Winter with Birds

The winter with the birds seemed to fly by.  The daily was going through some major changes and plans to sell the birds had already been put into place.  Regardless of this, I loved these birds throughout the winter.  There were no major issues throughout the cold months.  It was a mild winter for my area but we still had a few cold spells and some major dumps as far as snow fall goes.  The main issue in the cold months was of course water.  I managed to bring the large waterer with warm water every morning and afternoon and the birds would empty it before it froze each time… thanks to the ducks.  When building the coop we were sure to not have any low drafts and made the roosts flat so the birds would could keep their entire feet under their bodies rather than having to wrap their feet around a circular type roost.

If you have ever seen ducks or chickens in the cold you have seen how they will keep one foot tucked under their body for warmth while perched on one leg and then they switch.  During sleep it is difficult for the birds to do this so it is important to have a flat surface for them to roost.  

As for laying, the birds didn't slow down too much over the winter months.  They had been well into their fertile months and only slowed down moderately.  I usually got just under a dozen a day.  We also had a bird who laid double yolks on a regular basis.  The eggs were far larger than the rest, more like a duck egg, and the yolks were usually a fair size… poor girl.  

It was late in february that the birds were sold.  The chickens went to a local farmer who wanted to add to his flock and saw our for sale sign.  He stopped in one day and offered to take (for a price) the birds if we needed to rehome them.  The ducks also went to a different local farmer who added to their existing flock.  If only I were able to have some birds in the city… I would most certainly have 4-6 birds in my side yard… on day I'll be back on a property where I can have a flock, but until then its back to the Coop Co-Op.  

 

Foamy Pekin Duck Eye

One of my Pekin ducks got an infection in his eye.  This is a very common ailment with ducks in colder months because of the lack of water to bathe properly.  Typically, it is easy to manage with some TLC.  We purchased some saline solution and I would go outside 3x a day and squirt it in his eyes.  I would never rub them or touch them, you wouldn't want to irritate it further.  Foamy eyes can often be signs of a upper respiratory infection if accompanied by any combination of sneezing, wheezing, runny nose, diarrhea or lethargy.  If any of these symptoms are present further treatment and a vet visit may be necessary.  This guy didn't have any other symptoms aside from the foamy eye and it was within a day or two that I could see significant improvement in his eye after the saline treatment.

Once this infection occurred I would often (once a week or so) bring out warm buckets of water for the ducks to simply dunk their heads in and give themselves a quick rinse.   

Here are 2 links with some of the common duck ailments/issues:

http://www.callducks.net/ducksail.htm

http://www.duckhealth.com/duckhlth.html

Eggs, Eggs, Eggs!

A few of our first chicken eggs!

Our birds started laying between 18-20 weeks old.  It started with a few eggs a day and quickly escalated to around a dozen a day at least.  As usual, the first few eggs were smaller and often misshapen.  Duck eggs didn't appear until 25 weeks or so.  The duck eggs were beautiful!!  About the size of 1.5 regular size chicken eggs and speckled.

Here is a duck egg between 2 chicken eggs.

To compare duck eggs to chicken eggs in flavour, for me duck yolks were far superior in flavour.  Duck yolks seemed to have a much richer flavour.   Duck eggs are also higher in Omega-3's and last longer.  But… when it comes to the whites, I actually prefer chicken egg whites.  The duck whites have a different texture which was a bit tougher than chicken whites and they just seemed to have less flavour to me.  In a nutshell, if I want dippy eggs for bacon I'll go with duck eggs.  If I'm wanting scrambled eggs or omelette I'll have chicken eggs.

