Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "3 2 1 puppy":
This is way off topic, but I wanted to share my own little suburban homestead story this morning. I have a Black Australorp hen that went broody on a bunch of duck eggs about a month ago. I decided to let her set them, but it had been so long I was afraid the eggs were duds.
This morning I went out to do coop chores (I have 10 hens and 7 ducks) and lo and behold, there were three little black puffballs under that hen! They are either purebred Khaki or Khaki/Cayuga crosses. I'm thinking a cross because they are really dark. I don't think my Khakis were that dark when they were ducklings.
I set up a chick waterer and nonmedicated feed for them, and showed them how to drink and eat. Mama was calm and clucking quietly while I was handling them, but very attentive to them so I think instead of pulling them out and into a brooder I'll let her raise them.
Today I'll be busy setting up a separation panel in the coop so they'll have a separate space from all the other adults. I bet mama will freak out the first time her "chicks" go swimming! LOL Thanks for reading, and thanks for hosting this blog Meredith.
Anon, thank you for sharing! what a sweet surprise.
my email is meredithamonson@gmail.com
feel free to send a picture for me to post on the blog..hint hint.
Great news! I've heard about other people taking orphan duck or goose eggs and letting hens hatch them. Glad it's working out! I don't know how much duck raising experience you have, so I will offer some advice, although if you know it already please don't be offended by my offering it: Ducks receive an oily coating on their feathers from their moms, and can go into water immediately because of it. With no mama duck, they have no coating, so you will need to wait two or three weeks before letting them go into any water, or they will become chilled. We raised a couple of ducks hatched from an incubator and had to deal with this. But they are so cute and you will have great fun with them!
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting HotFlash. A friend was just telling me of this yesterday. Not sure if I forgot or never knew but this is so important to remember. He learned through an unfortunate event where he lost several ducklings after a quick storm.
DeleteA good reminder for sure.
Advice should never been offending...especially on a blog where one can simply scroll down or X out if they are already aware. valuable information for others. it's how we learn!
How exciting for you. All of these things are little miracles, aren't they?
ReplyDeleteDev
Boy do I wish someone around here would decide to brood something. *rolls eyes* I've spent the last couple of months periodically letting chicken and runner duck eggs sit in sad litle piles hoping that someone, anyone, would decide to sit on something. Nada. You've got a keeper in your mama hen there!
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone! And yes, I did know that about the oil coating. (I'm a fanatic researcher.) They will not be doing any swimming any time soon! It's great to post information like that. You never know what others may or may not know about. Thanks for that.
ReplyDeleteI got my separation panel set up. It's just green plastic garden fencing, but it's working like a charm. So they have their own "run" inside the coop (my coop is large, about 12x16). As a bonus, it worked out that the chicken door is in that part of the coop, too. It even has an attached fenced little spot for the youngin's. I will not open that door until they're a bit older, though. They have plenty of space right now.
Again, thanks for all the comments! I love the blog, Meredith, and love the fact I can share my little success story here, too.
I applaud you for doing your research first.
DeleteFor clarification, there's two doors in the coop! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteNOW THIS STORY IS WHAT HOMESTEAD BLOGS SHOULD BE ABOUT.!!! Neat stories about the farm happenings and comments from people contributing to the story through their own experiences. Thank you for this awesome story. I am about to get my first chickens ever! I only want a few to start - maybe 3?? My county makes you get a permit and the coop inspected so I am working on the coop, space issues and fencing (researching my butt off b/c I am so scared I won't do right by them and I fall in love with animals so easily!), but I am so excited. Any advice for me in terms of what you wished you knew BEFORE you got chickens?
ReplyDeleteI wish I'd know how hard it was to add young new hens to the flock once it was established for a year or two. It's been hard to watch the bullying that goes on when you bring in a couple of new girls, even if they are of an age where they are roughly the same size. So much drama! I might have started with a larger number so that even once egg production declined I could still get enough eggs without having to add any new hens for awhile.I love new chicks, but now am dreading Integration Day, when the oldies will pick on the new ones. It just outrages my sense of fairness and justice lol.
