Looking for any input on the type of domestic ducks/geese to get for a large 16 acre lake. The ducks/geese need to be winter hardy as I have an windmill aerator to keep the water open in a defined area. I will also build a small southern exposure shelter near the aerator on one of the islands. I hoping to get birds that will eat vegetation from the lake and live on some supplemental feeding during the summer and entensive feeding throughout the winter. I would like the ducks to remain on my property and not travel to the neighbors etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated in choosing the right waterfowl to enjoy around the lake with minimal work . Thanks
Rowly
Rowly, I have had excellent results with Rouens and Swedish Blues. They both are large non-flying domestic Mallard variants. We don't get very cold here, mid 20's at night in the "winter" so freezing is not an issue. I don't provide any winter shelter and they have done fine for 3 years. They are excellent foragers and on my 2 acre pond do an excellent job of weed control. When I used to live in the Northeast, domestic Mallard variants survived quite nicely in some snotty conditions. They are quite easy to raise from day old chicks that are available by mail. Having an island for refuge will cut down on predation. You will still probably lose one now and then to a Great Horned Owl, Racoon, feral cat etc. Although they will lay eggs and attempt to brood them, the chances of any surviving are slim. Racoons and skunks love the eggs and Bass love whatever happens to hatch. So, you may have to add some birds each year or collect some eggs and hatch them yourself, which is what I do.
Good Luck
Jim
Rowly,
I have two species of domestic duck in my lake right now, cayougas and giant white pekin ducks. Both of which didn't even seem to notice when it got down below 20 degrees and wouldnt fly off if I shot at them. The giant white pekin duck is both an excelent laying duck and one of the best tasting birds I've ever eaten. If you're not planning on ever eating them or thier eggs I prefer the cayougas. They are mostly black but with beautifull blue and beetle green heads with similar coloration on thier wings. Cayougas also dont leave messy white feathers all over the lake like the others can.
The only place I know of where you can buy ducklings and/or goslings is Welp Hatchery
http://www.welphatchery.com . I've bought several species of birds from them and I do trust them.
good luck with the ducks
-Scott
Jim and jbrockey:
Thanks for your input and we are looking forward to getting our pekins, rouens, mascovys and embden geese on May 27/03. Jim, any tips on raising day olds eg. how long should I keep them contained in a small area under an area of a heat lamp before I release them into the lake and supplement their feedings daily? Are mascovys good ducks to have around as well? They can fly but will stay home if fed I'm told? Any advice on raising these day olds will be a great help to a new raiser who doesn't want to have them die before they can look after themselves somewhat. Please pipe in all you knowledgeable "ducklings" and geese owners. Regards
Rowly
Rowly, your new ducks are quite hardy but will need some attention for a while. It is recommended that you suspend a heat lamp about 18" above the floor of their pen, they will find the most comfortable temp on their own. You can start raising the lamp after about 4 or 5 days (I prefer a red bulb and should always have a spare). You should avoid drafts as much as possible You should have some bedding - I use pine shavings that I get from the local farm supply. Feed should be non medicated, broiler finisher works well if you are not going to use one of the commercial game bird starters, besides it is a lot cheaper. You should also add some pigeon grit to the food, they need that to aid digestion. They need a lot of drinking water! You will be amazed at how much, so while a small waterer will work for about 2 weeks, you will need a 4 or 5 gallon waterer. The ducklings grow very fast and need a fair amount of room to keep them calm, by 2 weeks they should have at least 2 sq ft each. I have a brooding pen in a garage and leave the door open during the day after the first week to begin hardening them off, they still can go under the heat lamp if necessary. They should develop most of their first feathers by 4 weeks, which is when I move them to an outdoor pen that has a small duck house. Baby feathers are not waterproof since there is no mother to rub oil on them, so avoid getting them wet. Mosts ducks are essentially full grown at about 8 weeks. Once they are outside and have their first feathers, they will enjoy pans of water and will forage actively in their area. I close them up at night to avoid possible predators. I continue to give my ducks cracked corn as adults, they love it as a snack and it keeps them bonded to me so I can keep track of how many I have. Putting them in the big pond will probably be quite traumatic for them. They may be afraid of the water and will probably stay close together. They will get over it but it can be a chore. Maybe releasing them on your island is an idea, I don't have that option. Since you don't have any mature ducks, they will have to learn on their own. A downside of having mature drakes is that they immediately rape all of the new hens - not a pretty site but everyone seems to survive it. I havn't got any experience with Muscovys, so I don't know how likely it is that they will stay. One thing I thing you will notice however is more wild ducks. Your natural decoys work really well. Hope this helps, ask on if I have missed anything important.
