Yeah that's gonna be a real bitch. I've managed to slip orphaned duckings under a hen at night and she didn't notice or care. But an older, solitary one is going to be difficult.
Yeah. I kinda fucked up, I had a WH go broody the week the babies hatched. It was going poorly on the nest because the other WH was trying to get in there to sit on the nest too and eggs were breaking. I showed broody the week old babies and she was making noises at them but I wasn't comfortable with what I was seeing to chance leaving them with her. They were a little old and she hadn't been sitting long. I think seeing the babies broke her broodiness and now the 3 WH stand at silent attention watching the babies. If looks could kill. I will definitely have to separate the Drake for awhile once integration begins because he's a fucking asshole.
In a fortunate turn, the WH that was broody seems to want the baby as her own. I showed her the babies when they were a week old and it messed her up. She stopped sitting on the nest but maybe thinks they hatched. She has not been aggressive to the baby at all and is talking to it. She's acting like a mom. I'm going to give it a few days like this and then take the wannabe mom out and let her and the baby be in the garden together.
Welp, we just repaired one small coop yesterday, only for my dog to break into it and eat the chicken. Jungle Julia is beyond pissed, and now we're getting rid of the dog. Anybody want a female pitbull-boxer mix?
Today I picked up a bag of crimped oats and a bag of layer pellets. The oats were 22.99 per 50# and the layer pellets were 18.50 per 50# At this rate no one's going to be able to afford to have even a small farm.
I'm glad I didn't rush the duckling migration because I very naively mistook the murder stares for maternal adoration. I think the duckling kind of bonded a little because the WH murder ducks were 'there' for so long. It wanted to badly to join them but the WH stand by the fence and nip it through the holes. It squeaks and screams every time but persists in trying to run to them. Pathetic. So.... My great idea was to put it with a more submissive black duck. I essentially have 2 sub flocks. The male is flocked up with his WH females and is just a right old bastard to the black ducks, which are smaller and more submissive. Out of mating season it's fine but from spring onward he's pretty aggressive and the black girls avoid him in the coop mostly. I took who I think is the most assertive of the black ducks and threw her in the garden with the baby. If I go to cull old hens she will probably be one of the last to go because of her ability to deal with the Drake better. This hen gives less than zero shits about the baby. The duckling even chased the hen around a couple times, it was a riot to watch. In the beginning the duckling was still running along the fence obsessively to get in to the WHs but by the end of the day it had chilled down. Today it's foraging for bugs and kind of orbiting the black female. Next step, letting all the black ducks in the garden to merge the duckling into their circle. I think it'll be done by the time the new ducklings come. I stupidly filled that incubator all the way up, and I was more organized with my eggs so they were all quite fresh, and now... I have 14 live ones in there. Might have to abort a couple of em.
I'm shopping around the area for a better hay supplier. The stuff I've been buying went up in price last year ( $4.00 for first cutting ) and it's really inconsistent quality. Some of it the goats won't touch. Add to that, I just saw that they "hayed" a field usually used to grow corn the last few years. That's gonna be complete garbage I'm sure.
6 new ducklings. I have to sex them today to see what we are working with. I put 3 eggs back in the incubator because I'm not sure if they will still hatch. I ran the incubator too cold which resulted in poor hatch rate and longer incubation before hatching.
One of our layers went broody so I decided to let her set the clutch of eggs. We ended up with six chicks, about a 50% hatch rate. Of course she took them outside, and a thunderstorm was bearing down on us, but I managed to get them scooped up and fenced off inside with mama in tow. Six more mouths to feed, but with eggs so expensive it’ll be nice to have a few new layers.
What breed of chickens do you keep? I want to see your babies! Yeah, eggs are expensive. I haven't found any new buyers recently but they make an excellent gift. I give them to neighbors and visitors when I have excess.
This morning was tough. The last duckling to hatch had problems and had to be culled. I chose to snip its head off. My worst fear was realized when my scissors were not sharp enough and it took 3-4 clips to get it done. Fuck. That was hard enough on a sick baby. I am going to need some emotional support to cull males. Probably all well and good that i suck at vent sexing. I didn't see a single penis this morning.
A bunch of different breeds. The new ones will be Barred Rock/ New Hampshire Red: A lot of times I trade the eggs for beers at the lodge, or just give them away.
Poultry really are pretty. So many breeds, so many colors. My neighbor has a barred rock like yours and she's just gorgeous.
I’ve always had a soft spot for the Barred Rock and make sure to have at least a few when I order chicks every couple years. Overall the variety and beauty is why I’ve always loved birds, particularly poultry. If I could I’d have a whole zoo devoted to various breeds.
The lone duckling has successfully integrated and spent last night sleeping with the crew in the coop with the WHs kenneled. Now I will be buying a small kennel for the Drake at night, and pulling single Welsh harlequins out to mingle and integrate with the black ducks. Then the new babies will go into the jumbo kennel in the coop. It's duck jenga over here.
The lone duckling, now all grown up, is male. We will have duck for Thanksgiving. Man, he is pretty too. The mix of breeds has resulted in some pretty brown barring on his chest, his green drake head, and purple speculum. 100lbs of feed, np. I think I could have gotten another bag in the front. Next time...
I didn't see any purple feathers so I googled "speculum" to see what part of the bird that is. I was confused for a moment until I googled "purple speculum feathers"