Duck Days in the Rain

There are days when I want to curl up with a good book and not even think about going outside. I'm not a rainy day fan. I was slow getting Waddles and Clyde out this morning because it was such a nasty day. Then I'm like "wait...they're ducks". It just shows we have to look at things with a different perspective sometimes. The rain is non-stop and I've put towels under my basement door this time around. We HAVE to get up to the roof and clean those gutters! At least these guys don't mind the rain.

Here are some pictures of our two happy ducks...I hope you have a great day like they are:)

they found an area of yard that flooded....joy

"shinny......"

Ducks Vs. Hens.....1 pt. Ducks

 The backyard flooded after the crazy storm. The clouds cleared up as fast as they came and the mud proved to be a table set for a feast for Waddles and Clyde. I had no idea that the ducks would tear the yard up more than our dogs! We have holes all over the place now.....but very happy ducks.

They were so happy that when the hens came over to join in the fun the ducklings turned around and chased them away. They grabbed Fifi (the Faverolle) by the wings and about throw her our of the way! I'd never seen such a thing. The ducks really protect the baby chicks from the hens as well as the dogs. Of course they are bigger than my little white dog...lol

The ducks have proved to be messy as babies. I wasn't prepared for them and their need of swimming accommodations. Now that I have the baby pool set up and they are trained to come in when it's time they are very easy. I have to say that we are falling for them more and more. We had thoughts of re-homing them. When it comes down to it, we're all suckers here for a pretty feathered face. They are so bonded to the chicks that I can't imagine separating them now.

 I keep them in the tractor (usually closed up all the way...unlike in the picture) when someone isn't outside with them. I'm a nervous mother..I admit it. Luckily for the babies, we almost live outside as long as it isn't raining...and even then the girls love to play in the rain.

This Faverolle would win an ugly bird contest. A few feathers are coming back to her head now. Both of our Faverolles lost all their head feathers! They've been totally bald....like vultures. They weren't pecked on. I guess it's just an ugly molt. Their backs were naked as well. I've checked the coop and gave it a total over haul. There are no mites to blame. A number of the other hens their same age are also bare in places. My older hens are fine. These girls are 1 year old. They sure aren't as cute as they were as babies.

How Did This Happen So Fast?

Waddles and Clyde are about 5 weeks old..... every day they are bigger and bigger. We are thinking that we should have named one of them Clifford. Actually, we don't know if they are both girls, or both boys...we just don't know. We read that the Pekin Duck makes a great pet and we have plenty of egg laying chickens. At this point we are hoping they may end up a husband and wife team. It's like they are growing right in front of us. 

 They are convinced that they are chickens that just happen to swim. I have to keep them separate at night because they are actually much dirtier than the chicks. I have to keep them right next to the chicks or else they'll just keep up with the peeping and you can clearly see the imprinting between all of them. It's just adorable! They all ready follow us around and when it's time to go inside for the night all we have to do is carry one of the chicks and wait for the ducks to follow.

For as much as we love them, I don't plan on ever getting ducks again. Cute...very very cute...but stinky....very very stinky. They are four times the work to keep clean because of the water...and other reasons;P They are truly loved though and it appears that we have two little girls who would be crushed if we gave them away.

This was my birthday cake...cheesecake...yummmmm.  My family gave me a great birthday. I'm 29 again and holding....and holding...and holding...

Duckling and Chick Update

The baby bathtub works great for now.

Waddles and Clyde did fine in with the chicks for the last week and became very bonded to the chicks. I have learned a lot about ducklings this past week...one being that they are very very messy! We looked at all the images on Google (because that's how we learn everything:) ) and realized that all the ducklings and chicks we saw together were very young. You will notice if you look that you don't see many larger ducklings in with the chicks. They grow at a rate at least three times faster then the chicks it seems. These babies got huge! Fast!

We'll use this pool for them out in the run when they are older.

We still have the light on for all of them and the basement is heated. I do have the light aimed more at the chicks since the ducklings don't seem that interested in sitting under it much. We have them in the kiddy pool without anything around it right now. They don't seem to have any interest in coming out. The kids have them running around enough during the day for plenty of exercise, I assure you. I don't think they are able to hop out of it if they wanted to. 

The chicks look so tiny compared to the ducklings!

I have the chicks in a large Rubbermaid container right next to the ducklings. They hate being separate. I went down to check on them and change all the water this morning and found Waddles, Clyde, Bailey, and Patty all cuddled up in the duck pool. The two little chicks seem more bonded to the ducklings then to their fellow chicks. This will be interesting to watch.

These are the eggs from my 8 grown hens for the past 2 days. They are doing great! We have snow again today and it's way too cold for my liking. I've been able to let them out to run the yard for the past two days since we can at least see the grass now. They have thanked me in egg production.