I have 4 of the muskovys in my pond and I cant get them to leave(The wife got em without my knowledge) and there are 2 fairly good size lakes behind our property.My fed them for a couple of weeks and they do go down to the other lakes/pohnds, but they come back every day! If you plan on feeding any fish, be prepared to fend off the ducks..They love the fish food a little too much!! I have to guard my feeding ring till the food is all gone or the ducks will eat every last bit and peck at the fish to make em leave!
The website on the link above also has information on duckling/gosling care if you need it.
I released my ducks onto my island when they were 9 weeks old. They stayed on or very close to it for about a 2 weeks untill they started gradually venturing farther out into the pond.
Monty is right, after a short while the ducks will learn to attack the fish pellets. My favorite method of keeping them away is either throwing tennis balls at them or shooting at them with a paintball gun (be sure it is tuned down to below 250 feet per second). They learn quickly to avoid the feed ring when anyone with a good aim is near but move in as soon as you turn your back.
-Scott
Rowly,
Have you ever thought about wild waterfowl. I keep several species of waterfowl in my pond ie. Wood Ducks, Mallards, Pintail, all of the North American teal (Bluewing, Cinnamon and Greenwing). It is pretty cool to have these birds around and the wild ones visit often. Just this morning I had two wild Wood Duck drakes feeding with mine.
These birds are very hardy and a permit is supplied with the purchase. By the way all of my birds (except the Mallards) are pinioned so they can't fly. Let me know if you are interested I have a few newly hatched Wood Ducks and Mandarins (Chinese Wood Ducks) that are beautiful. These birds give the pond a natural look and I get a lot of compliments.
Oh yea I meant to give you a solution to the ducks eating the fish food. Try feeding the ducks chicken scratch on the shore line before feeding the fish. After a while the ducks will come running to you and will leave the fish food alone.
If the ducks are on the shore eating instead of in the water they are not dropping waste in the water, thus not screwing up the water chemistry. Just some advice from someone that has been there.
Keep the duck numbers low, so that you will not run into the aforementioned water problems. By the way Geese leave a lot more waste behind than ducks do, so be aware of that.
Thanks guys for your knowledge. Jim great detail and I will try your suggestions. I will start out in my garage in a small tall fibreglass container a. 2' X 4' for the first week, then I will house my 16 ducklings in a 32 sq ft (8 X 4') area or an cardboard frig container for the next while. After 4 weeks or so,once they get their waterproof feathers I will move to the island. But it seems I will need to row there daily to feed as they may not travel to far the first couple of weeks? In the future, how do I deal with the egg production from the roeuns, muskovys, pekins and embden geese (each species has 4 birds)? What is the cost of a small incubator to help me along and how do I aid each species with their time lines before hatching. This sounds completed to start, but once I can develop a system I should be able to have a few good meals in time. Any help/direction would be greatly appreciated as May 26/03 is fastly approaching. Thanks again as I develop that needed confidence.....
Rowly
I wondered if the paint ball gun would be too much for em, I've been worried about killing them in front of the kids! We do have fun throwing pea gravel at them to keep them off, and trying the feeding on the bank stuff doesnt cut it when they know what fish food taste like!! I can feed the ducks before or after I feed the fish and as soon as they hear the food hit the water they take off after it! They are VERY VERY persistent in eating it too, you turn your back they dart in till you turn back around..Least the ducks we have are like this, I hope everyone else has better luck with them than I do!
