ducks

Tag: ducks (page 4 of 5)

How Much Feed and Water do Ducklings Need?

March 30, 2015 / jason / Comments Off

Now that you have your day old ducklings in their brooder(seriously, aren’t they cute?)it’s time to feed and water them.

baby ducks!

What to feed them?

We feed Non-GMO Starter, a 22% protein mash that provides all the nutrients and energy for fast growing baby ducks. We also like to throw in a chunk of sod from the pasture, to give them some exposure to soil microorganisms, grit, grass and bugs.

learning how to graze pasture!

How much do they eat?

The rule of thumb for ducklings, and most other baby animals, is to give them free choice access to their feed for the first days/week. After this point, ducks that are being raised to breed, or for egg production, are best off being fed a restricted diet based on age. This helps to control excessive weight gain, which can lead to lower fertility and decreased egg production.

ducklings are very messy, the paper towels help somewhat to keep their bedding dry

Metzer farms has a great article on the daily feed/water consumption and manure output for ducklings based on age. According to this chart, our 67 ducklings should have eaten .5 lb of feed each over their first week of life, or about 33.5 lbs. total. Judging by whats left in the 50 lb. bag of starter, I don’t think they have eaten quite that much, but they were traveling in a box for 2 days, so that might have skewed the figures.

The chart also shows that each duckling will drink almost 1/2 gallon of water during their first week of life, and up to 2 gallons of water per week as they get older. I think that our duck nipple waterers help them drink more efficiently though.

you talking to me?

As for manure output, after 1 week, ducklings deposit almost 1 pound each, and by 7 weeks they are dropping 7 pounds each per week! That’s a lot of fertility! Now, these numbers are “wet” numbers and are mostly water,but still, that’s pretty impressive.

*Tired of feeding chemical genetically modified chicken feed to your flock? Check out our freshly milled, non gmo layer feed!

Duckling House and Bedding

March 27, 2015 / Emma / 2 Comments

This video features our ducklings again!

Also included is an explanation of their house and bedding…

.:.

Non GMO Duck Starter

March 26, 2015 / jason / Comments Off

What do you feed 67 day old ducklings?

Non GMO Duck Starter!

In this video our new ducklings give their opinion on our 22% protein Chick Starter feed. It’s high in protein and nutrients for rapid growth and development of goslings, ducklings, and chicks and made from 100% GMO free ingredients with no antibiotics or hormones.

If you are in Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Stokes or Rockingham county make sure to pick up a bag of the freshest Non GMO feed in the Triad. It’s duckling approved!

We also have layer, broiler/grower, pig, and any other livestock feed you can think of, as well as organic fertilizers and mineral supplements. Find out how to order here.

Welcome to Heaven: Meet the New Ducklings!

March 25, 2015 / Emma / 4 Comments

Today the new ducklings arrived at the post office, and we went to get them!

They were fantastic when they emerged from the box and very quickly started eating and drinking. They are very relaxed and literally the cutest things I have ever seen!

This video explains a little bit about them and the breeds we have…

Holy Duck: A Home for the Babies

March 18, 2015 / Emma / Comments Off

Spring is here and you might already know about our first batch of Spring babies… Our 30 Khaki Campbell ducks!

We kept them inside for a little while and after the weather became consistently warmer we decided that it was high time they got kicked out (they were smelly and so messy!).

We wanted to be sure to build them a space that was near the house so they would be safer and easier to feed and watch. We also needed their space to be sheltered and secure, so a perfect spot seemed like the carport! Mind you, once we finish the poultry brood house (posts about this forthcoming) most ducks and other babies will grow up in there!

We need a bigger space than before so they would have room to run and spead out, but we were limited by the carport space, which actually worked out well… 2 cattle panels (oh, how we love to use cattle panels!), folded in the middle at right angles made a great 8′ x 8′ space for them. These panels were covered with chicken wire to keep ducks in and sneaky bad guys out (foxes, raccoons, possums…).

The carport pen!

The dog crate that was their only home before, became the space where they could escape the wind and bask under the heat lamp.

Inside their cozy dog crate.

We learned quickly that they really didn’t care much about the heat lamp beginning around 3 weeks old and for the past week or two we haven’t been turning it on very often! The dog crate was surrounded with plywood and cardboard which act as walls, and covered with a blanket to keep in their warmth.

