Recent content by goats-n-oats

Hi BYC, poultry person here, so far chickens ducks and quail. Am experimenting with the meat market. Was impressed at how fast the Pekin ducks grew; less impressed with the food-profit ratio of Cornish crosses. Am thinking of geese as predator deterrents for the ducks on my 1/3 acre pond. Now...

@McChooky would it be effective to drop rat poison pellets (bronethelaine) in their burrows? I know about where they are and one of my dogs is good at finding them. The dogs would stay leashed for the next few months. This would be easier for me than traps

Can you pls share some photos of what the skirt should look like once assembled?

Good to know. I wasn't aware of this product.

Have you checked him for injuries? You could start with probiotics, egg yolk, and electrolytes. Separate him from the rest of the birds (physically not visually, like a wire screen between them) so the others don't step on him.

Thanks you got me thinking. Bresse chx might provide some competitive advantage.

Hi BYC, this duckling is believed to be a Golden 300 from the assorted bin at Family Farm and Home. However she is about 3 weeks old now and is just as small as when I bought her. Her peers are 1-2 lbs and about 4x her size. Can anything be done to help her?

Only if she is struggling to eat and drink.

Looks like she has coccidia and dehydration. Corid (amprolium) and electrolytes. There's a risk of tearing the cloaca when removing dried poop, wait and see if it falls off on its own.

I tried organic brewers yeast with one cohort of 12 ducklings and they all still got rickets. The Nutricost brand of niacin supplement for humans seems to work best. I added 1-2 capsules of 500 grams to their water daily. Edit: I tried three niacin supplements with three cohorts of ducklings...

Metzer says ducklings need 22% crumble for the first 2 Weeks then switch to 18%. https://www.metzerfarms.com/nutritional-requirements.html Personally I recommend supplementing human grade niacin 500mg, irregardless of the feed type, per day as well to prevent rickets.

I checked with a state inspector. There are some rules to follow but overall exempt under 1000 birds annually.

Shoukd I try to herd them a few at a time into the dog crate then carry the dog crate to the barn? Or walk them back to the barn? They like to disperse and make it hard for me to herd them as one flock.

@FunClucks have you looked into worm farming? I'm new to it but read that up to 10% of their diet can be worms, and worms are basically free to grow.

And one additional thought... Lowering expenses is good; increasing revenue is better. Is there an upscale grocer within a reasonable distance who would be willing to pay $1/lb more than your current customers?