Rowly, I would not recommend using a cardboard box. Believe or not, they will eat right through it once they are a few weeks old. I use a simple plywood pen 3' high and about 60 sq ft. As for the 4 week transition, why don't you make a simple chicken wire enclosure. I use 3' chicken wire loosely fastened to T posts which are just set about 9" into the ground. Easy to put up and take down and it beats rowing to the island every day. I would recommend that you get a copy of Storey's Guide to Raising Poultry, good info and reference book.
As to incubating eggs, now you are in a whole order of magnitude higher level of complication. When you have a random group of ducks, it is almost impossible to coordinate hatching times neatly. This means that you will have eggs of various ages in the incubator at any given time. The best type of incubator to use is a circulating air type with an automatic turner. You really don't want to get involved in having to turn eggs every day. Now the complicator, eggs must not be turned during the last 3 days and they require a higher level of humidity. That means a second incubator! I use Hova-Bators, simple, and dependable and cost about $140 US. There are usually some available on Ebay. A web site that will give you more data on incubators is mcmurrayhatchery.com. Unfortunately, everything in life tends to get more complicated as you delve into it:)
Have fun!
Jim
Jim, thanks for the added info.and here's my plans from the info.provided- I will house the ducklings for the first week or two in the fibreglass container in the garage, then build and move the growing ducklings into a chicken wire fenced in area of a. 32'sq. outside to the back of a southern exposed utility shed to continue their growth for another 3-4 weeks until ready for water. (Should I provide structure for shelter and what will keep the predators out). At what point should I release them to the lake and how... a. 1000' long and 750' wide with two small island 100' off the east side of the back portion of the lake and away from the house. This summer I will be building a floating "T" dock between the two islands and the main land. This past winter I have erected a 20' windmill and areator between the two island for winter and helping to keep the water open in this 3-4' depth. I will build a southern expose shelter for the ducks to go into during the winter if required. I would like to maintain some 20 birds on the water and surrounding slopes. If I can produce some dinner food from the offspring that would be good as well. I think I will see if the ducks can reproduce themselves but if they can't I will invest in a good incubator to hatch a few. My overall goal is to have some very nice ducks and geese living in the lake and attracting some wild ducks as well to view and create some dinner meals along the way as we enjoy their beauty. How am I doing so far?????? Any fine tuning needed on any of the aspects from the garage, to the pen and later to the lake where they can feed on the vegetation with some supplemental feedings until winter? Thanks
Rowly
Newbee:
I am interested in your wild ducks but I live in Southwestern Ontario some 1 1/2 hours from Detroit. I don't think I can import or could I? What are your prices.....I would like some variety with my domectic ducks of roeuns, pekins, muscovys and embden geese. Would they cohabitat well in a large body of water and their closeness in open water during winter near the windmill aerator? Thanks
Rowly
Rowly, it looks like you are doing real well. I would suggest a small enclosure for the young ducks in the pen. This allows them to get out of extreme weather like heavy rains or a particularly hot sunny day. They also have a very strong instinctual fear of large flying birds and would appreciate the ability to have someplace to hide when the alarm is sounded. It is very amusing to see them tilt their heads sideways to look in the sky. I wouldn't hold out a lot of hope for natural production. You might try providing nesting cylinders on your islands. These are made of chicken wire and straw. Make them about 3 ft long and 18" in diameter. You make a double roll of the mesh with straw sandwiched between the layers. Put a nice bed of straw on the floor of the cylinder to finish it off. They work extremely well at encouraging the hens to lay in them. Unfortunately, without adults to teach them they don't really get brooding the eggs. The foolish hens will also drop eggs anywhere they happen to be when the urge hits them. This includes in the water and randomly all over the banks of your pond. You should know that the hens lay their eggs only in the morning and normally by about 9 AM. Knowing this makes collecting the eggs a little more predictable. I doubt that you will see any eggs this year. You can expect to start seeing eggs in February.
