Hands down, one of the best investments anyone who lives where it gets cold and has any kind of livestock can make is water fount heaters or heated buckets. Why people still waste time and energy breaking ice out of dishes and troughs when you can simply run an extension cord or other electical supply to a heater is beyond me. It's especially valuable for animals that have rumens, like our goats. They'll pack it full of hay, suck down water, and then go lay down to chew cud.. A full, well functioning rumen is like a little furnace inside of them which helps generate body heat but they need to have fresh water for it to work properly. ( Doesn't hurt that it's also slightly warmed in the bucket. )
The town we live outside of is getting a Rural King, apparently the first in New York State. The location is kind of a strange choice, but since it’s a stone’s throw from where I work, I ain’t arguing. I was paying 19.99 per 50# bag for chicken feed at a locally owned place. Tired of paying that, I checked Tractor Supply and they have what they call “mini layer pellets” for a few bucks less and they’re the same size pellets as any other. Now I see this Rural King is selling layer pellets for $12.99 and I hope that’s true because that’s a significant savings. If it’s any indicator of their feed prices it may even convince me to get some more birds of some kind. ( I’m thinking pigeons for starters. )
They’re on the list. My wife and my future daughter in law all want them and I do enjoy seeing them around the yard. Problem is the place I’d put them is off the garage which we’re tearing down next spring. Plus I’m still in the fence about more mouths to feed in general. We’ll see. But if I do get ducks, I want good quality birds, probably Rouens. I used to keep Call ducks but have always liked Rouens.
We’re getting a Rural King, the first in our state, some time this year. I’ve never been to one, but looking at their feed prices along with the fact it’s gonna be maybe two miles from where I work, I’m looking forward to it. The cashier at Tractor Supply told me shes been to one and they’re impressive. Said she’s thinking of applying there herself.
Some days I wish I could go back eight years and talk myself out of getting goats again. Today is one of those days. Every spring, mites become an issue. One of the boys gets them particularly bad for some reason but you have to treat them all. This is done with ivermectin shots and spraying lime sulphur on the spots where he’s really bitten up. It’s easy to spot because there’s hair loss and then dry, crusty appearance, mostly on the lower legs. The shots are relatively easy to administer because I can hide the syringes in my back pocket and snag them each while they’re eating. Needs be I can entice them with rock salt. Goats LOVE rock salt. The lime sulphur? Not nearly so easy. They see me wearing gloves, the spray bottle, and they fucking jet. Fortunately for me, it’s raining and they hate being out in the rain so I cornered him in the shed. Oh he fought me, but he also got a little salt for some positive reinforcement. Nevertheless, a goat that normally won’t lead me the hell alone will be avoiding me like the plague for the next few days. He’ll loosen up eventually, just in time to spray him down again. Poultry is so much easier. When these goats are gone I’ll be sticking to birds.
Spring is here. The new drake is working out really well and all the ladies are healthy and happy. We reached springtime duckvana: 11 girls laid 11 perfect clean eggs.
Part of me wishes I had a place that would let me do stuff like that. Then reality hits and I realize I have nowhere near the time, energy, or commitment to pull it off.
You could do chickens. They are easy to automate and you're good at that kind of thing. Ducks are impossible to automate because of how they behave. You probably arent allowed in your area to keep poultry though. I'm fortunate to live in an ag town where everyone has lived rural to semi rural for forever and it is part of the culture. Many families in town limits still have small working homesteads with livestock of all types. I've seen people riding around on horseback at random times and places. I've seen escaped cattle running down the main avenue. I freakin love it.
I went in search of duck eggs being dirty online and found this video. https://youtube.com/shorts/7KXAh_wp4oE?si=4Yh8p2pOQSe50Wal It's the truth. I also noticed he has this neat little egg washer in the sink. I gotta get one. Occasionally I have to wash a huge batch of eggs, like 100 or whatever, and it takes forever by hand. That's one of those tasks you turn an audio book on for.