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Hi Chicken thread. We bought a house out of town and we're thinking of getting ducks or chickens. A few questions. 1. How well do they stay in the actual yard? We've got a bit of property but I don't want them waddling over to the neighbors. 2. Beyond food and a place to chill, what more do they need? 3. Is there a minimum amount we need? 4. Is there a recommended place to buy them other than Tractor Supply?
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Jan 12, 2021 14:50
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 08:40 |
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Errant Gin Monks posted:They don’t, you need a fence or they will wander off. Got it, cool. We plan on adding some fencing to the yard come spring.
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Jan 12, 2021 16:57
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Halloween Jack posted:Anyway, I'm definitely going to buy a raccoon trap. I'm not sure about what kind. Any of y'all use these? Bummer about Mars dude. I've been lurking here and been really surprised at how attached people get to their birds. Makes me even more excited to get some come summer. Dog proof traps are pretty solid to use, I'd get a few. The cage traps can work for one or two racoons but after you've trapped a few you might have to boil it, otherwise the scaredy racoon smell can keep more from coming in. On the plus side anything that goes in can be released. If you boil it toss in some oak branches or barring that a bunch of leaf matter, anything with some tannins. Body grip, aka conibears, are deathmachines. Anything that puts its head inside is going to die. Cat, small dog, racoon, possum, etc. If you want to use one look up bucket sets with a #220 trap.
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Feb 10, 2021 23:22
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We've got our first poultry ordered. Got 10 Silver Appleyards coming on June 7th. We cleaned out the coop yesterday and will be building a duck tractor as well. The coop has a 10' X 10' chain link fence, 6' tall. It's buried ~6" into the ground. I'll also be adding wiring on the top to protect from raptors. Not sure we're comfortable letting them roam, I know we have owls, fox, coyotes, and wolves. Any starting tips, advice, or ideas?
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May 11, 2021 14:12
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 Finished the coop. Need to complete the interior and add a door. Need to also enclose the top. The outside area is about 100 sq.ft, still need to get the hardware cloth on that. How high up should I go?
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May 17, 2021 16:08
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 Our ducklings arrived! We had a single duckling pass about an hour after arrival. It just cheep'd and rolled over. My wife is fairly well distraught over it.  We introduced our Lab after a few hours and he was terrified of the ducklings.
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Jun 9, 2021 21:28
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Ducklings! They are happy outside and race about chasing after blades of grass. We're doing short stints outside then back in under the brooder. They are slowly getting less fearful but are still pretty skittish. The amount of runny poop is staggering.
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Jun 11, 2021 20:41
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That has to be the hugest chicken I've ever seen. Duckling update!   They have outgrown the pool and are now in the duck house proper, with some dividers added. We installed a plastic tub lid with non-slip surface to attempt to contain the watery mess. They love smashing face into water and shaking it everywhere. They also now realize we brings food, water and treats. Our labrador went from thinking they were tennis balls, to nose-bill touch while he wagged.
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Jun 14, 2021 01:37
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Ducklings are getting big fast.  They now recognize us and get the zoomies while peeping madly. It's cool.
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Jun 18, 2021 02:25
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perepelki posted:i am totally in love with your ducklings They have a ton of character, way more than we expected. It's our first poultry so it's all quite new. No pond yet, they have an extreme love of water though. Even when we fill the water dish they go bonkers and try to get into the pour. We need to wait until they get actual feathers (or dry them off afterwards) to let them go for a swim, they lack the waterproof oils from the mother so they could get chilled. They'll get a kiddie pool in the future though, we just need to figure a way to keep it from turning into a duck poo poo pool. We've got a lot of raptors flying about, coyotes, and wolves so we can't let them wander (unattended) to the little creek or neighbors pond.
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Jun 18, 2021 13:38
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look at them!
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Enfys posted:lol good luck Yes, we are realizing that ducks are on a whole different level. It sounds like someone is stepping on ketchup packets all the time as they squirt poo poo.
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Jun 18, 2021 15:09
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https://i.imgur.com/uGvoILM.mp4 First time in the water!
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Jun 18, 2021 16:31
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Duck update. They are decidedly medium, no tiny power or largeness here.  We poured out a container of watermelon and strawberries and holy poo poo. They devoured it. 100% total destruction. One of the ducks is blind and she power stomps everywhere and on everyone. It's fairly hilarious.
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Jun 26, 2021 20:58
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We lost a duck today to some illness. She seemed lethargic yesterday and then just died today. No real symptoms or anything. My wife did a deep clean, disinfected everything, and we're adding some electrolytes to their water. Definitely bummed about the whole thing. We also discovered they love both whistling and when the kiddo plays the recorder.
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Jul 13, 2021 22:10
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City of Glompton posted:oh no! i'm sorry yooper Thanks, we lost another one this morning. Talked to the vet office and they think either salmonella or hepatitis. We're keeping up on the cleaning and such, but it doesn't sound like there's much we can do about the hepatitis if that's what it is.