Here is the nutritional breakdown of Duck eggs vs. Chicken eggs (Source):

Chicken Egg, Large, Raw

Chicken Egg Caloric Ration

Chicken eggs (large egg, 50g):

• Calories: 71
• Total Fat: 5g
• Cholesterol: 211mg
• Sodium: 70mg
• Total Carbohydratge: 0g
• Protein: 6g

Duck Egg, Raw

Duck Egg Caloric Ratio

Duck eggs (70g):

• Calories: 130
• Total Fat: 10g
• Cholesterol: 619mg
• Sodium: 102mg
•  Total Carbohydrate: 1g
• Protein: 9g

Now, here are some photos of the flock once they were all laying:

One of our Columbian Rocks… tied with Barred Rocks as my favourite!  The were so sweet and every time I would bend over in the run they would take the opportunity to roost on my back!

A Poisonous mushroom was growing rampant in the yard.
I made sure to remove any that were growing in the birds run, although through instinct, they knew not to eat them.
I believe it to be a:  Fly Agaric, Amanita muscaria

The Fly Agaric is a common white mushroom with an orangish to red cap. This is the species illustrated in many fairy tales (it occurs both in North America and Europe). Many mushrooms in this genus are extremely poisonous.

Some yummy snacks from the kitchen.  Chickens really do make the best garbage disposals.

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Bird of Prey

We had an issue with a bird of prey in the summer of 2012.  We are not sure what kind of bird but we believe it was a hawk.  One day on my way home from getting our son from school I noticed all the birds were inside the coop.  Upon further investigation I then noticed one of our female rouen ducks on the ground and had been killed by something.  I quickly looked around and saw a very large bird high up in a tree near the creek.  I assume this was the culprit.  I sent the kids inside and I disposed of the duck.  The rouen ducks were my absolute favourite and I was so sad to see one go this way.  I began to make more frequent appearances outside and also got a fake Owl to set in a tree in the yard and I moved it around regularly.  I saw the bird in the same tree a few times but it never took another bird, thankfully.

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Chickens and Ducks - early stages outdoors.

After a few days outdoors we brought our 4 older birds coop and run and placed it beside the younger birds to get the acquainted.  They were about a month apart in age if my memory serves me correctly.  After a week or 2 we then moved them all into the large area of the coop and into the main run area together.  There were no issues between any of the birds.  The rooster asserted his dominance with the hens but otherwise things ran smoothly.  

Early days before installing the large run.

Large Run installed with electric fence.

Helping Dad make the ladder.

The ducks, for the most part hung out together but there were always a few hens that would tag along.  The ducks often protected the hens from the rooster.  The ducks were far larger than the rooster so he was intimidated by them.

birds of a feather flock together.

Chasing the Birds!!

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Moving Outdoors.

Our little chicks and our not so little ducklings were getting a bit cramped in the garage brooder.  The ducklings are oh so very messy with the water and needed more space.  We had a few different ideas as to how to resolve our problem.  Our first thought was to bring the ducklings outside into the small coop with the other 4 chickens.  I loaded the chicks into the crate while keeping the ducklings in the brooder pool.  The 2 minutes that the birds were separated were the loudest moments in chick-duckling history!!!  The birds were so distressed while separated.  I knew they got along but little did I know that they were BFF's!  Once hearing the birds while separated I quickly reunited them and got to thinking of a new plan. I decided that they would be best to all move into the large coop.  Of course they do not need the run of the entire coop and we have yet to order (hopefully tonight) our electric fencing for our run.  Regardless, I did with what we had and made one small purchase.  I got some chicken wire fencing and we used that to create a run and I used some old cardboard boxes to section off a portion of the coop.

Temporary cardboard walls.

          Little Duckling enjoying a cool place.    

Duck, Duck... chicken??

We have already altered the setup to maximize the shade throughout the day.  We also removed the dog crate and put in the pool with water for the ducklings-which they LOVE!!!  I then threw some bird netting over the run simply because the birds are so young and the chicks would be an easy meal for any bird of prey.  So far so good in their new home.  The grass is pretty covered with poop but that was to be expected.  We ordered our electric fencing, 150ft, and it should arrive later this month for us to install.  The older birds will then be introduced to the rest of the flock and they will all have full run of the place.  