Jim
Jim, thanks for your moral support as the duckling will be here in 6 days as 1 day olds. I will build a chicken wire cage area beside my shop and have a shelter built for them to go into at 3-4 weeks old depending on their growth?. Would a 4' by 8' shelter be big enough for 16 ducks. I will move this to the island for the winter near my open water and windmill aerator. Thanks for your help. Can I buy an incubator that will hold a very small number of eggs? I will try to buy one used and do the manual labour to have only one incubator as indicated by you in your previous posts during the last three days before hatching and air movement
Rowly.
Rowly, I think the 4 x 8 shelter will work. I have one about that size and it is being used by 15 Khaki Campbells and Buffs all about 6 weeks old. It will be used mostly for sleeping and they do like to pile up. You can get smaller incubators, do a google search for egg incubators and I am sure you will get a good idea about what's available. Ebay will probably be your best source for a used one. I have had a mixed results hatching this year. Turns out the thermometer I was using was 6 degrees off. Make sure you calibrate your thermometer when you finally get around to hatching! In the meantime I know of 3 nests brooding on my pond. A total of about 40 eggs. I have had this many times in the past and have yet to see a successful hatch, so time will tell. Pending that, I doubt that the young ones will survive the bass, I know I have some 5+ pounders in there and they are always hungry.
Good luck
Jim
Rowly, I just checked EBAY and there are a lot of incubators for sale, check it out.
Jim
Jim, will do. Updated thought, house the young duckling in the garage for 3-4 weeks then move them outdoors onto the island and warmer weather. Build a chicken wire cage with some assess to water with the shelter inside the enclosure. Feed the ducklings in the shelter to get them accustomed to it and at 6-8 weeks when they have their new feathers take down the chicken wire fence to let them bowse out into the waters around the islands. This may help to keep them on the island at night and if later they want to start to lay eggs they will do it on the island and not the shoreline where the predators will find them as "sitting ducks". I will feed them nightly and have them follow me back to the shelter on the island. How does this sound to you????? Is this a good idea to help train these ducks for the future and help to reduce the risk of being killed. Thanks for all your help.
Rowly
Rowly, I think that most of what you are suggesting will work. I think you have to rethink food however. They really need access to food constantly. I suggest you get about a 30Lb feeder at the farm supply for when they are past the baby stage. They must always have access to water also. If it is not the pond, then I suggest 5 gallon waterers also available at the farm supply. Think about the nesting cylinders as far as encouraging a laying site.
Jim
Jim,consider it done. I will purchase both in the near future. Thanks for your help.......
Rowly
i finally gave up on my ducks today. as much as we enjoyed seeing them on the lake, it has become impossible to keep them away from the fish feed. i might have been able to manage if i only fed in one location, but feeding at several places in the lake made it impossible. even if feeding at one location, constantly having to throw things and jump and cuss at the ducks took all the fun out of hand feeding my fish. sooo, my ducks are no more. i did have fun with the 12 guage though.
I guess my definition of fun would not include killing a bunch of domestic ducks with a 12 gauge.
let's not get personal...this is supposed to be both an informative and enjoyable site.
jbrockey;
I don't feed my fish so I'm hoping to enjoys the ducks and geese on the lake in their natural beauty. Hopefully they will not eat my shrubs and perennial plants along the buffer zone from the water to the uplands along a 200' of banks, that will still leave them some 6000' of linear shoreline to graze if required on vegetation?????
Rowly
rowly, i had 6 ducks in my lake for about 6 months. other than stealing my fish feed, they caused me absolutely no problems (although the white pekings did leave a bit of a mess with their white feathers). i could not find any damage to my shoreline nor my plants along the shore. they were fun to have and to watch. we even hoped they would hatch some young. i'd make sure though that you never plan to feed your fish. domestic ducks and fish feed just won't work. enjoy them!
jim, i shouldn't have to explain nor justify myself; but i will. our ducks were pets. we enjoyed them. when we decided that they had to go, we had dificulty catching them without hurting them in the process. no one in my home "enjoyed" killing them. i apologise if my post read that way. i took the opportunity as a father to teach my teenage son how to use a shotgun. that was the "fun" part. just like catching the lmb with my son is "fun". a 12 guage was the most humane way we could think of to get them into our freezer. we do after all, live on a ranch. we raise a lot of the food we put onto our table, including chickens and turkeys and ducks; so my freezer was where they ended up. that's the last i'll say about it. jb
Seems like a high level of sensitivity here, for the record, I live on a ranch and do know something about country life.
