Hot Hot Hot!

Record heat yesterday. It was 105º where I live. Yuck! Have you ever seen ducklings pant? It is cute and sad at the same time. At least ducklings can take a dip in their "swimming pool" to cool off. Poor chickens just have to scratch a cool spot in the dirt to try to get some comfort.

Thankfully we finished building the ducks' new home right in the nick of time. Poor Greg has been working extra-long hours just about every day, and has had to work the past two Saturdays on top of that, so I really hate to ask him to work on my projects in his very limited free time, but there is just no way I could have done it without him. I consider myself to be a fairly talented individual, but carpentry is not one of my skills. I am a total spazz when it comes to building stuff.

For some reason, this project ended up being one of the hardest things we've done. Actually, I know the reason. I didn't want to buy any materials unless absolutely necessary. We have a pretty significant wood pile going, overflowing with all of the extra boards and scraps from previous projects. I wanted to save money first of all, but also use up the pile of wood before it got all yucky and spider-laden. Respectable goals, for sure, but it hampers the design and execution of a construction project when you are trying to make due with random sizes and lengths of boards. It got built, but it was an ugly job and it's an ugly structure. But it's safe and comfortable, and lucky for us ducks aren't that picky about looks. You can't really tell how ugly it is until you are standing right next to it. From across the yard it looks perfectly fine.

So the ducks got moved into their new home, and like I said, not a moment too soon, especially with this heat wave. They needed some space. Their wire pen kept them safe and it sure was easy for me to clean out, not like the cardboard chicken brooder, but it was getting too small too fast. The ducklings are growing like mad, much quicker that the chicks, at least that's how it seems to everyone here. I thought chicks pooped a lot but ducks win that contest hands down. Now that I've phased out their starter crumbles, they seem to poop a little less but for a while there I had to change their bedding twice a day, it was that bad. Just one of the many differences between ducks and chickens...

They grow up so fast...

Cute fuzzy chicks and ducklings don't stay that way for long. In fact, they grow up so fast that they are considered full grown at just six weeks old. Wow.  Our little duckling flock has just about outgrown their wire pen, so it's time to get on the ball and build their permanent living quarters.  Poor Greg has been working more hours than ever, and now has to put in a half day on Saturdays. I hate to ask him to do chores in his very limited time off, so I may attempt this project myself. Fingers crossed! Carpentry is not one of my proven skills to say the least.

Although our baby ducks are no longer little fluffy ducky balls,  they are still very cute. They are slimming down and their necks are getting long. When they hear my voice, they just know something good is coming, and by that I mean food, so they start peeping like mad. They are food obsessed. Way more than chicks. I used to throw away so much chick food, I think at least half of it ended up in the trash. Not so with ducklings. Those lil piggies practically lick the dish clean. Unlike chicks, ducks will eat more than is good for them and fat ducklings could cause laying problems later on. At least, that's what I read from one duck 'expert'. Other sources say they will self regulate. So far, I have found that my ducklings will eat everything in the dish and peep for more, so I am regulating the amount of feed they get. They are also fed lots of chopped up greens. I don't think they can get too many calories from greens, but I limit those too because I don't want to upset their digestive systems. Like I mentioned before, there is not a lot of information out there regarding backyard ducks and much of it is conflicting. Therefore, I am taking it all with a grain of salt and a lot of common sense. All I can say is that the ducklings seem healthy and happy, so I must be doing something right.

Duckling Pictures!

Baby ducks are super adorable, in case you didn't know that. They are actually cuter than baby chickens in my opinion. I mean, it's a pretty close contest, for sure, but ducklings have the edge. And they are easier in some ways than raising chicks, They are not so fussy about temps, which is a really good thing because the ceramic heat lamp that I just bought in June is acting up. The first night in the brooder I could not get the temp up above 72º.  The ducklings will only need to be in the brooder for about 3 weeks, as opposed to 6-8 for chicks.  Another key advantage to raising ducks is that we can keep a male duck in our flock for breeding ducklings (fingers crossed).

A definite disadvantage with baby ducks is that they are even messier than chicks. Chicks make a bit of mess by throwing their food around and pooping in their water, but ducklings throw water around like mad and can turn an ounce of food into a pound of poop. I exaggerate slightly, but they are little poop machines.

Here are some adorable pictures to get you through the day...

that is 15 minutes worth of poop right there...

two days old

learning to drink water

Something New!!

I have been slacking in my blogging duties in part because I've been working on getting certified in MS Excel 2007 (which I did. yay!) but also because I was sitting on some fantastic news. Five baby ducklings have joined our flock! They arrived last night, but not without some drama.

They were scheduled to be shipped Tuesday the 7th, due to Monday being a holiday, and since the hatchery is in California, I expected them to arrive Wednesday. Wednesday morning came and went, and no call from the Post Office telling me my babies had arrived. That sucked, but no big deal. I chalked it up to the holiday mail delay and planned on picking them up Thursday. Thursday morning rolls around and I'm feeling pretty anxious. I really want to play with my ducklings! And I knew this was holding up my blog. Remember how I told you I'm very methodical? I already had it in my mind that my next blog would be about ducklings and nothing would change that. But mostly I was worried about those poor little birdies. If they were shipped out on Tuesday, they haven't had anything to drink for 2 days. Fortunately we were experiencing unseasonably cool weather here in SoCal. 8:30...8:45...9:00...I told myself I would wait until 9:05 before I called the P.O. and convinced myself that everything was fine, I'll call and they will say, "Oh yes, they are right here. So sorry." But they didn't say that, instead they said they had no birds and they had received all of their inbound shipments for the day. Gasp. Now what? I called the hatchery to see if maybe they didn't get shipped out on Tuesday as expected, but they had. There was no way to track them, so i just had to wait until the next morning.  I was devastated. That bit of news ruined my day. I just kept picturing my poor little ducklings languishing in a tiny box somewhere and it was breaking my heart.

