Really want to. Love rabbit meat, but the wife is less than thrilled with the idea of me getting more animals, and is also weirded out by the idea of rabbit meat for some reason. Also not sure I'd have the heart to kill something so damn cuddly and cute. Their meat is absolutely incredible though. And they reproduce like.... well, rabbits. Plus you can train them to use a litter box, or at least use the bathroom in one area to make it easier to get their shit for fertilizer. It's a cold fertilizer so it doesn't get crazy combustible.
Duck sex is weird. The drake grabs her by the head until he pins her down, and then it's pretty much a gang rape, sometimes 2-3 drakes trying to pile on. The lucky one finally manages to finish the deed, then drags his corkscrew shaped dick around on the cold ground till it goes back in. Here, let me save you Googling "duck penis":
Duck sex and duck penises are terrifying. Right now I just have females who participate in gang bangs. It was pretty much confirmed for me yesterday that my duck was a casualty of a gang bang situation after witnessing a 3 individual sandwich going on. The tub it happened in yesterday was just safer than the more narrow bucket the bottom girl drowned in.
Speaking of ducks, I really needed a smile today and they delivered: That’s the first hatch of the year, and I’ve got another full nest with a hen spending more time on it. More hens will lay as warmer weather comes around Plus there’s two broody turkey hens that have started setting more consistently. I considered buying a couple more goat kids, but think I have enough going on for now.
That's very cool.... I wish I could have some small livestock like that, but living in the city it would never fly. As it is the neighbours over the back fence seem to have bought a rabbit hutch. That could be interesting, considering the number of rabbits my cats come home with in a summer.
Aww! Sweet fuzzybutts. I am actually riding home with new babies as we speak. I'll post pictures later. I'm so glad that I bought Holderread stock while I could. The wife Millie told me that this is the last year they are selling.
That’s great that you managed to get some from their bloodlines. Did you get any sort of documentation with them? I occasionally see people claiming “Holderread stock” on ads around and all I can think is, “Bullshit.” Of course you’re on the West Coast so their lines are probably more common.
I just have an emailed order form confirming my order and they gave them to me in a box with the wife's name and address on it. Nothing other than that. Silver welsh Harlequin x8. I forgot how tiny they start.
It's 32 degrees and snowing here again, unusually cold for this time of year. Mama duck decided to go for an outing in the snow, little ones in tow. Nope, too cold, sorry, everyone is locked back in. Except for the hen that somehow keeps slipping out of the fence, she's probably in the creek somewhere. She's not the most aggressive hen when it comes to protecting her young, and I was tempted to take them and brood them separately, except I don't have anywhere left to put them and other than taking them out in the snow, she's doing a good job keeping them warm. Sometimes all ya can do is wait and see what happens. But there's a couple in there that are gonna be an interesting color pattern, I don't want to lose them.
Haha, if you can get mama to brood them then let her. I feel like brooding ducklings is more work because they are so wet and messy. What colors are you looking forward to? I plan to keep one male and letting some babies happen in the spring next year to sell some. We picked ours up Wed and they were in the outdoor coop in their brooder box by yesterday. They were making the whole downstairs smell. I even do fermented feed which is supposed to help their waste be more solid and less smelly. More solid, yes. They reek to high heavens still though.
Oh yeah, I've brooded a lot of ducks over the years and they are the messiest little shits, hands down. She's brooding them fine, keeping them warm, but she's the least aggressive hen I've ever seen when it comes to protecting her littles. But they're all still kicking, so all is good. I have mostly Grey Calls, which look exactly like a Mallard. They're pretty, but I like some variety when it comes to color. So mottled whites, ( I forget the term ) and that are always a nice addition. None of these are "show quality" stock, so I don't really care about being true to the breed standard. A lot of times when I sell I sell them as "bantam ducks" and then explain they're Calls, but more pet quality than anything.
Yesterday I got the new duck pen finished and the birds moved in, with the exception of a few bachelor drakes. They are just too rough on the hens. Today I finished up the lawn and was doing chores when this happened: Just missing the new duck pen: The best part? It also just missed me, as I was standing there maybe 2 minutes before it fell. I’d just given the birds fresh water and went to get water for the goats.
I have a couple questions for anyone who has had chickens before. 1. Our chickens are about a month old now. we've given them places to roost in their pen and they use it from time to time, but more often then not, then dig a spot in their bedding, fluff out and fall asleep on the ground. Throughout the day they are up and down on the roost, and we'll catch them there sleeping as well, but from what I've heard they mostly like to roost as high as possible. Their heat source isn't pointed at either the roost or where they decide to sleep directly, so I don't think it's a temperature issue, just wondering if there is a problem with them roosting where we have them set up and they don't use it as often because of something. 2. We originally got 6 chickens as we didn't want to rush into having a huge flock. We were thinking of getting 6 more. I've heard a lot about how you shouldn't introduce new chickens into an established flock, but this is usually said about 1-2 year old chickens and new chicks. If we got another 6, and kept them separate until they are ~2-3 weeks old, do you think there would be issues with them being brought together? Our current chickens haven't shown any sort of aggression towards one another. We even have what seems to be a bit of a runt chicken who has always been smaller then the rest and has taken longer to grow then the others. There's definitely a pecking order, but it hasn't been a malicious one yet. 3. I know chickens basically will eat anything out of the ground, but are there any insects, spiders, bugs, etc they will eat that they shouldn't?
1) They'll figure it out on their own as they get older. Just in case though, what is your roost made of? 2) How old are your first six chicks? I base the decision to integrate on size difference more than anything else. A lot of times, the only way to find out is to try it and see how they act. A helpful hint though, when introducing new birds to an established flock, I tend to do it in the late evening or just after dusk when they're settled down. You'll have some "pecking order" going on the next day, but it doesn't seem to be as bad. 3) Nope, at least not here in NY. And if it tastes like shit, they won't eat it again.
Just over 1 week old. This is their stress cry. It wants back with its brood mates. It can also mean they are out of food and are hungry. https://imgur.com/3VDfHPg
I had to do some fast ditch digging in the pouring rain to keep the chick’s pen from flooding: Downed trees, flooding... can’t wait to see what fresh hell awaits me tomorrow.