BlueCoyote 0 Posted January 2, 2008 Report Share Posted January 2, 2008 (edited) just wondering because i do.. sorta. not sure when to let the girl keep the eggs for herself.. or really dont know much about their whole lifestyle with laying, setting, and hatching. saw her on the nest this morning, but later saw her off with the boys.. i know its probably too soon to let her hatch any right now, its gotten cold lately.. but its florida..... if you dont like the weather then wait five minutes it was warm last week, now its freezing.... and i mean literal frost on the ground and ice in the duck pond... Edited January 2, 2008 by BlueCoyote Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tis TM 8 Posted January 6, 2008 Report Share Posted January 6, 2008 Hi Blue, I do, Lavendar Muscoveys, and all I can say is, the best results i had was just leaving them to thier own devices. They are funny things, and get easily unsettled. I had one of the duck dissapearing under the chicken shed, and would occasionally see her out and about... I finally got a bit worried and thought I ought to stop up the gap, and literally the next morning she came out to greet me with 11! ducklings! I was gobsmacked. After that, I then tried keeping one of the other females that when to sit on some dummy eggs, and got some different Silver Appleyard duck eggs from a mate, and she didn't hatch any She was in a chicken nest box with shavings down, and from what I hear, you cant beat letting find and make thier own nest. They need a certain humidity (more than hens) to keep the eggs right. Here's a pic of the one that hatched hers in secret Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MOLLY Posted January 6, 2008 Report Share Posted January 6, 2008 We have cayugas (Spe?) they dont want to sit. we also have a female muscovy we found, she would do as Tis explained, we just left her to get on with it. Unfortunately she has escaped the pen last week, so it will be back to using the incubator Moll. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueCoyote 0 Posted January 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2008 finally bribed my husband into building a bigger pen for them ( worth it!) so maybe she'll do like the others and find a hiding spot. damned ducks are weird... one of them was attacked by my bulldog bitch- my fault, i wasnt paying attention and the bully likes to "help" - so i ended up with keeping the duck indoors in a box until he healed.. he's the only "pet" .. in the duck pen there is a tree. so when you go out there to have a look at them, they'll all run behind the tree with the one pet peeking out at you. walk around to the other side of the tree and they hide again.. like playing ring around the roses with them! unless you have food of course... mine are peking(?) ducks.. the white ones. the eggs are decent in size too. i didnt expect them to be quite so large! since the one started laying she's consistent with them. one every day, havent had to buy eggs in months though sometimes she'll skip a day. didnt know they could do that either. the only problem is i'm PRETTY sure i know which one is the hen.. but not totally 100% certain. the only one i can tell apart is the one the dog attacked. his bill is a lighter colour than the others. the one i think is the hen is the smallest of them all, real dainty features compared to the others. but there is another duck almost as small as her.. but still looks a bit more masculine. i thought maybe if i have too many drakes then, oh well, we'll have duck for dinner one night! never eaten duck before, so it would be worth it to try.. but i dont want to risk killing the wrong one! so the next course of action is to pen them separately i think, at least until i find out who is laying! the muscovy's are the ones with that funky stuff on their faces? lol i always hated those kinds! as a kid they were all over the ponds at the parks and they were mean! would peck you on the bottom if you didnt get them bread! but then someone told me that they're great for mosquito control because they eat the larva. dont know if theres any truth to that or not though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tis TM 8 Posted January 7, 2008 Report Share Posted January 7, 2008 (edited) finally bribed my husband into building a bigger pen for them ( worth it!) so maybe she'll do like the others and find a hiding spot. damned ducks are weird... one of them was attacked by my bulldog bitch- my fault, i wasnt paying attention and the bully likes to "help" - so i ended up with keeping the duck indoors in a box until he healed.. he's the only "pet" .. in the duck pen there is a tree. so when you go out there to have a look at them, they'll all run behind the tree with the one pet peeking out at you. walk around to the other side of the tree and they hide again.. like playing ring around the roses with them! unless you have food of course... mine are peking(?) ducks.. the white ones. the eggs are decent in size too. i didnt expect them to be quite so large! since the one started laying she's consistent with them. one every day, havent had to buy eggs in months though sometimes she'll skip a day. didnt know they could do that either. the only problem is i'm PRETTY sure i know which one is the hen.. but not totally 100% certain. the only one i can tell apart is the