Not beautiful, but very functional!

The first few days they were outside we locked them in the dog crate at night to be sure they were warm and safe, but we’ve since realized that leaving the carport light on makes them safe enough and they really enjoy spreading out!

The entirety of the 8′ x 8′ pen was lined with large cardboard pieces to keep the floor of the carport from becoming too stained and gross, and the cardboard was covered with leaves, straw, and pine chips to absorb their pooping and bathing shenanigans.

In one corner of their pen their 5 gallon water bucket hangs, suspended by an old metal pipe. Nipples (plastic ones, folks!) hang from the bucket and we refill their supply by pouring in water from the top. Pretty easy! Underneath the bucket is a large metal pan with hardware cloth attached on top. This collects any stray water droplets (and there are a lot!) and keeps the rest of the pen from getting totally soaked. We have to dump this pan out every few days so it doesn’t overflow.

Water for the ducklings!

The flock, keeping as far away from me as possible!

We finished the cage off with bird netting on top, just in case. We doubted that any hawk would be audacious enough to fly into the carport to snatch baby ducks, but stranger things have happened and we wanted to be safe.

The ducks are 5 weeks old now, and they are really starting to get adult feathers. Soon they’ll be big enough to move out into the real world–just in time for ducklings-batch-2 to arrive in about a week-and-a-half!

.:,

Non-GMO Feed Now In Stock!

March 17, 2015 / jason / Comments Off

We just received a ton of Non GMO livestock feed. Literally, 1 ton.

We got some high protein turkey starter for our Bourbon Red Heritage Turkeys, some 16% laying feed for the chickens, a bunch of 18% grower/broiler feed for the teenage chickens and ducks, some pig food, and a few bags of chick starter for our next batch of ducks that will be showing up soon.

40 Bags of high quality, freshly milled GMO Free feed

We are very excited to start feeding only GMO free feed to our livestock. For some of the reasons why GMO free is important us, check out this post.

It was very hard to find a source for Non GMO chicken and livestock feed in our area, but after months of searching for an affordable option, we are excited to finally be able to offer some of the highest quality feed available to other small producers and backyard growers in the Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Rockingham and Stokes County areas.

High quality feed means happy hens, and happy hens mean delicious eggs!

This feed is milled fresh (as in 3 days ago) from high quality, 100% GMO free grains and without any medications, hormones, or antibiotics.

Pricing

All feeds in 50 lb. bags

Layer – 22.50
Broiler/Grower – 24
Chick Starter – 25
Turkey Starter – 26
Pig – 21
Sheep/Goat – 24
Cracked Corn – 17

Soy free feeds are available for an additional fee.

In the future we hope to offer some of the other supplements we use on our homestead (for both plants and animals) like kelp, rock dust, diatomaceous earth, and other types of mineral and protein supplements.

If you would like more information, send us an email at ourochreway@gmail.com or shoot us a message on Facebook.

Morning Chores!

March 16, 2015 / jason / Comments Off

We put together a short video of our morning homestead chores.

Emma feeds, waters, and lets the chickens out (both the laying flock and the teenage cockerels), while Jason feeds, waters and checks on the ducklings and the pot belly pigs.

The geese are okay until the afternoon, when they get some food, fresh water, and maybe a paddock shift.

Our morning routine is going to change somewhat when our batch of heritage turkey poults arrive, and also when our ducks graduate form the brooder to their new shelter.

*Don’t forget to pre-order your GMO Free Heritage Turkey for Thanksgiving!

Duck Nipple Waterers

February 26, 2015 / jason / Comments Off

One major difference between raising ducklings and raising chicks is their water preferences. Ducks drink a lot of water, way more than chickens, and they love to splash, play around, and make a mess.

We manage our ducklings water use by allowing them limited bath time in deeper water to play and clean themselves, and with “nipple” waterers for drinking. These are the same devices we used for our last batch of chickens, and they work just as well for ducks.

They are kind of shy.

One addition that we put in place for the ducks is a raised platform that’s covered in 1/2 inch hardware cloth. Under this platform is a drip pan to catch the water that our messy ducklings still manage to waste. This keeps their entire area drier which helps with odors, and means less changing of bedding.

The hardware cloth lets any wasted water fall through to the drip pan.

