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.