Jim
Hey Rowly, what's happening with your new critters?
Jim
Jim, I'm been on holidays for a week at home doing some renovations, the duckling are doing great. They are 1 week old today and growing like weeds. I will soon have to move them to sometime bigger than my 4' X 2' plastic container. Question, should I be cleaning the hard crusty coating off their feather as they walk all over each other as some sleep and some still move around? I change the wood shavings every other day but they like to spill the water..... Lastly, the embden geese are twice the size of the rest of the ducklings is this a concern..., they are not aggressive just bigger. Thanks
Rowly
Hi Rowly, glad everything is going well. The basic answer to your question is more room. If they have enough room, the larger Emdens should be OK. I would not handle the birds any more than necessary - the crud on the feathers will come off on its own. If the Geese start to get agressive, obviously you will have to separate them. I think you have a good chance of them getting along if they get more room now - they don't know they are different than each other yet!
Jim, I will open up an area in the garage to create more room for the short time for all the birds. Is this a good time to introduce a small container of open water to intice the birds to swim while still having a heat lamp near by to get warm if wet and cold. This water may encourage the birds to clean themselves? I only have one heat lamp so I'm a little reluctant to remove the embden geese all together at this point in their age at 1 week? What's your experience and thoughts.... Thanks
Rowly
Rowly, it is too soon to let them in water. Also, they are not able to clean themselves with any efficiency at this point. I don't let them in water until they are about 6 weeks old. They will play with the water from your waterers and get damp that way. As far as the heatlamp is concerned, the birds will get as close to the lamp as they need to. You really don't have to worry over much about it at this point. After about 2 weeks, they would really like a treat of some chopped up greens. Anything works, dandeline greens, lettuce, spinach, just chop it up good and spray it with water, they will absolutely love it. You can also try adding some cracked corn to their diet after 4 weeks or so. If they are ready, they will eat it. It's good variety and cheaper than the growth food. My Khakis and Buffs are just about 8 weeks old and are supplying most of their own food foraging around eating grass, seeds and bugs. My first experience with these 2 breeds and sure are beautiful. Also, Khakis are the most prolific layers among ducks, some will lay as many as 365 eggs a year! Keep me posted.
Jim
Great thanks and will do.
Rowly
Rowly, I realized that I should have given you a reason about the water. When hatched by their mother duck, she grooms them with oil from her body and therefore their feathers are "waterproofed". No mother, no oil and dunking them in 10W30 doesn't work.
Jim
Jim, got it...Question about the heat lamps, yesterday I built a 8' X 4' pen and the extra space was truely needed for the 16. The ducks/ 4 embden geese are running around and flapping their wings and just enjoying it and the various sizes of birds is less of a issue for the smaller ducks. However, I moved the heat lamp up to about 18" above the floor resting on top the plywood enclosure along the end sides. At what point do I turn off the heat lamp. If I'm going to move the birds to the island at about 6-7 weeks and build a cage area with access to the lake's water and a built shelter to get them away from the weather and feeding, do I transition them cold turkey so to speak or should I continue to raise the heat lamp until 2' or more and into the 6 week period of time????? Once the birds are comfortable on the island in about 2 weeks (8-9 weeks old) I will take down the chicken wire fence and let them expand into the lake and hopefully have them return to the island nightly and for nesting....Thanks
Rowly
Rowly, harden them off gradually by raising the lamp. At this time of year it is mostly needed at night. You actually have to be careful of overheating them. If they are not bunching up to share warmth then they are fine. At night they like to sleep in a pile and pretty much protect themselves that way. When all is said and done, they are really pretty hardy buggers.