DeleteWhat a cute story! Thank you for sharing it.
ReplyDelete-CdP
Thanks! I do love my birds. :-) (chicken/duck mama here) Hmm... before I got chickens. Maybe how well they could fly when they are adolescents? One day I found a 5-month-old Australorp on my garage roof! Granted, she probably flew up the trees branches that were next to the garage, but sheesh. She looked like a weather vane up there on the roof! So, escaping into neighbors yards was a problem for a while, until they got heavy enough to not fly so much. I let my birds free range on my acre, though, so if you have a proper chicken pen that might not be so much of a problem. I do have five foot fencing all the way around my property, and they STILL flew over.
ReplyDeleteGood luck! My general advice is, research, research, research. One good site to share and ask questions on is "Backyard Chickens" the forums. Great site. A good book to have on the shelf is "Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens." But frankly, most of my info came off of the Internet. (A tip. A lot of chicken keepers are using sand for their runs/coops. I highly recommend AGAINST this idea.)
Again, good luck! Happy chicken-keeping!
Oh, I forgot to mention, the "Chicken Health Handbook" (Damerow) is great for those, "there's X wrong with my chicken" moments.
ReplyDeleteIs clipping one wing mean for chickens in a suburban backyard in a large enclosure?
ReplyDeleteI don't think so. In my opinion, it's not much different than getting a haircut or clipping your nails. The feathers grow back; the chickens don't completely forget how to fly. I find that clipping one wing once they are fully feathered helps train them to their fence. They learn the boundaries of their area, then that's it. Even after the feathers grow back, the hens don't fly over the fence unless startled badly.
DeleteThere's a lot of good videos/YouTube if you Google it. One important thing is to not clip a feather that has blood in it. The chicken could potentially bleed to death. Keep cornstarch handy. You can actually see the "blood feathers" if you look at the feather shaft from underneath. There's blood flow when the feathers are still growing, as when they are young or after a molt. It will be dark, and the others hollow/clear.
DeleteI am frustrated by the apparent lack of brooding in any ducks or chickens I've owned. Even the heritage breeds don't seem to want to take care of their eggs. Is anyone breeding for poultry that does not need intensive human intervention?
ReplyDeleteFor years I had the opposite problem: Two Buff Orpingtons who went broody twice and year and no fertile eggs for them to sit on. I really needed their eggs for food, and so when they went broody they would not lay at all for a month or so. Drove me nuts! So it seems like we all wish we had what someone else has lol! Look up "how to stop a hen from brooding" on the internet to see just how common a problem this is. But with me, it's always been the Buff Orpingtons that were the most broody, so if you don't have some, maybe add a couple to your flock!
DeleteDid they all tend to get broody at the same time? It would ok if it was one at a time.
DeleteI have tried a few types of ducks and chickens. The Swedish flower hens were my favorite.
What a wonderful story to start my day. Now back to my annual war on weeds.
ReplyDeleteBefore I got chickens I wish I knew that 1) they are addicting: you'll want many many more 2) they really are a gateway drug to other poultry 3) clipping a wing will not stop a determined hennie from launching herself over a fence to go explore. Not at all.
ReplyDeleteAnd then............. there were four. Yesterday three ducklings, this morning four. What else is under that hen?????
ReplyDeleteIt's like Christmas morning every day during hatching season��������
DeleteJenn
Just curious, what is your favorite breed of chicken? I love Buckeyes, but don't have any right now. They are a bit hard to find, although I did happen on someone who keeps them in my area. They are calm, friendly, good layers, good foragers, but low on the pecking order. Wyandottes would have to be a close second for the same reasons.
ReplyDeleteI like breeds that lay colorful eggs.
DeleteSussex for chocolate brown
Aracauna for blue/green eggs
New Hampshire for light brown eggs.
My favorite breed is Dirking, I love their coloring.
No breeds that lay white eggs. Don't know why but white chickens bug me.
Jenn