Ducks are out!!

The mallards are 4 going on 5 weeks. I love them, but tired of cleaning their inside cage now twice a day. They are out in their pen. DH and I put them into their doghouse for about 10 minutes. Other than that they need to figure out how to get out of the elements. I am installing a tarp for shade. Today it was 78 tonight it's suppose to be 55. They should figure out if they should get in their dog house.

Late April 22 cold

Got strawberries ripening. Covered and artichoke!!! Plus a couple squash plants. Hopefully the okra will make it. The tomatoes and peppers are in the house. Space heater is keeping the living room above 70. The basement with 1 month ducks and meat birds is below 60.

Chicken and Duck Update

The Cornish Cross Meat birds at 4 weeks.  At least I think its 4 weeks.  We bought 6 of them from Tractor Supply.  This is a trial run.  At 2 weeks I had problems with 3 of them not being able to stand.  I cut back their food.  They get just enough to fill their gullets in the AM, and PM.  They general eat for 10 minutes.  I watch and adjust the amount of food as needed.  Generally I watch their gullets and give them just enough.  At noon I give them a bit more.  This approach has been working great for a small flock of 6.  Don't know if we'll try for the large 25 flock.  I am feeling better about them than I did 2 weeks ago.  So we generally have 2 to 5 weeks for processing.   We are just going to keep this up until they look like they have had enough of life.  They cannot sustain life due do to the amount of body growth.  They get to large to stand any length of time. 

This is their cage in the garage.  It is getting ready for its daily cleaning while they go swimming.  There's a video at the bottom of the page of them swimming.

You can see my dog is very curious of the ducks.

We are going to put in a temporary fence post cage this weekend out back for them.

Mallards went swimming yesterday

Fresh - The Movie is available on Netflix streaming

http://www.freshthemovie.com/

I have been wanting to watch this movie for over a year. 

Cornish Cross Meat Bird Update

Wow its only been 2 weeks! 

I read several articles on how to raise these stupid birds. Now 2 weeks later 2 of them have leg problems. They can't even stand. Apparently it’s because their bodies are growing faster than their bones. I guess I fed them too much. I have cut back on their food. This morning it looks like I might have a third bird with leg problems too. My husband and I decided that we won't ever raise these stupid birds again. We will get some fertile barred rock eggs and incubate them ourselves. Barred Rocks are a good sturdy meat and egg bird. We will raise about a dozen and cull the flock for meat chickens as needed just like in the old days. When we want a chicken for dinner we'll got out to the yard and get a fresh one. I will update on the progress of the cornish cross birds. After reading a few more articles on what to do with birds with bad legs, we will process them early if they have any further problems getting around, so far they are can waddle over to the food and water.