2023

2023/02/05 Ducks fall-in and march into the coop at bedtimie.

Our worst hatching. Only two ducks and three CHICKS even hatched. (Never had chicks hatch before either.) Of those we have ONE chick left. No new ducklings made it. Last year we had nineteen ducklings hatch and survive. We are down to three Saxonys, one duck and two drakes. Not good. We're giving up on Saxonys. Love the eggs, the meat is good, but they are stupid. They keep getting killed trying to cross the road and since they can't fly they are sitting ducks, literally, for predators. We've lost several to racoons. I was going to give up on having any ducks but… I really love duck eggs. So… Today, for $25, we got thirteen new ducklings. Three-week-old Muscovys. We are hoping the recent mother will adopt them. Not sure if that's going to happen, but at least there hasn't been overt aggression toward them (knock on wood). The cute thing is the little chick keeps trying to join them. Muscovys are a much larger bird than Saxonys. Plus they have claws on their feet and wingtips. And they can fly, unless we clip their wings. We hope we don't have to do that. That should help with the predator problem. Supposed to be a much friendlier bird. Not as good at egg production but the meat has been compared to veal. Also the females are said to be really good mothers and can raise four clutches in a year if you let them. We shall see.