Back into the blog scene

Well, now that I’m going to get a new baby duck soon I decided to come back.  I’m taking my own advice and getting 1 duckling now.

I gave my old 3 ducks to a friend of mine with a pond, and they are happier their.

What kind of duck should I get?  Comment!

Sorry to leave

I’m really sorry I have left without notice or without posting for so long.  I missed on account of football, and having 3 hour practices everyday after school and on the weekends.  I should be posting a bit  more again, as I’m trying to open up some more time everyday for the blog.

Thanks for visiting.

Poll #4

 

Thanks!

Sexing Ducks

Sexing Ducks or Finding the Gender of Ducks is not very easy.  Before the age of 2 months, it is near impossible for a non duck expert to sex a duck.  I have 4 ways of sexing ducks below.

OPTION 1

The only find a ducks Gender when a duck is under about 2 months is venting. 

I do not suggest doing this if you are not an expert, and I have never attempted nor plan on attempting to do it. It is the most accurate, and hardest way to Sex a duck (besides option 4).  If you do want to try, google it and try to find a good website that thoroughly explains how to do it and the percautions.  A summary of it is, you have to hold your duck upside down and open the ducks genitalia vent with your fingers by spreading  it a part.  Females will have a cone shaped organ, while males will have a smaller, longer, pointed one. *PLEASE FIND MORE INFORMATION THEN I HAVE GIVEN YOU IF YOU ARE GOING TO DO THIS.

OPTION 2

A way to sex ducks at over 2 months is by it’s quack.  A great website with good info about this is majesticwaterfowl.org .  Here is a part of the article:

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You can determine the sex of a duck by listening to the sound of its quack.

At about 10 weeks of age, the voices of all domestic ducks (except Muscovy ducks) take on easily distinguishable male and female characteristics.

The voice of a female (hen) is a loud “Quack-Quack!” or “Uht-Uht!”

The voice of a male (drake) is soft and whispery. They sometimes even have a slight whistle until they reach full maturity.

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To listen to the audio tracks of male and female duck quacks, click on the play links below.

FEMALE – http://www.majesticwaterfowl.org/girlquack.wav

MALE – http://www.majesticwaterfowl.org/boyquack.wav

—————————————————————————————-

OPTION 3

A second way of Sexing ducks is at about 3 months.

You can sex a duck at this age by it’s tail.  If you take a look at it’s tail, a Drake will have something called a “Drake Feather”.  It is  a small, single curled feather at the base of it’s tail.  A female duck does not have any curled feathers there.

This is a good example of one:

(picture to be added).

Option 2 and 3 are equally accurate in my opinion.

OPTION 4

Get a DNA test done.  This the most expensive, hardest, and dumbest way in my opinion.  You can’t wait 2 months!?

SEXING A MOSCUVY DUCK

Moscuvy Males have much larger red facial masks then a female does.  Males are also larger then females.

These traits are noticable at about 2 months.

(PICTURES TO BE ADDED)

Thanks for reading!

QUESTIONS #2

If you have any questions at all about Ducks, Chickens, Geese, Swan, Peafowl, Quail, or any other fowl, ask away here.

I will do my best to answer any question you may have.

LOL

 

LOL.  Really, leave me a comment.  Write whatever the hell you want.

Poll #3

Thanks for voting

Not Posting Much Lately

I’m truly very sorry that I haven’t been posting much at all lately.  I have been very busy for the past few days, and just couldn’t find the time to make a good quality post.  I should be posting a lot more now.  This shouldn’t happen again any time soon.

Thanks a ton for reading.  Your reading my blog means more then you know to me.  Every view and every comment means the world to me, and really is a huge deal. 

Thanks again

Product Review: Chick-N-Hutch

 

As a cage for the time when I just had ducks and no chicken, many years ago, I used a rabbit hutch that i took off its stilts.  But, when I got my Pet chicken, the poor girl needed a perch!  So, I decided to purchase a Chick-N-Hutch.  I bought it for around $150-190  shipping included (it was over a year ago, so i don’t remember exactly) plus an extra 10-20 dollars for a large nesting box (it is just too large in my opinion).

