks. Sadly the next day we lost our last Cayuga. We only had one chick left, Henrietta, who some of you might know as my B&E chicken (breaking & entering).
After about a month we decided to try again. We order 4 Exchequer Leghorn chicks and 2 Cayuga ducklings from MyPetChicken. They all came happy and healthy and have been such fun raising.
To my husband’s despair, I turned our shed into a coop. it’s been a fun project that I’m still working on and won’t be satisfied until it’s a palace.
In August we found 7 18 month old Leghorn girls who needed a new home. I adopted them all and have been working on getting them back to being the healthy beautiful girls I know they can be. My chickens and ducks live and explore together.
My Cayuga drake, Daffy, and my female, Daisy, love running around and turning my yard into a mud pit. In the summer I would walk around digging up worms and yummy bugs to share with them. At first they didn’t feel safe around me. Now they practically climb in my lap for snacks. I love them all dearly.
Since the snow that we have gotten, they haven’t really come out of the coop, but I’m hoping that they will soon learn to love the snow.
I plan on building a duck coop in the spring. I am going to order more ducklings too. 1 Cayuga, 2 Pekin, 1 Welsh Harlequin, and 1 Golden 300 Hybrid. I will probably add some more onto that list by spring.
We are also thinking about getting Turkey, so I will probably be building 2 coops, lol.
If I have the funds I will be doing another contest in the spring. One with categories. I like to collect one prize each month until the contest so I will have enough.
What a great story!! Thank you for sharing and the pictures are awesome too. How appropriate for today to say Thank you Both for Your Service! Look forward to hearing more of your story when spring gets here.
What a great story!! Thank you for sharing and the pictures are awesome too. How appropriate for today to say Thank you Both for Your Service! Look forward to hearing more of your story when spring gets here.
What a great story!! Thank you for sharing and the pictures are awesome too. How appropriate for today to say Thank you Both for Your Service! Look forward to hearing more of your story when spring gets here.
to the winners, honourable mentions and everyone who participated!!!