Man, when is this winter going to end??? I need to buy another bottle of Vitamin D and St. John's Wort to make it until gardening season:(  We keep talking about getting so light therapy lights. I will have some for next winter no matter what. These gray skies seem endless...that's what it is..it's not the cold - it's the gray. Anyone from Central New York knows the "gray" season. I just keep hanging on because the Summer up here makes it worth it...almost.

Wishing you blue skies:)

Brooder Cuteness

I had to post this on YouTube.....I wanted to share the cuteness with everyone who doesn't have a brooder going. Love love love....

Bailey taking a ride (Buff Orpington)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7OdErVLSl4

Brooder Issues Solved

Ewwwww...how do they get so messy so fast???

Yes, they poop a lot. I can think of a lot of things that smell worse then chick poop to be honest with you....like the soup of chick food mixed with a healthy dose of poop because they insist on spilling or splashing their water everywhere. I've learned that the duck are going to make it hard to keep the water nice. This might be a problem when they are older and we are all ready planning on needing separate places for their water.

I took a different approach this year than I have in the past. We used to use a wood box that transformed into the nest box on the coop. I kept it full of shavings and paper and had to change the chips every day and clean it up several times a day...mostly from the water.

We only got 6 chicks to add to our flock this year so it's a lot easier simply because of the number. This year I have the indoor rabbit cage placed inside the hard kiddy pool in our basement. The heat lamps rest right on top of the metal cage and I have no worries of them falling. I've had them mounted in the past and always did worry....because that's who I am.

Before I added the pie pans and more wood shavings.

 This rabbit cage had the tray under it so there is a gap between the floor of the cage and the pool. This is your every day cage from any pet store. I keep the rest of the floor covered for them so it's comfy on thier feet but left the area under the water open so the water drips (splashes) down into a  pie pan under the cage. I didn't have this in there at first and I knew there had to be away to keep from having to pick the cage up and clean the pool all the time. I also put a pie pan under the food. This stuff isn't free and it's depressing how much gets wasted. The ducks seem to like to eat it from the pie pan better than the feeder anyway.

Two problems solved:) Now we just need to keep the car keys away from Bailey....

New Babies

Brandon's Brahma

Yes...ducks too..happy together.

I never knew that you could have ducks and chickens together. We all went to Tractor Supply thinking we were just going to get the minimum order of chicks...6. The guy who boxed up our chicks assured us that in small flocks ducks could get along just fine. They eat the same food since I don't buy the medicated kind for any of them. My husband couldn't resist and we came home with 2 little ducklings. 

Love love love

After having them just a short while we have decided that we will never be without ducklings again. They are so cuddly!  I did make one realization that they are a good bit messier with the water. I have to keep a very close eye on it to make sure it's never emptied. I am also very glad for the set up I went with this year.
 

simple but works

It's nothing fancy but it's very easy to clean and they are warm enough since this is our heated basement. This rabbit hutch has served us well after poor Simba died. I use it for Mama when she goes broody to snap her out of it. I have a plastic mat on the side of it for the kids to play with the babies where it's easy to clean. My girls have gotten so used to having chickens I don't even have to say anything when the chicks poop. They just grab the tissue and put it all right into my compost bucket. There is something great that can't be simply explained about raising children that raise chickens (and ducks).

Chick Decision Time

We go back and forth on this every year...do we get chicks or wait for next year? I usually end up with a couple if I plan it or not, but I think I might do this differently this year. Every season I try to introduce pullets out of the brooder to the rest of the clutch I'm presented with a lot of drama. I divide the coop so the youngsters are safe and hope they get used to being in close quarters before I combine them. There is always at least one of my hens...usually one of my favorites..that insist on picking on the babies. I've made the mistake of getting rid of some great hens because I couldn't have them being so mean. I still miss my Lacy. I have also gone the other route and have gotten rid of the girl that was being picked on by many. Eastie was a favorite pet and would rather be with me than the other hens. I couldn't build a coop just for her so I rehomed her to a friends where she became the leader of the group. It worked out well for her in the end, but I parted with a few great hens before I took that step.

We had a stretch of time this winter when we didn't get any eggs at all. It was just too cold. I have a few that are slowing down a bit. Mama and Jumpers are 4 years old and Mama (my Black Australorp) gets broody a few times a year. I love the Black Australorps...so soft and friendly..but I won't get any more of them. When they lay, they lay very well. They have been the only ones I've had to go so broody. It's very disruptive to the others and of course it cuts in on the egg supply. I'm not allowed to have any roosters here, or else my thinking would be different with them. They are known to be good mothers. We've run out of eggs a few times and we have really grown to not be able to bring ourselves to eat any grocery store eggs. So, we need more good layers.

