Chicken talk

[Texan]

OK. It's that time of year to get chicks to add to my flock. I've already left the script. The lovely Mrs. Texan talked me into getting a pair of ducklings. They were too young to be sexed, so I hope they aren't drakes. I want some duck eggs.

I have questions if anybody has any experience. I plan to raise the ducklings with a pair of chicks in a part of the coop that is isolated from the hens with their own private grazing yard below until they are old enough to integrate with the hens. I'll figure out a small swimming pool, but I don't want the chicks to drown. I was told that they can eat the chick starter feed as long as it's not medicated. It still gets a little cool at night so I got out my "mama heating pad". It's a 5 gallon bucket with an entrance cut into the side. There is a heating pad suspended above the pine shaving floor so they can stay as warm as they want and get out of the bucket to cool off if they want. When the birds are older, I will get a new plastic kiddy pool for the ducks to swim in. The locked up coop has a radio to provide voices to confuse predators and disguise the peeps of small birds. My dogs will patrol the yard during the day while the hens graze. They don't have access to the chick area.

Am I missing anything?

At some point, I will have to clip wings to keep the ducks from flying off. Is this difficult?

What do I feed adult ducks? Does Purina make Duck Chow? I actually buy Purina Layena Crumbles with oyster shells for the hens. It would be nice to feed the hens and the ducks the same food.

[brian ross]

Release them into the yard. They will feed themselves on snails and slugs. You will find after a few weeks there will be few if any snails left in your yard as a consequence. My parents used to keep ducks for quite a few years when I was a kid. Never had a problem with feeding them. Never had a problem with small predators either. Might be different where Coyotes and Foxes dwell though.

[Valkie]

Bwaaaaaakkkkk

Bwak, bwak, bwak, bwaaaaakkkkkk.

[Black Orchid]

I had chickens, ducks and geese. They used to free range during the day and I would pen them up at night. It's been a few years now so I can't remember what I supplemented them with. The ducks and geese (all strays) had a kiddie pool but I had to constantly clean it because they pooped in it constantly.

I never clipped their wings and they never flew away. I had problems with huge black birds taking the goslings but apart from that it was all good. Not sure if they were Ravens or Crows but they would swoop down and grab a gosling then take it to a rock and pound it til it was dead. I sat with my shot gun and waited to blast them but in the end I got the pen wired over.

When I moved from acres I gave the ducks to a local nursery who had a huge dam/waterhole and ducks of their own. They settled in well and I went back to visit them some months later and they heard my voice and quickly swam over from the island refuge to greet me. They obviously remembered me.

Sounds like you treat them well Tex.

[Texan]

Release them into the yard. They will feed themselves on snails and slugs. You will find after a few weeks there will be few if any snails left in your yard as a consequence. My parents used to keep ducks for quite a few years when I was a kid. Never had a problem with feeding them. Never had a problem with small predators either. Might be different where Coyotes and Foxes dwell though.

Opossum, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, wolves, hawks, eagles, snakes, bobcats, cougars, etc.......

I haven't lost a bird in about 18-20 months. That was to hawks and the birds weren't fully grown. Now that all of my hens are fully grown, they have learned to head for cover when a hawk flies nearby and my coop is Fort Knox when locked up. I won't let the littles out of the coop and fenced in grazing area beneath until they are about 5 months old. My hens have already killed every bug in the yard. Maybe they left the slugs. I hear that watching a duck pounce on a June Bug is pretty funny to watch.

I had chickens, ducks and geese. They used to free range during the day and I would pen them up at night. It's been a few years now so I can't remember what I supplemented them with. The ducks and geese (all strays) had a kiddie pool but I had to constantly clean it because they pooped in it constantly.

I never clipped their wings and they never flew away. I had problems with huge black birds taking the goslings but apart from that it was all good. Not sure if they were Ravens or Crows but they would swoop down and grab a gosling then take it to a rock and pound it til it was dead. I sat with my shot gun and waited to blast them but in the end I got the pen wired over.

When I moved from acres I gave the ducks to a local nursery who had a huge dam/waterhole and ducks of their own. They settled in well and I went back to visit them some months later and they heard my voice and quickly swam over from the island refuge to greet me. They obviously remembered me.

Sounds like you treat them well Tex.

I think I may not clip their wings, especially if they turn out to be drakes. I'll be happy to have had them around and if they want to leave that'll be more room for egg layers. My 13 month old granddaughter got a chance to play with them yesterday. She like them but she was a little too rough. My son is about to be out of country for a year and we had about 30 family members over to see him off yesterday. The poor ducklings got passed around a little more than they liked. They have had a good day since. When they are older, will they automatically go inside the coop at dusk like the chickens?

[Black Orchid]

Most of mine used to automatically go inside the pen at dusk but for any stragglers I made it a ritual to spread some grain around inside the pen each late afternoon/evening and when they all came running I locked the pen. They didn't really need the grain but they obviously liked it.

[brian ross]

Release them into the yard. They will feed themselves on snails and slugs. You will find after a few weeks there will be few if any snails left in your yard as a consequence. My parents used to keep ducks for quite a few years when I was a kid. Never had a problem with feeding them. Never had a problem with small predators either. Might be different where Coyotes and Foxes dwell though.

Opossum, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, wolves, hawks, eagles, snakes, bobcats, cougars, etc.......

I haven't lost a bird in about 18-20 months. That was to hawks and the birds weren't fully grown. Now that all of my hens are fully grown, they have learned to head for cover when a hawk flies nearby and my coop is Fort Knox when locked up. I won't let the littles out of the coop and fenced in grazing area beneath until they are about 5 months old. My hens have already killed every bug in the yard. Maybe they left the slugs. I hear that watching a duck pounce on a June Bug is pretty funny to watch.

Downunder we mainly have snakes to worry about, followed by Foxes and Feral cats. As we lived in suburbia all three were a rarity. Our ducks didn't put up with noisy kids, either. Basically they wandered a big back yard and that was it.

[Texan]

Don't tell my wife, but I just picked up a couple of South American chicks at the feed store. They are Aurucanas. They will lay blue eggs. If all goes as planned I will have 8 brown egg layers, 2 blue egg layers, and 2 laying ducks.

I got 7 eggs today from 8 hens! They're beginning to come out of their Winter slump.

[Black Orchid]

Mrs Tex won't notice the newcomers?

[Texan]

Mrs Tex won't notice the newcomers?

I guess by a VERY loose interpretation, we have an open marriage. I told her and she is OK with them. Actually, they were her idea.

I walked into the feed store and told the girl behind the counter that I'd like to pick up a couple of chicks. Either it went right over her head or she had heard it a million times. There is a large truck stop across the street and lots of prostitutes work the area. This store was in South Dallas and was the only store that had Aurucanas in stock. She pointed to the door to get to the chicks. She did chuckle when I left the store with the box under my arm and said "Let's go nuggets".