one the dog attacked. his bill is a lighter colour than the others. the one i think is the hen is the smallest of them all, real dainty features compared to the others. but there is another duck almost as small as her.. but still looks a bit more masculine. i thought maybe if i have too many drakes then, oh well, we'll have duck for dinner one night! never eaten duck before, so it would be worth it to try.. but i dont want to risk killing the wrong one! so the next course of action is to pen them separately i think, at least until i find out who is laying! the muscovy's are the ones with that funky stuff on their faces? lol i always hated those kinds! as a kid they were all over the ponds at the parks and they were mean! would peck you on the bottom if you didnt get them bread! but then someone told me that they're great for mosquito control because they eat the larva. dont know if theres any truth to that or not though. Pekin Ducks are great! VERY tasty, and worth rearing as they are fast to fatten. I reared my male Muscoveys for the table and they are outa this world for flavour! Your idea about the smallest duck being the female is probably correct, and yes, you shouldn't have too many drakes. I had one female sh*gged to death because of too high a ratio There is a test to find out which one is laying, but it involves gently putting your finger in a certain place to see if its nicley slack and moist Obviously, the males wont be, but laying females are. Yeah, Muscoveys have that red skin on their face (see my pic above) lol And I too hated them when I was a kid! I didn't like the black and white ones, but when I was given these lavendar ones, I thought they were much prettier. Molly, I lost a couple of Muscoveys because their flying skills are second to none!! You need to clip a wing, and do this every year, because they moult and regrow the flight feathers. Ever seen a muscovey fly?? Its awsome, they have a wingspan of over 4 foot!!!! lol They do make excellent broodies though, so if you can get another do! I'm off to the RSPCA today, they rang yesterday to say they have a couple that need rehoming, so If you have a centre nearby, give em a try? P.S, haven't a clue what cayugas are! lol Edited January 7, 2008 by Tis TM Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MOLLY Posted January 7, 2008 Report Share Posted January 7, 2008 Tis, here you go.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cayuga_Duck They are classed as a rare breed, i was lucky enough to be given a trio from a good pal, we now have several, they hatched pretty easily in the incubator. We have been given another duck, she is cofee/buff colour, i haven't seen her yet and we have no idea what type she is, ill try to go and gets some pics tomorrow. Moll. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tis TM 8 Posted January 7, 2008 Report Share Posted January 7, 2008 Tis, here you go....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cayuga_Duck They are classed as a rare breed, i was lucky enough to be given a trio from a good pal, we now have several, they hatched pretty easily in the incubator. We have been given another duck, she is cofee/buff colour, i haven't seen her yet and we have no idea what type she is, ill try to go and gets some pics tomorrow. Moll. Like the black ducks Maybe this other one is a buff? http://feathersite.com/Poultry/Ducks/Buffs/BRKBuff.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MOLLY Posted January 7, 2008 Report Share Posted January 7, 2008 My subtle hint worked Tis...was hoping you would know Ill see her tomorrow and let you know Many thanks. Moll. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueCoyote 0 Posted January 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2008 (edited) good idea about checking the local animal shelter. i know they have rabbits on occasion.... even if they are all spayed and neutered.. fine if you want a pet but i'm looking for something that will earn their feed though!! what would you say is easier to raise? ducks or chickens? my mom lives nextdoor and has chickens.. she had some bantam roosters that one of her hens hatched... they're no end of trouble. i keep hoping they'll cross over the fence and one of my dogs eat it..... and i have the ducks... she started out with three ducklings(bought from some interesting characters ) along with some turkeys, guineas, and peacocks. the only things to survive was the one turkey and the ducks.. though the two out of the first three ducklings died. i didnt know you couldnt feed them medicated chick starter.. supposedly they'll over dose on it.... which is what i think happened to one. the second one escaped its pen and was eaten by a pit bull i was "fostering".. which was the same day my bulldog chomped on the one duck. dont know how he managed to survive that! and the one turkey that died got its wing caught in its cage and i GUESS gave itself a heart attack!! i was on the ground feeding rabbits when i heard it flapping in its cage on the porch. i thought the cat was after it so i ran up the stairs to rescue it.... no cat.... just the chick with its wing lodged in the wire and its neck slack. later that evening one of the peacocks dropped dead.. couldnt understand what was wrong with it! was doing fine earilier, eating, drinking.. then just sat down and died! they were well