Speaking of our older birds, they are doing well.  They are still in our old coop in the back yard and getting bigger by the day.  I bring out snacks regularly for them (apple cores, left over bread, greens, cheese, etc) and they all let me give them some belly scratches... even Mr. Roo Man!

Our pair of Barred Rocks.

The 2 month old flock.... and Winston (our dog) who wants them so badly!

Mr. Roo Man!

The Lock Flock Coop

The coop is officially on its way.  Aaron started the construction last week and has come a long way.  The first day he got the floor complete and then his brother came over the following day and they really made a dent in the construction (Thanks Gav!).  It has been a hot and busy few weeks here at the lock household but we are managing to get things done; slow but sure.  Today Aaron is putting on the hardware cloth around the roof venting as well as shingling the roof - a job he hates.  Aaron will be making up a page which I will later provide the link to which will give the details, specs and such for the coop.  For now I will simply post some photos.       

As for the ducklings and chicks, they are growing and doing very well.  The ducklings seem to be growing very fast but not getting much as far as feathers, only a few straggly ones on their tales which aren't true feathers.  The chicks are fully feathered on their wings and getting some back feathers as well.  The ducks are just now starting to make some small "quack" noises.  They aren't very loud yet but in a week or so I am guessing they will all be quacking away.  We have been having some issues with the waterer.  The ducks sure do make a big mess with the water.  We opened up their area to include the dog crate and an area between the pool and crate for the waterer and put cardboard on the floor with some sprinkled chips.  So far this has helped and we no longer have a small pool full of soaked wood chips and chick/duckling poop... it smelled to say the least.  Now I simply remove some cardboard boxes covered in the wet wood chips and replace with clean fresh boxes.     

They have decided that they prefer the crate, although they do venture back into the pool often.  

Our older 4 chicks are outside in our old small coop and doing well.  They have a small run which is enough for them for the time being.  They get to roost in the coop, scratch and peck around in the grass and dust bath in the chip dust so their lives are fulfilled for the time being.  In a few weeks they will need more space to spread their wings but hopefully when that time comes we will have the big coop finished.  Then the younger flock will head outside into the small coop until big enough to be with the older birds.  Once in the small coop I can put out a nice pool for the ducks to really go for a swim!

Mr. Roo Man!

Here is a Barred Plymouth Rock Pullet and Cockerel.  Note the differences: feathering colour, comb and waddle length as well as  colour and the wash on the feet (cockerel feet in photo above) and beak.  The pullets typically have darker feathering, foot and beak colouring, slower growth and lighter colour in the comb and waddles. 

They're Here!

Our chicks and Ducklings arrived yesterday!  In preparation for their arrival we purchased a round kiddie pool and filled it with wood chips.  We also purchased a new trough style feeder similar to this one.  We purchased a large waterer for the month old chicks and gave the small waterer to the day olds.  I do believe the ducklings are a few days old since they are far to large to be day olds.  Also some of the chicks are already getting wing feathers so they are likely a few days old already.  I assumed they would all be within a few days old but they can't possibly guarantee all day olds.  For me if they are a few days old that is great, they are far less fragile after a few days.  We have hung the heat lamp over the pool and put a thermometer inside to monitor the temp.

Also, we received 13 chicks as opposed to 12 which is how many we ordered.  I think they gave us only 1 New Hampshire X and then 3 Barred Rocks and 3 Black Sex Link to make up for it giving us 13 in total. Although once they get more feathered out it will be far easier to tell... for now the best we can do is guess.  So far, the kids have been loving the new arrivals.  I simply cannot believe how adorable the ducklings are!  

Our 4 Pekins!

Rouen.  Similar to the Mallard only heavier and domesticated.

Duck Feet!  Rouen on the left and Pekin on the right (as well as a chick foot squeezed in).

Fuzzy Bums!  Bums starting from the left: Pekin, Barred Rock and RIR.

Sleeping Chickies!  Left is a Columbian Rock Cross and right is a RIR (I think) who is even rooting!