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.

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

Eating my ducks? Yes!

I just wanted to encourage others to think about raising your own food. I have chickens for eggs, and roosters are meat. We currently have a rooster called "Crockpot". DH named him. :-)

We got 4 mallard ducks, and 6 Cornish cross meat chickens. I think anyone could raise a few meat chickens even in town because you process them at 6 - 10 weeks. By the time the neighbors complain, they will be gone. :-) Here are my postings.

http://cornallergyaid.blogspot.com/2012/03/ducks-and-cornish-cross-chickens.html

http://cornallergyaid.blogspot.com/2012/03/duck-update.html

I have been teased about the ducks. I think they are really cute, but I keep reminding myself food is hard to come by when you’re allergic to corn. I don't want more pets. I don't want to take care of them over freezing winter. I want meat. So they fly, and I will have to clip their wings or they will fly into my neighbor’s yard. If you know me, you will know that I already have problems with my neighbor, so I am guessing that she will call on my ducks a couple of times over the summer. It might be an interesting summer. I don't think that I can get into trouble because I can't control my birds. The home owner would have to sue me and for what? I am a responsible owner. I will know if they go over the fence. Nevertheless, I have seen their exterminator sprinkling mouse poison around their inter-fence; therefore I will be sure if my ducks go over the fence I will get quick control over them. I have been working with them every day this week to get them to know me. I am sure I will have my food following me around my yard before times up. :-)

I posted this to delphi 3/29/2012: http://forums.delphiforums.com/avoidingcorn/messages?msg=11873.1

Duck Update

You will notice in the first picture of my ducks they were on shavings. WRONG! After a couple of days I finally decided to check online how to raise ducks.  It’s kind of the cart before the horse. I found out that you should use towels, blankets, or straw. They can eat the shavings, which can cause them to choke or become obstructed.  I chose towels, since I have a bunch of old beach towels.  I also thought it might be more earth friendly, and cheaper to repurpose than it was to buy straw.  I cut the towels in thirds, and surged the edges.  Each morning I remove the soiled towels, place them in a bucket, and hose them off in the yard.  I am hoping for greener grass.  I have enough towels for a couple days.  Every other day I wash the soiled towels with a bit of bleach.

During my reading, I also found out that the cage wire can be painful on their feet.  I remembered that I had an old shower curtain, and that the plastic would be heavy enough not to be a hazard to my ducks.  I cut 2 squares to fit into the cage bottom.   This gives me one replacement, which I change out when the first gets soiled enough that I can’t just wipe it down.  I cut a hole in the plastic under the waterer, so the excess water drains into a bucket below.  They really like playing in the water. They also need it to help swallow their food.

Then after a week I purchased a feeder that hangs on the side of the cage. It holds more than the lids that I was using, and isn't as messy.

I also read that they like grass. After mowing the lawn I gave them some grass clippings. They really loved the grass clippings.  I also mashed up a hardboiled egg with the shell on as I also discovered in my reading.  They like them both.  The grass clipping see to be a bit of a problem.  I can’t seem to get them all out of the towels.  I am guessing I will have grass in my washer and dryer for a bit.  I am thinking perhaps if I wash jeans after the duck towels perhaps some of the grass with come out with the jeans.  I won't want grass in my shirts or underwear.  J 

Cornish Cross Chickens

Just wanted to add that they get food during the day and are taken off at night for 12 hours.  Otherwise they will eat too much and their bodies will grow faster than their bones.

Ducks and Cornish Cross Chickens

Today we bought 4 mallard ducks (I don't recommend mallards. Peking are meat ducks). We also got 6 Cornish cross meat chickens. The chickens are suppose to be ready in 6 weeks. Don't know about the ducks. I am excited that I'll have a meat choice.

I should comment that I have an 800 pound steer named T-Bone will go to slaughter in May. I also have a rooster named Crockpot. He'll get processed when dh feels he's ready. Yeah for some fresh cornfree meat!!