beyond that delicate fluffy chick stage too. after that my mom another peacock and turkey(which both died shortly after getting them) and three more ducks.. which are the ones i have now. the ducks are supposed to be my moms but she got fed up with everything dying and told me i could keep them... my husband came home and opened the bathroom door only to discover ducklings in the bath tub lol he wasnt too happy about it, but knows better than to argue they're all outside in their own pen with a little pond i dug for them and seem to be doing well. i would like to get more ducks, or let mine hatch out a few.. though i think they're all related since they came from the same place. i think you're right about the one hen being shagged to death.... every morning i go out to feed them and she's covered head to toe in mud and looks thoroughly roughed up... even had a skinned up bill last week. i've just never had to wring a duck's neck!! whats the best way to go about doing that? and do you pluck or skin them? or is that a matter of preference? Edited January 7, 2008 by BlueCoyote Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tis TM 8 Posted January 7, 2008 Report Share Posted January 7, 2008 LOL @ Molly, cheeky Let me know if I was right!! Blimey Blue, sounds like you've been through a few stock! The problem with keeping such a mixed lot of poultry together comes in the form of Blackhead over here, dont know if you get it so bad with your climate though! Here's a link to read http://www.vetstoria.co.uk/templates/poult...familyfarm.html Chucks n ducks go well together, I have both and have no preference really, though the ducks have more character! If you are preparing a bird for the table dont wring its neck literally LOL I'm not sure how the law goes for slaughtering poultry for your own consumption these days, I think I'll pm you later on that one Deffinatley pluck them, though if you dont catch them right (just after a moult), you could have a REALLY crap time pulling tiny young feathers + the other feathers too Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueCoyote 0 Posted January 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2008 (edited) oh it was pure bad luck from the start.... my mom put the proverbial cart before the horse.... bought a bunch of chicks and kept them in MY rabbit hutch.. sure its a large hutch, but it was the dead of summer and hot and dry.... at the time we had a trouble making German Shepherd... he let the pullets out of the hutch when we were gone for the day and systematically stalked and killed all but five.... the only hen that survived was caught by the cat (who rearranged her beak) she eventually died because she couldnt eat properly. we got the rest of the pullets caught (used my bulldog to track and catch them.. she wore a muzzle of course lol) though they all turned out to be roosters... we were "warned" about certain diseases from mixing birds.. mostly from letting the peacocks among the chickens.. i cant remember the name of the disease though. i suppose that might have been what killed them. they werent my birds.. i was just there to nurse them back to health or take over when my mom got overwhelmed lol and yes i love the personality of my ducks. better than a watch dog sometimes. anytime someone is outside, or drives up, or walks over to our house the ducks see them coming and they all start quacking. if you talk too loudly or laugh they'll all start quacking.... and if its too quiet .... one of them look around and say QUAAAAACK!!! then it goes back to peace and quiet again lol my grandmother had some ducks when i was a small child but i dont remember them being that interesting! i was afraid you might mention the plucking lol thats the one thing i probably dread most... oh what a mess!! but i can be thorough when i want to be..... so, if you dont wring their neck, how would you go about killing one? i thought you'd do them like a chicken lol edit to add not aware of any laws here... we're off the beaten path and i cant imagine any authorities beating our door down over this lol Edited January 7, 2008 by BlueCoyote Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MOLLY Posted January 7, 2008 Report Share Posted January 7, 2008 LOL @ Molly, cheeky Let me know if I was right!! Sis now told me she has darker wing feathers...probably some kind of mongrel Ill def get some piccies...thank you again. Moll. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tis TM 8 Posted January 7, 2008 Report Share Posted January 7, 2008 i was afraid you might mention the plucking lol thats the one thing i probably dread most... oh what a mess!! but i can be thorough when i want to be..... so, if you dont wring their neck, how would you go about killing one? i thought you'd do them like a chicken lol edit to add not aware of any laws here... we're off the beaten path and i cant imagine any authorities beating our door down over this lol Main thing is to dip the ducks after they've been bled, first in hot, Very hot, water ( i use an old boiler like they use at fete's for tea n coffees) Then straight into cold water. Its not really that messy because the feathers are wet and a bit heavier. If you string them up, and pluck over a bin it really helps Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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