Mystang's Homesteading Circus

[Ridgetop]

I like ducks. They are very cute and friendly, especially when you have your kids go out after dark with flashlights and hunt snails in the garden. Pop them into a coffee can and feed them to the ducks. They love you when you hand feed them with treats like that. Custard made with goat milk and duck eggs is super rich and so goooood! Duck meat is also tasty, all dark meat. Not much breast meat though. Roast ducks or geese in a brown paper bag to control grease spatter. Muscovy are best eating ducks around! I used to skin them instead of plucking, then roast under cover. German fruit stuffing is good for waterfowl - cuts the greasy taste. Yum Yum now I'm hungry!

 

[Ridgetop]

I like your super cute duck house. Repurposing things is always good. My DIL in Nipomo turned their old Rubbermaid type storage shed into a chicken coop similar to yours. It has held up for several years now.

 

[mystang89]

Thanks for the replies and tips everyone. Much appreciated!

Can you hook the drain line up so it eventually flows into their pond?

I wouldn't be able to drain it into their pond as the pond is a stream that goes through my property. I have one in both the front pasture and back pasture thankfully so they have access to water wherever they go.

especially when you have your kids go out after dark with flashlights and hunt snails in the garden. Pop them into a coffee can and feed them to the ducks

That is a GREAT idea! I love it. That'll probably be something I do in the next few days. Fun!

Muscovy are best eating ducks around! I used to skin them instead of plucking, then roast under cover. German fruit stuffing is good for waterfowl - cuts the greasy taste. Yum Yum now I'm hungry!

Mmmmm that sounds delicious. I don't know how to sex these birds and I've never been successful at sexing chickens but I really do hope that one of them is a male so I can have more little ducklings.

Also thinking about getting a rooster too but that's neither here nor there.

 

[Ridgetop]

The kids will think hunting snails by flashlight is a great adventure! Mine loved it. It also kept the vegetable garden clean.

Mmmmm that sounds delicious. I don't know how to sex these birds and I've never been successful at sexing chickens but I really do hope that one of them is a male so I can have more little ducklings.

I never learned to sex a chicken. I just waited for the embarrassed soft crowings coming from the roosters they started through puberty. Sort of like boys when their voices change. LOL Sexing ducks and geese is easy. The first one may be hard but after you learn it you never forget. Wear old clothes though because they often poop on you. You can't really sex them much before 6 months anyway. However, here is a secret to sexing ducks without having to offend their modesty. Once they are mature the drakes have an upward curling tail feather while the hen duck doesn't. Crazy but it is true. LOL You can always tell the difference that way.

 

[farmerjan]

And some breeds of ducks have different color patterns for the male and female at maturity. Mallards, rouens, and some of the colors of little call ducks , and aren't the Khaki Campbell males marked a bit different from the females? It can change during moulting. But, you are right @Ridgetop , the curling feather(s) are called the "sex feathers" and only the male has them.

 

[Ridgetop]

Mystang: You are off the hook! Do not share this secret with your children and you will be their knowledge guru. At least until they learn it from someone else, or enter puberty. LOL

Just don't buy any geese. Although the gander usually is loud and the goos is quiet. Also the gander walks with his head erect and neck stretched high while the goose keeps hers seductively curved in an S shape. Some breeds of geese also have sex related color patterns. Also back to ducks, the females are supposedly loud and quack often, while the drakes are quiet. The reverse of chickens where the hens only cackle when they have laid an egg or are arguing over a bug, but have loudly crowing roosters.

 

[mystang89]

These ducks are definitely fun to watch as they dip their heads into the water them splash it around with their bills. Fun little things. Also, i didn't mention yesterday @Ridgetop but where there water is draining from is going to be a flower bed. I think I'll make some kinda irrigation channel so the water can flow or something. May just make a bucket for it to flow into and use that to water the flowers. Not sure, but definitely have plans on not wasting this God given water.

 

[Ridgetop]

Great idea.

 

[mystang89]

Remember that large load of logs I had sitting at the gate which Mr. Sunny decided to destroy. We finally cut and split all those and stacked them. Our wood shed is the fullest it's ever been actually being filled to capacity. That's a good feeling as we shouldn't have to worry about next year's winter. There was one particular log I was wanting to make 2*4 out of but for some reason my mill kept binding about a foot into the log. Still haven't figured it why nor had the time, though I did keep a 2ft section of the log unsplit so I could test the mill when I get some free time.... Some....sweet... free....time......

We also mucked out the Rams stall. Smallest stall there is but it still took all day, which is fine. That kept people busy and out of trouble. Unfortunately now we don't have enough wood chips too do the main ewes stall so I had to contact the man who brings them and see if he's bring another haul. Thankfully he said yes but that it would be next week, which is fine since I have plenty of other things to keep me busy till then.

Work on the lean to shed is coming along. Being able to Mill my own boards helped much more than I actually thought it would. We almost finished running the rafters all the way down but had to stop when I thought we had run out of 2x4s. Took me a couple days to remember what they did in the old tobacco barn and simply tied 2 boards in together. I'm only missing 4 rafters so I "should" hopefully have enough so u can start nailing in the runners. If a carpenter came over to take a look at this shed we'd end up have to take him to the hospital because he'd have a heart attack.

Ducks are growing quickly and well. Right now I'm just trying to get them used to me and food train them to come when they hear me banging on the tin can.

Filled up almost the entire compost pile with what we mucked out of the Rams stall. Not real sure what I'm doing to do with the manure from the ewes stall now lol. I wasn't expecting it to be filled so quickly. It actually worked out real well being able to drive the tractors loader in and simply dump out the manure though.

 

[Bruce]

Not concerned about snow load on the shed?

There was one particular log I was wanting to make 2*4 out of but for some reason my mill kept binding about a foot into the log.

Could you pound a wedge in the back after you get started?