 

The Chick-N-Hutch

 

The cage is pretty large and is good for a backyard flock.   Here are the specs:

Durable, sturdy design

Full fold-down front

Hinged, waterproof shingle roof

Easy-access egg door

Removable wind guards and adjustable perch

Made with exterior-grade plywood

Lasting non-toxic red stain

Easy to clean

Dimensions: 3 ft. 6 in. L x 2 ft. W x 3 ft. 2 in. H

The product was good for a teenager like me to put up.  It took me less then 90 minutes to put the entire thing together, which I’m very happy about.  It was easy to do and had pretty good instructions.

The cage is pretty big, and will probably fit a max of 5 chickens on it’s perch.  the perch goes down the middle, so you can fit about 2 chickens and 2 ducks in it with the nesting box, and maybe 3 of each without the nesting box.  You can probably fit a max of about 5 ducks in there as well, but without the perch.  I think the nesting box is a bit large seeing as it is way to big for one chicken, and way to small for 2 to go in at once.  If you are handy with wood, then go ahead and make your own.  It shouldn’t be to tough.  This is not a cage which you can keep your animals in more then just too keep safe at night and before you wake up to let them out.  You need the Chick-N-Pen for that.

 

The cage is definently not perfect.  I have had some problems with it.

1. There is a bottom trade which slides in that the poop is suppose to go into, so you can slide it out and poor the poop out.  Not only is it heavy and flimsy, the thin piece of wood which you slide it on bent rather quickly (few months) , so it just sits on the floor now.

2. The slide locks move a little bit and when wet the wood swells a bit, so sometimes  when you try to slide the lock, it hits the metal and will not close.  It can get very annoying, but you have to take a hammer and hit it the correct way (no to hard, or you will make it worse by closing the hole!) so that it will slide in again.

3. The hinge broke.  After about a year, I have absolutely no idea how, but the hinge snapped off and I had to buy a new one and re-drill holes to fix the door.  It wouldn’t be a big deal if they didn’t sell the size in stores, and the screws weren’t rusted into place and unmoveable.  I just feel like the hinge should last longer then a year.

Other then that, the cage has been good and nothing has gotten to my animals when inside of it.  It does its job.  I’m happy with it 100% if not for the 3 things above.

 

Would i reccomend it?:

I guess so.  If you can deal with the small problems, its a good cage.  An animals has never gotten into it, so it is good enough for me.  I looked all over the internet, and you don’t find much for this price at this size.  Overall, it’s not that bad on the eyes either.  It’s the obvious way to go if you are not handy enough to  make your own cage, but are on a budget on buying one.

 

*There is also an option to buy a run specially built for it, so that it connects perfectly.  It is called the Chick-N-Pen.  I did not decie to get it, cause I didn’t really need it.  Also, because it isn’t cheap at around 145 dollars.  I would reccomend making your own pen at that ridiculous price, even though it is big, closed in, and safe.  If you really don’t want to make one, then I’d say buy it.  It looks good to me.

The Chick-N-Pen

 

FYI: If you buy this, do not buy a perch!  It comes with one!  But no one told me that though.

Remember, this is not the best cage you can get.  This is the best bargain cage for someone with a few ducks and chickens in my opinion.  If you want more room for your ducks, you can get a Chick-N-Barn (yes all this stuff is made from the same company) or any other larger cage.  The bigger, the better, as long as it is safe.  Spend as much money as you want.  If you see a cage you think is good, and you want to know what I think, go ahead and post a comment and i’ll help you out.  If you want to save money and make one for yourself, go ahead and make one.  Buy some blue prints and get your materials.  Or make one from scratch.  Just know that building a cage always isn’t cheaper in the end, and sometimes not worth it.  Lumber isn’t cheap and you may be suprised at how much building a cage may cost you.  Get a cost estimate before deciding to go ahead and build one.  Make sure that you are capable, and the cage is Predator-Proof.  Look it over many times and make sure no animals can get in or out unless you want it too.  Do this with ALL cages, bought or made.  Any questions on building your own, just ask.

Remember: In their cage, ALWAYS have a good amount of hay/straw on the bottom of  the cage, especially in the colder months.  It helps keep them warm and cozy.  Clean the hay when it gets poop on the top of the hay and starts to smell bad.

 Thanks

Found Another Picture

Here is a picture of Ed and Brownie minutes after getting them.

They are 5-8 days old.

Thanks for Visiting!