Jim
Jim, great thanks for the info.
Rowly
Rowly, how about an update on your critters. Mine are all released and on their own (except for some cracked corn in the morning).
Jim
Jim, again thanks for your great info., it was very much appreciated. Update, I followed the plan and it worked great. The ducks and geese are now on the island swimming the lake eating the weeds, waterlillies etc and sleeping back on the island at night. I'm "mother goose" so when I bring out the feed to the island, the fowl swim up beside the water bike looking for the hand out of corn and lettuce/cabbage etc. The family loves their company. I bought 10 more ducks that where about the same age that I didn't already have, some chocolate muscovys and muscovy/pekin cross (didn't know they readily did that). I'm hoping with the larger numbers of muscovys that maybe next year I can gather the embden geese,rouen and pekin eggs and put them under the muscovys to hatch and raise as their own. The research I read muscovys are very good brooders of their eggs and young???? Time will tell.....The 24 birds are indeed bringing in other wild ducks and geese to the lake, just last night we had some 100+ Canadian geese vist the area and giving us all that free pond fertilizer to my very clear and infertile lake. HA!HA! Question, at some point I will nedd to find a happy number for all these fowl and the 17+ areas of surface water? Is there a number per acre formula to consider when that time comes? Thanks from the father goose.....
Rowly
Hi Rowly, glad to hear everything is going well. When it comes to brooding time, you may be surprised to find that the brooding instinct will probably kick in after the hens have been laying eggs for a while. It almost seems that the early eggs are practice and at a point in time they begin to accumulate eggs for brooding. The nesting cylinders are very effective lures (even for wild ducks). As far as numbers are concerned, with 17 acres you are no where near overpopulation. Your bigger issue will probably be roosting capacity on your island. The birds will leave the island to seek relief on their own and will be subject to predation at that point. Duck books will quote large numbers per acre, but I don't think going above 10 or so is a good idea if you want a healthy margin. If your pond is receiving fresh water constantly, it also could support more birds. At this point you should be seeing some adult type activity such as courting and showing off - they do mature early.
Jim
Jim, thanks for the info. The lake is sitting on a large vein of gravel-thus ground water moves thru the lake all the time with natural streams actively feeding it as well. The water is very clear and blue but somewhat shallow. I am working with ducks unlimited as the pit near completion to rehab the 1000' of west shoreline properly to invite waterfowl to the lake by dealing with the shoreline configuration, the slope gradients and the variable depths for wildlife and biological diversity. My thoughts were similar with the sq ft of island space..... I have approx. 1/2 acre total island space so maybe 50-75 domestic ducks and geese will be enough along with the native waterfowl. I don't want to feed and house to many during the 2-3 months of winter. I will be building a approx 10' X 5' X 5' height duck house on the island near the windmill aerator with good southern exposure for winter warmth thru the large window I will build. Do you know of any good web site to get ideas for a duck house? Thanks
Rowly
Rowly, I don't know of a plan I could recommend for your island house, they all tend to be too complicated for your practical needs. I would recommend that you plan for easy cleaning, maybe build it on skids so it could be easily moved. If you use thin plywood and minimal studding you can keep the weight down to facitate moving it around. I use a straw bedding which needs a periodic refreshing. Since you have an aerator on the island, will you be keeping open water in the island area in the winter? When your water is frozen it is a highway for predators, the open water could be the answer. In any event it sounds like a fun project, and don't forget the cylinders, they are also good weather protection.
Jim
Jim correct, the aerator hopefully will keep the water open on those really cold days. The air stone is some 50-60' from the dock house future location. My thoughts... 2- 10' long railway ties and 2- 5' railway ties with the 10' length facing south for that southern exposured plexiglass window. These ties will act as a foundation for the approx 10' X 6' dock house and give me a bottom of sand and gravel within the dock house to lay straw onto the gravel floor. Install a large door and remove the straw occassional with new in the winter. Feed the fowl within the duck house and they should return/stay during poor weather????? I will keep them fed with lettuce and corn during the winter. Any idea on how far apart I should build these nesting cyclinders on the islands, every 15' or so or more space????