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Jul 14, 2021 14:32
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Down to 5 ducks, but they all seem healthy. https://i.imgur.com/0OB1io5.mp4
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Jul 15, 2021 23:35
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perepelki posted:lol i was just admiring the preening ducks again and noticed the twin pools of opaque poop water in the background They enjoy making GBS threads in the water as much as they enjoy drinking it or swimming in it. We now have a large tote with holes cut at duck head level that has a lid so they can get water and not climb inside to poo poo in it. They poo poo on each other regularly as the only thing they love more than making GBS threads is cuddling in a big duck poo poo pile. This causes my wife to constantly clean everything, but I just think the ducks like it like that. They have a ton of space everywhere, they just seem to like poop.
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Jul 20, 2021 16:58
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   It was about 70f for a high today and the ducks were much happier. They still did a lot of swimming. (And making GBS threads)
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Jul 21, 2021 00:28
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Duck update!  They have discovered watermelon and cantaloupe. They do an amazing job cleaning them right now to the rind. Beyond that they are ducky.
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Sep 13, 2021 01:20
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 I know ducks love water, but they absolutely adore playing in the rain. They become much more adventuresome, maybe because raptors aren't out?
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Oct 11, 2021 14:43
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Thanks! They're a big part of the family now. We're stocking up for snow. Our big concern is having enough water, they drink a ridiculous amount during the day.
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Oct 11, 2021 23:22
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I installed a non-lovely webcam in our DuckHouse. We're also adding some dividers that the ducks seem to like. The brooder can also be a heater, but I'd rather not run it unless it gets ridiculous cold.
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Nov 5, 2021 12:22
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 Ducks in the snow! They seemed confused when they grew snowbanks on beaks. On the downside I walked out to find a coyote stalking them. We enlarged the run and will only let them free range if escorted.
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Nov 15, 2021 13:19
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stealie72 posted:Do any of you use webcams in your coops/runs? We do. I had a generic AliExpress cam and poo poo canned for a Wyze cam. Super easy setup, great quality, and would get again. I think they make a battery only version too.
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Nov 19, 2021 02:11
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Cythereal posted:My best guess is that it's one of these. The guide notes that they're well known for being suicidally tame and docile around humans. I think it's a Ruffed Grouse, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruffed_Grouse/id. They like to hang out on my driveway in the morning and eat gravel. They have zero fear of vehicles but flush pretty easily if you're on foot.
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Nov 19, 2021 17:54
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stealie72 posted:Sometimes the girls get oatmeal on cold mornings. It was -2 F the other morning and we made oatmeal for the ducks. They looked at us like we were idiots. It then froze solid and they tried to eat it. We'll try again, it took them awhile to get into cracked corn so who knows?
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Dec 9, 2021 17:26
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It snowed. Again. The ducks don't seem to mind though it's deep enough that they can't adventure anymore.
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Dec 11, 2021 15:17
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Joburg posted:I’d be interested to know what you all think about that question. If you had the space and opportunity to free range, with some danger of predators and disease, would you keep your chickens confined or free range them? We did let our ducks free range until the fall, when I walked out to find a coyote stalking them. We were all at home, just not in the yard. Since then they have a run they remain in and only go outside if we are out there with them. This hasn't been an issue as the snow is mostly too deep for them to waddle about. Come spring we'll definitely get them outside, just not unattended. I border a rather large national forest so I've got everything from grey wolves to fox to coyote to raptors.
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Feb 21, 2022 14:24
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https://i.imgur.com/bOC8UgK.mp4 Our ducks are crazy. We moved the heated water bowl and they immediately made a mud puddle and are swimming in it.
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Feb 25, 2022 18:50
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 First duck egg! 
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Mar 4, 2022 20:11
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My ducks never shut the gently caress up. Luckily my neighbors are cool. One even blares 70's rodeo audio over the loudspeakers in her garage.
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Sep 30, 2022 15:23
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Imagined posted:I have to know what this even involves So it sounds like two Country-Western singers having a conversation, not like 90's Country, but like someone who was born in Abilene in 1937. They discuss the merits of hand hold, twang about snuff, mention the sponsor Marlboro or Pall Mall, then go loving wild with the crowd as Hoss Sam Jenkins from Lubbock launches from the gate on a mean ole cuss named Whacky Sam. Then the quality drops and it sounds like a woman advertising a local dairy from the 70's or some poo poo. They are super into horse shows and such, so it must be something in that vein. It makes me feel better about being into internet planes and such so I don't ask.
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Sep 30, 2022 20:47
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 08:40 |
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stealie72 posted:Anyone have a better solution? I don't want to bring water into the coop because that seems to be an invitation for wet/frozen/dead chickens. I'd also like to keep using the 5 gallon bucket if possible just to lessen the amount of water I've got to deal with in the winter. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002QXN1EQ I use that one, it keeps ~6-8 gallons of water in a big Tupperware tote ice free. We keep it outside of the duck house. It easily handled temps down to -20 F without an issue.
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Nov 7, 2022 17:18
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