We are already brainstorming an expanded version of this system for when we increase our flock size and use an old outbuilding as our new brood house/farrowing pen.

For now though, we dump the pan of water about once a day, and swap out waterers whenever they are empty. Next up, a protected outdoor brooder where we can acclimatize these guys to outside life! We want to get them out there much quicker than the chickens!

*Don’t forget to pre-order your GMO-Free Heritage Turkey for Thanksgiving!

Bath Time!

February 23, 2015 / jason / Comments Off

Our new Khaki Campbell Ducklings sure love water! They have been drinking so much that it’s been hard to keep up. Ducklings need more water than chicks and turkey poults, for both drinking and for bathing. It’s important that they be able to “duck” their heads in the water to stay clean and healthy.

One problem here is that this makes a big mess in their brooder with all the splashing and playing that accompanies their impromptu bath times with their drinking water.

Our solution is to give them plenty of drinking water in the brooder with “nipple waterers”, which limit spillage, but then provide them with a separate bath time outside the brooder.

This should keep the brooder cleaner and dryer, but also make sure our future duck egg layers are healthy and clean. Bathing for them is not only hygienic, but the water also stimulates the oil production that will eventually lead to their “waterproofness”.

It’s also quite adorable and fun to watch!

*Don’t forget to pre-order your GMO Free Heritage Turkey for Thanksgiving!

A Big Pig, Turkey, Duck, and Chicken Update!

February 20, 2015 / Emma / 2 Comments

This year we’re hitting the ground running with a lot of new ideas and plans being put into action!

Pigs

You might have already read about our new potbellied pigs and their new weather-proofed pen! Here is the lowdown on our pigs: We have…

One adult male who is about 3 years old. His name is Gandalf and he is our breeding male. He still has his tusks, which makes him more dangerous than the other adults. Even though he is generally friendly (his old owner told us that Gandalf thinks he is a dog), he can still push up against you or rub up against you affectionately with his face and hurt you. We have to be sure that when we are near him, we wear thick pants and gloves.
Two adult females who are about 2 1/2 years old. They are sisters and we haven’t named them yet. They look very similar but one has yellow at the end of her tail and the other does not. We’re just calling them The Sisters for now. They are less interested in human contact than Gandalf is but are not unfriendly. They just have not been socialized as much as Gandalf, but I have noticed that they have become more interested in us when we come over to their pen.
Four piglets. Three of them are from one litter and are 2 1/2 months old and the fourth one is from another litter and is 1 1/2 months old. Half are males and half are females.

Our long-term plans for the pigs are to keep the breeding trio as just that, and to allow each mother to have 2 litters per year. Their litters will be humanely harvested as meat once they have grown up.

Turkeys

You might have read our most recent post about beginning our turkey operation and raising birds for this year’s Thanksgiving!

We just ordered our turkeys the other day: 50 Bourbon Red Heritage Turkeys and 20 Heritage Turkeys that will be a mix-and-match of 6 heritage breeds. We plan to keep a couple breeding groups so we can hatch our own eggs in subsequent years. We also plan to eat many of them ourselves! Yum!

A baby turkey (called a poult).

Around the time that we get our baby turkeys in April, we will also be getting some ducks to start a laying operation. We haven’t ordered these guys yet, but it looks like we’re going to be getting Cayuga ducks which are a beautiful black/green color, lay gray or even black eggs, and are very personable. We’ll also be getting another breed as well, to be determined.

A beautiful cayuga duck! We can’t wait for those gray eggs!

Chickens

Since the winter weather has shut down a lot of our outside chores except for feeding and watering the animals, some of our ideas and projects have shut down too. For example, the chicken tractor that we began building a few weeks ago is covered in snow right now and still incomplete. Since our chickens have gotten even larger since we began the chicken tractor, we realized that we can simply add them to the adult flock in a few days once the weather gets a bit warmer. The bantams will leave their bantam tractor and live with the standards for a while, and the younger female chickens will leave their basement home and join the others. The tractor can then house the younger male chickens until we butcher them (leaving one barred rock and one hybrid male for breeding).

And, in three more months the new hens should start laying eggs, adding to how many eggs we’ll get!

.:.

KW Homestead

Pasture Raised Poultry & Edible Landscaping Plants Since 2013