I would love to stick to heirloom breeds, but on the other hand I see the benefit of the Red Sexlink hen. We have our pet chickens and we love them. I think I'm going to get a batch of hybrids for the egg production and just start a whole new coop just for them. This way I won't have the headache of integrating them and I won't have to worry about what to do with the roos. I had to give up Mr. Dove last season and we really loved him. This may be the best answer for us. Now to find a local breeder.

Baby it's cold outside....

-16 degrees F. to be exact.....burrrrrrr

Have I ever mentioned that my husband thinks I'm chicken crazy? Well, I'm not. My friend, Jennifer, just might be however. She is a wonderful chicken lady. Here are her hens resting nicely in her basement for this Arctic blast we are getting here in Upstate NY.  They look very happy indeed.

Some very lucky chickens!

I was rummaging around our garage last night trying to figure out how I could bring my girls in without destroying my husbands lawn tractor. They took roost on it last year and he hasn't let me forget that. I was even playing with the idea of cardboard boxes. I finally gave up realizing that I needed to just trust that they would be fine. I couldn't bring them in where it would be too warm because I was afraid they would get sick when I put them back up.

It's a good coop and they are the hardiest animals I've ever seen. Jumpers was in the jaws of a coyote and has the tale to tell. I've got cold hardy breeds, I use the deep liter method, and I just needed to trust I was doing OK. The coop is 4'x8' with an extended nest box and a slanted roof which holds the snow nicely for insulation. I do run out several times when we have these crazy cold snaps with jugs of really hot water and place them under the roosts. I am careful to keep their drinking water fresh because it freezes so quickly on days like this.

I have to change up the filled milk/juice jugs twice during the day and first thing in the morning. I keep the coop closed up so the heat stays inside the coop. It really does raise the ambient temperature inside and doesn't add much if any moisture. I haven't noticed any moisture build up because even though it's really cold I keep some side ventilation open to prevent frostbite.

If I had a place to bring them inside I would have. I did one year and really enjoyed that I could go and hang out with them for extended periods of time. Yes, I talk to my chickens.....they don't argue with me like my children sometimes do!

The main thing with keeping them inside is they do get bored. Boredom can lead to pecking. I bring them treats like warm oatmeal or polenta. Eating is a great boredom buster...I know this from personal experience, unfortunately.

-16 degrees and they are doing fine. I on the other hand go a bit stir crazy (er). I hope you stay warm and keep looking out for the sunny days soon to come:)

Gypsy Meet Your Chickens

"Hi...we're going to be friends"

She held that chicken for an hour.

Start training early

The story of how we decided to welcome Gypsy our Minitured Austrailain Shepard (Miniture American Shepard) into our family is on my family blog lifeaswegrow.com

She is absolutely perfect! She's going to be kept very busy around here. One of her jobs is going to be to help with the chickens. Gee, I might have to get more to keep her busy.... She's a born herder and it's very clear right from the start. It's amazing how different she is from Cricket. Cricket really wants to chase. She's a Coton de Teluer / Shih Tzu and though she would never hurt the hens, she sure loves the chase.

Gypsy didn't even seem interested at first, but as soon as they started moving around she became very watchful. I rounded them up and guided them into the tractor and Gypsy walked along right at my heal as we circled the tractor several times. I really need to research how to do this because I'm afraid of messing up her training. If anyone has any hints I'd love to hear!

I started some tunnel training with both Gypsy and Cricket. I know not to have her do any jumping because she is so young, but the tunnels are great fun. Cricket is almost 3 years old, so she is really ready for this. I can't believe I didn't think to get her going sooner. She is full of energy and is a natural jumper. I've never seen her so happy since she got her own puppy. I didn't think to worry about it since she is such a sweet dog around any other animals. Any dog that will sleep and cuddle with a kitten is bound to be good with a puppy. Gypsy is going to be more than twice her size....but I'm not going to tell that to her yet.

 My Moon Princess has been upset that there has been too much snow for her to go visit her chickens. She was very happy for a melt so the hens could run around for a while. She held on to Yorkie our Barred Rock and just talked and pet her for an hour! No one can tell me that chickens don't love attention. When I opened the back of the coop Lilly actually jumped up on my arm and walked around with me like a falcon.

Cricket missed her chickens too.

Snow Chickens in CNY

The snow was so deep after one night of snow that the coop was dark on the inside. The snow had about covered the windows completely. My girls weren't very happy. I got out there first thing and tried to pull the snow off the best that I could. They were warm enough in there and Reba even laid an egg in the dark! That is one dedicated hen:) They didn't really come out of the coop except to jump out and hide under it for the next week. They did enjoy pecking at it around the edges. 

P.S. see that old camper in the background? Stay tuned...that's our next project....the hens are going to LOVE it!