Alaskan's Journal

[Finnie]

Also... yep... still lots of rain.

Oh! On the livestock front....

The "infant" ducks are now.... packed like sardines in that white tractor.... something about them continuing to grow.....

Anyway... with the weather being nasty daily .... letting them out daily was no longer happening... and they were way too cramped.

So this afternoon I had the boys help me finish up enough of the chicken coop complex to put the ducklings in there, in the shed part.

The shed connects to the coop part, but the coop floor is too high for the muscovy to hop up into from the shed. I have a ramp to put there for the ducks, but the shed is 16x8 so big enough for now, and the infants do not yet know how to use a ramp.

Tonight ducklings are in the shed only area..... chickens are in the greenhouse area only.... they can see each other through a wire door. Ducklings now have lots of space, but zero outside time... chickens are WAY too packed in the greenhouse (they keep growing too... yeah...)

I am thinking.... keep ducklings only in shed until .... maybe Saturday I will open the pop door into the little and/or big run. We shall see how they do with the area.

On Tuesday.... I am thinking about putting old ducks in the shed as well, and all chickens, the young ones from the greenhouse and the 5 old girls that are now in the pond coop. Or... maybe that is too much chaos. Usually chaos means picking/bullying isn't too bad.

I have time on Tuesday to sit on a chair and watch them....

The thought is... youngest ducklings are the ones most likely to get picked on.... so I want them to get the lay of the land first....

Then on Tuesday when I put in older ducks AND 5 old hens from the pond coop, AND take down the wire door to the green house.... it will be enough confusion that there will be minimal fighting....


But.... I might just put the 5 old hens and older ducks in on Tuesday.... and keep pop doors closed..... for 1 or 2 more days...

Then open pop doors..... wait 2 more days... make sure everyone has figured out leaving and returning at night....


And then very last take down the wire door to the greenhouse, and let the hoard of young chickens in.


Hummmmm.


With the rain and temps in the 40s... if and poultry get confused and stay in the runs... I worry that they will get chilled.


Whatever.... too many thoughts... I will figure out out later...

Tuesday is the next day I have free to sit all day in the coop.

Also, it doesn't help that I decide this stuff, and then totally change my mind!

This is how all my poultry decisions go too.

My notebook with all my plans worked out in it has many pages with “this will not work, re do” written across the top.

 

[Alaskan]

This is how all my poultry decisions go too.

My notebook with all my plans worked out in it has many pages with “this will not work, re do” written across the top.

Yes!!

 

[Alaskan]

So.... I did NOT move old hens yesterday...

I was emotionally wiped yesterday... and lots of rain... so that day was skipped.

I was thinking I would try today.

Anyway... remember how I was thinking of setting up the coop complex with low area for ducks, high for chickens....

This morning I walked in.... and on the HIGHEST perch... 3 muscovy girls are sitting and looking at me.



Yes, I know they are flying and perching ducks... but i have never had them perch that high before.

Wondering how this will upset my plans....

 

[Alaskan]

Finished up coop....

Put the 5 old hens in with all the ducks.

I put the hens in the red coop part... where ducks haven't yet gone....

The hens have one full length poop shelf with tray filled with wood chips, and a full length perch... I put a bit of lumber in there with some crumbles sprinkled on top.

A few feet away from that poop shelf is a plywood shelf on which I put a feeder and a water pan.

Hopefully that will work.


Also... we finished up the big run, I put 2 small water pans and then also a large shallow water trough for the ducks to bathe, and to get the duck waterers out of the shed.

I have seen the ducks go in and out of the big run, haven't yet seen them on their pond.

The hens were looking through the window screen into the big run.....

If I took that screen out so that they could go into the run... I wonder if they would figure out how to come back in.