The Quack Shack

[Canadian Wind]

3 from today I thought they said you could not have any ? lol

YUP! Well, the Call is an early birthday present for my youngest DD. And the Aylesbury were FREEEEEEEEEEE, since my grandson won them!

But now that my girls saw how much they could get for Calls, they're all for it!

 

[Luv Ducks]

That

Look what my grandson won at the poultry auction!!!

View attachment 3773736

Pair of 1 year old show quality Aylesbury!!!

That is sooooo Cool!!!!! I am so happy for him and I hope that he has good place to keep them. They are sooooooo pretty!!!! How did he manage to win them, a drawing or something?

 

[Pyxis]

Hello all!

Today was busy. I went and picked up a Pilgrim gander to go with that rescue goose I took in. However, now looking at his size compared to her, I'm worried she's maybe not a Pilgrim. Anyone in here keep them and can weigh in? Please excuse the mud, we are in mud season full swing here. The geese sure aren't minding the mud puddles though!

And, the ravens are stealing all my eggs I caught a cool video of the rooster trying to chase one out of the emu barn and then having to get emu backup, but I'm embarrassed to post it because of all the mud, LOL. Of course it also happened during the hour I had just taken all the winter bedding out and was doing the other coops and hadn't put fresh hay down, so it's literally just a mud floor in the video, bleh.

BUT anyway, I decided to try a roll away nest box to see if that keeps my eggs safe. I looked into pricing and they are like $110 to buy! So I built one.

Since the birds keeping trying to lay all their eggs in the emu feed buckets, I figured I'd mount it in the emu barn.

We'll see if they take to it and if it keeps the ravens from getting my eggs - hopefully being located in the emu barn they won't want to mess with it much.

 

[Canadian Wind]

That

That is sooooo Cool!!!!! I am so happy for him and I hope that he has good place to keep them. They are sooooooo pretty!!!! How did he manage to win them, a drawing or something?

Yes, it was a draw for kids only. He was so shocked when they called out his name, then thrilled!

Although I think he still prefers the little hen his other got, lol

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

HA! I was looking at the 'scovies at the auction, but they went for more than I had left on me (plus, they all included drakes, of which I have too many). Actually not that many ducks there apart from the Calls, and those they did have I wasn't interested in.

I need to start tomatoes...

As for mealworms, I have what's needed to start a colony, except the worms themselves. Need to get that done too.

I am planning to start a meal-worm farm too this year. - As i did for the last four years…

 

[Pyxis]

I had quite the day.

Last night before I went to sleep at midnight I checked my cameras for the emu pasture - I do it every night to make sure all is well.

All was not well. I saw a dog repeatedly going into and out of the emu barn, meaning it had gotten into the emu pasture somehow. I jumped up and sped out to see what was going on.

The dog was gone...but the damage was done. It killed everything it could get ahold of, so all my ground roosting birds that live with the emus. My ducks, my geese, it managed to get a few chickens, it got both my roosters. It got my royal palm tom and one hen. The rest were roosting six feet up so they were spared.

And the worst part - it scared Ciara the emu so much she actually went over the six foot tall fence. In the dark and scared, I hoped she didn't go far but knew that actually she probably took off running. Still, I scoured my property in the dark looking for her. No luck.

I got what sleep I could, about an hour, and got up at daylight. I was prepared to make posters and hand them out to all the neighbors if I had to. I called the police to report her missing in case they got any calls.

I did not find her on my property. We drove around for awhile looking in the woods on either side of the road with no luck. As I resigned myself to the fact that she might not turn up, or was possibly injured or maybe was hurt so badly she was dead in the woods somewhere, I started to head home.

Then my Dad, who had left after helping me look for awhile, came back and caught me as I was driving back to the house. He had put a post on Facebook, and someone had seen her, and through word of mouth their phone number made it to my father.

He called them and they said they had seen her a half hour ago. So we drove to where she was seen - which was two miles from home.

We began looking and after about a half hour, we found her! She was in the woods around their property. Some rope and some wrangling later, I had her caught and locked in a stall in their barn because, as luck would have it, their property used to be a horse stable.

So now she's there, and I'm waiting for my friend to get his trailer operational so I can haul her home. She has superficial wounds - a big scrape down her neck, and a scraped up wing, but other than that, I have not found any wounds.

And now I have to turn my attention to holding the owners of the dog responsible for this. And I will be. One way or another, they are paying for this, even if I have to drag them to court. I'm 95% sure I know who owns the dog and if it's not them, you best bet I'll be finding out who does own it.