Rowly
Rowly, the cylinders are light and very portable. I have had 3 and 4 ducks trying to use them at the same time! Every 15 feet would be fine and I suspect that they could be closer. I have by trial and error found that having the cylinders resting among natural plantings makes them more popular. The ducks do like to pluck the straw out of the cylinders so I do have to periodically go around and stuff some more in the outside. You may find that a few stakes will keep them in place if you have a windy situation.
You might be interested in hearing that my new Khaki Campbells are starting to lay already. They are supposed to be the most prolific layers of all fowl including chickens.
Jim
Jim, update.... the geese and ducks are doing fine and growing well. They are very friendly with us as we continue to feed them each night on the island. We call each other often. Next summer I will be adding a few chinese and toulouse geese to the grouping. I have a local breeder and they are doing well with the same ducks and geese I have. They definitely add enjoyment to our life and are watchful supervisors as I add rip rap rock and rehab around the east shoreline.
Rowly
Hi Rowly, glad to hear about your success. My critters are also doing well. I have a pair of Chinese and a pair of African Geese. Very amusing birds. Toulouse can be quite aggressive (emphasis on quite aggressive), whereas the Africans have an evener disposition. Just something for you to condider. Can't say enough about the Chinese - very pretty birds.
Jim
Jim:
Sorry for the long delay but busy on the lake rehab and building my 20' X 10' duck house on the island. Update, I was given 2 toulouse geese that are very large (a. 40 lbs ea.). These large geese are very non-agressive and the embden's rule the water in my situation. I was thinking of getting some Chinese geese and Africans as well next spring. Do you think they will do well in my environment????? I also bought 10 guinea fowl for the island and they are blending in well with the ducks and geese in and around the duck house as I have created a roosting area for them in the enclosed structure.
Rowly
Hi Rowly;
Sorry to be so late in replying, I have not been on the site much lately. Regarding Chinese and Africans, I did raise a pair of each this year and I don't know what to think of the results! The first thing I would caution you about is the pronounced nob they develop at the top of their beak. I am told that it is subject to frostbite in cold conditions and I guess you qualify for that definition. In our case we don't have prolonged cold temps and they have adapted nicely to a house I built for them. They are very good looking birds and VERY protective of their turf. They don't appear to be afraid of anything and they should be - I lost my Chinese Hen to a racoon. I now pen them every night. I guess I would do it over again, but I do find the Geese require a bit more maintenance than the ducks, but I anticipate that they will be good weeders in the garden in the spring. My African Gander weighs in at about 25 lbs - a very impressive critter indeed. My Chinese Gander is "only" about 15 lbs. I guess it's worth a try, have fun.
Jim
Rowly, Jim mentioned raccons got one of his birds, just wondering what you are doing to keep yours 'safe'? I have had many grand ideas for keeping chickens, or sheep or alpacas etc... but they wouldn't last more then a week with the coons, fishsers, wolves and bears I have around. (And I am only 30 or so km from Downtown Ottawa...)
Pottsy:
The only control I have for now is that the island is some 65' or so from the east shoreline and the bridge to the island has a 3' high gate across the dock. The ducks and geese freely roam the entire lake and shoreline while the guinea fowl were wing clipped so they will get familar with their surrounding before they release their new flight feathers next summer and fly to the mainland but hopefully return each night to roost in their duck/guinea house with all the trimmings. My only problem may be when the ice freezes......hopefully the ducks and geese will go to the open water of the windmill aerator near by and the guinea's will fly up to the highest point for protection. So far all the ducks and geese have survived, by feeding them from the island near nighttime and having them remain there throughout the night. Hopefully, in the spring I will add a few more types of geese and ducks such as African and Chinese geese etc. Also, I may add a few turkeys and laying chickens to the mix and continue to build another floating dock from the 1st island to the 2nd some 60' away so the birds that can't swim, can walk and forage for insects etc. Regards....