In the daylight, I can see where it literally tore through the fencing to make a gap it could squeeze under. It then ripped open my new turkey breeding pen to get at the turkeys. No way it doesn't have injuries to its mouth. I've had dogs attack free ranging birds before, but this is a new level.

I also hope Ciara nailed it. Make it think twice about coming back.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I am so sorry @Pyxis. what a horrible thing to happen. I am so thankful you were able to find Clara and she isn't hurt too badly.
I sure hope you can find the dog's owners and they have to pay. Won't bring back your birds but they will be sure to either put this dog down or have it kept in a secure place where this will never happen again. .

 

[Canadian Wind]

I'm so sorry to hear this @Pyxis

BIG from me. I hope the owner of that dog pays for all the trauma it caused you too!

 

[Luv Ducks]

I had quite the day.

Last night before I went to sleep at midnight I checked my cameras for the emu pasture - I do it every night to make sure all is well.

All was not well. I saw a dog repeatedly going into and out of the emu barn, meaning it had gotten into the emu pasture somehow. I jumped up and sped out to see what was going on.

The dog was gone...but the damage was done. It killed everything it could get ahold of, so all my ground roosting birds that live with the emus. My ducks, my geese, it managed to get a few chickens, it got both my roosters. It got my royal palm tom and one hen. The rest were roosting six feet up so they were spared.

And the worst part - it scared Ciara the emu so much she actually went over the six foot tall fence. In the dark and scared, I hoped she didn't go far but knew that actually she probably took off running. Still, I scoured my property in the dark looking for her. No luck.

I got what sleep I could, about an hour, and got up at daylight. I was prepared to make posters and hand them out to all the neighbors if I had to. I called the police to report her missing in case they got any calls.

I did not find her on my property. We drove around for awhile looking in the woods on either side of the road with no luck. As I resigned myself to the fact that she might not turn up, or was possibly injured or maybe was hurt so badly she was dead in the woods somewhere, I started to head home.

Then my Dad, who had left after helping me look for awhile, came back and caught me as I was driving back to the house. He had put a post on Facebook, and someone had seen her, and through word of mouth their phone number made it to my father.

He called them and they said they had seen her a half hour ago. So we drove to where she was seen - which was two miles from home.

We began looking and after about a half hour, we found her! She was in the woods around their property. Some rope and some wrangling later, I had her caught and locked in a stall in their barn because, as luck would have it, their property used to be a horse stable.

So now she's there, and I'm waiting for my friend to get his trailer operational so I can haul her home. She has superficial wounds - a big scrape down her neck, and a scraped up wing, but other than that, I have not found any wounds.

And now I have to turn my attention to holding the owners of the dog responsible for this. And I will be. One way or another, they are paying for this, even if I have to drag them to court. I'm 95% sure I know who owns the dog and if it's not them, you best bet I'll be finding out who does own it.

In the daylight, I can see where it literally tore through the fencing to make a gap it could squeeze under. It then ripped open my new turkey breeding pen to get at the turkeys. No way it doesn't have injuries to its mouth. I've had dogs attack free ranging birds before, but this is a new level.

I also hope Ciara nailed it. Make it think twice about coming back.

Pyxis I am so sorry that this has happened to your flock. I am so glad that you have cameras so that you will have proof as to what the dog looked like. That sounded more like a coyote than a dog to do that much damage but you have it on film so that is a good thing. I am so thankful that you found your Emu. That was terrible what it had to witness had go though and it was for you also. I pray that you find the dog's owner so that you can get restitution for your loss. I had to do that to my neighbor whose dog killed my bunny years ago. I pray that your Emu gets better soon. I am so sorry for all of your losses.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Pyxis I am so sorry that this has happened to your flock. I am so glad that you have cameras so that you will have proof as to what the dog looked like. That sounded more like a coyote than a dog to do that much damage but you have it on film so that is a good thing. I am so thankful that you found your Emu. That was terrible what it had to witness had go though and it was for you also. I pray that you find the dog's owner so that you can get restitution for your loss. I had to do that to my neighbor whose dog killed my bunny years ago. I pray that your Emu gets better soon. I am so sorry for all of your losses.

I'm sorry and I feel your pain. I lost half my flocks to dogs too last month. Luv ducks, clothes don't open ate this way. They grab and go so the bird just dissappears. Usually just one at the time. Dogs kill for fun.