Rowly
You've probably posted it but I cannot find it... how big is that island of yours?
P.S. You seem to have even more projects/hobbies on the go then I do... (No easy feat)... when do you find time to go to work?
Pottsy, it has been my experience that the birds are pretty well able to fend for themselves if they have open water available. I won't suggest cages because your Bears will of course tear them apart!! My biggest problem is with hens on nests. They will try to defend the nest when they start incubating and are easy prey for a lot of critters. I also have a windmill aerator although we don't get frozen in like you folks do. I believe Rowly is able to keep open water available with his. My wife wants to worry about the Geese in winter, but I point out to her that Goose Down is as good an insulator as there is.
Good luck!
Jim
Pottsy/Jim:
Each island is approx. 1/2 acre, therefore totalling 1 acre of ground surface. Pottsy, its work, work, work with all my free time spent on the various projects. I have given myself some 5 years to complete the 6000' plus of shoreline. Maybe I will treat myself to a "Bobcat" skidsteer to ease the work in pondscaping. Hopefully the gravel pit escavation will be completed next year, so I can have the large berms leveled to the water along the north shoreline and create a waterfall, small fish ponds and streams in my backyard with one pump from the lake and recycling back into the lake some 200'-300' following the natural contour of the topography behind the house. My wife and I sit in the hot tub and get our inspiration and energy overlooking the completed and future work. Its truelly a dream of a life time, in having a part of the "Muskoka's" in your backyard. So far I believe I have used some 100 tons of rip rap rock but all this material is in my "backyard"....its like a kid in a candy store........open to your imagination. Any ideas for future projects...HA!HA!
Rowly
Rowly- You are lucky to have a wife that is in 'cahoots', that's all I can say. : )
Pottsy:
Right on!!!!! That's why I chased her until she caught me.....HA!HA! Merry Xmas to ya allllll.
Rowly
PS the lake completely froze on DEC 02/03 with that cold front
Hi Rowly:
Hope you and your critters are surviving the winter OK. I have had a serious amount of predation the last few days and I haven't been able to identify the predator. It's a long story, so I won't bore you with it unless you need it! In any event, my ducks have begun to lay and I expect you will see similar behavior sooner than you might expect. I will not be using my incubators anymore and since you said you were going to try incubation, I thought I would offer them to you if you haven't already purchased them. They (2) are in excellent condition and have the automatic egg turners and turbo fans. I paid about $130 ea for them and you can have the pair for $40 plus shipping if you are interested. The offer is also good for anyone else should you not need them. Happy New Year and I hope you have an early thaw!
Jim
Jim:
I hope you get that predator. I have lost 5 muscovies over the last few weeks. They are the only ducks that can fly and they do- to the back field near the bush. They all eat good and are like 747's taking off, therefore an easy pray for the foxes and coyotes. The weather the last few days have fallen to near 0 degrees and the windmill is providing only a small hole for the birds to swim in. The lake went from open water 3 days ago to today where I walked on the ice and cut a larger hole to help against predators if they happen to venture out onto the ice. Yes I'm very interested in your offer. We should talk by email to confirm addresses and details, etc. Thanks again
Rowly
Rowly, your registered email address is not current. My address is jgillen@svn.net 5 losses is tough, I lost 20 in 4 nights and I haven't checked yet this morning! I'm not sure what hoops I have to go through to mail to Canada, but I'm sure the post office will know the drill. I want to put the incubator boxes in larger boxes to protect them. I'm guessing that the overboxes will cost $4 ea or so. Not a lot of weight, so I wouldn't think the shipping should be more than about $10 ea.
Jim
Rowly, I did some checking online and it appears that the shipping charges would be $20.05 each. I have a box that fits the egg turners, so I just need to get a box for the incubators - let me know.
Jim
Jim:
I will email you for particulars. Thanks again and sorry for your luck.
Rowly