About 4:00, my phone rang and I didn't recognize the number, but I have been applying for jobs every day so I was hoping it was a call-back. Even better! It was the Post Office distribution center! They had my ducks! Oh happy day! They wanted to know if I wished to pick my package up or wait til the morning and get it from my local PO. Heck no I don't want to wait! My babies are thirsty!

We got them home safe and sound and seemingly healthy. I dipped their beaks in water and offered them some chopped up greens and they went to town. Two and a half days in a box is a long time.

Chicken Stalkers

No, my chickens are not being stalked. It is they who are the stalkers! Every time I go outside the flock comes running over to meet me. You'd think I was the Beatles, or Justin Bieber, or somebody else famous who draws a crowd. I only have myself to blame. I convinced them I was their Mommy and I bring them delicious treats all the time, but all this worship can be a little much. You know how cats like to walk really close to your feet and how, if you're not careful, you can accidentally kick them while taking a step? Imagine a flock of cats at your feet. That's what it's like whenever I go into the backyard, which I must do if I want to do laundry or take out the trash. I have accidentally stepped on a chicken's foot more than once, and you know that's gotta hurt. I love to visit with the flock and I make time to hang out with them every day but they are taking it too far. I am a busy person with lots to do!

Dogs and Chickens, Living Together...

We have two adorable Boston terriers. My biggest concern regarding the chicken's ability to free-range was that the dogs would create problems for the flock. They are adorable, but not at all rational. For example, they never chase the squirrels or rabbits that make our backyard their playground. The varmints have no respect for the dogs. I mean, how humiliating.  But for some reason, Gladys hates Frank, our Sulcata tortoise. Of course, this video may show why Gladys barks like mad at Frank whenever he makes an appearance in the yard.

Likewise, Gladys cannot stand when our neighbor's dog is out in their yard. She makes quite a ruckus as she insanely barks at the dog through the fence. We had to put chicken wire on a section of the fence because she would claw at it so much, we thought she would dig a hole right through.

Compared to Lola, however, Gladys is the picture of rationality. Gladys is a very pretty Boston, with a shiny black coat and pointy ears. I call her "The Princess" because of her regal look. Lola, on the other hand, is an exceptionally adorable dog. She is very small for a Boston and has a very puppyish appearance, with a big round head and giant eyes and cute little eyelashes.  But she's nuts.

Although she never tried to get at the chicks when they were in their brooder, something I was concerned about, whenever I tried to acquaint her with them, she would get all stiff and shaky and her eyes would bug out even more than usual. Which is her normal reaction under the circumstances.

Understandably, I was a little nervous about co-mingling dogs and chickens. I was hoping that it would work out nice and easy, but i was preparing for the drudgery of bringing the dogs in the house, letting the chickens range for a few hours and then somehow getting the birds back into the coop so the dogs could have their yard back. I started to socialize them little by little. About the third night of the chicken's backyard forays I took the dogs out one at a time on their leashes to interact with the flock. I really needn't have worried I guess because the chickens pretty much showed the dogs who was boss, and they had numbers. I had to bring the dogs in because they were actually getting bullied by the flock. The next night I let them out, off leash but one at a time. Two dogs are too unpredictable and they get a "pack mentality" that can be dangerous. Gladys, no problem. She went about her business and I only had to rescue her from the flock of thugs a couple of times. Lola, well, it wasn't really a problem, but she stayed about two inches away from me and shivered with her eyes bugging out the whole time. After a couple nights of this, we decided everyone was properly initiated and appropriate boundaries were established, so it was full speed ahead.

The chickens still make Lola a little on edge, and when they are pecking at the ground sometimes she just can't resist snapping at their bobbing backsides, but they quickly put her in her place.

PS: Frank gets along with the chickens just fine.

Full-On Free Ranging

It's been a slow and careful process, letting the flock out of the coop for a few minutes, then about half an hour, an hour, half day, but they are now officially "Free Range Chickens"! As entertaining as they were in their coop, they are just fascinating to watch as they navigate the big backyard. Before the chickens, we had only had the pleasure of owning dogs and sometimes a cat (but not for a while as I have developed a raging cat allergy). Dogs hang out together sometimes but for the most part, at least the dogs in our family, they do their own thing. They get together to bark at the neighbor's dog through the fence or if one of them finds something interesting, or treats are being passed out, but they usually prefer to chill in different areas of the yard. Gladys loves to be outside and Lola would just stay inside all day if we didn't make her go out.

Chickens, on the other hand, hang out in a tight group all day. Maybe you are saying to yourself, "Duh. They are a FLOCK of chickens." and I get that, but they never break from the flock, at least not that I've seen.  Occasionally, Bev gets left behind somewhere, since she is practically blinded by her enormous crest, and she cries and cries till one of the others, usually Shirley, comes to guide her back to the flock. It's so sad and kind of cute. She sounds like a kitten.

The flock is getting a little more adventurous each day, although they still hang out pretty close to the house which really annoys my husband, since they poop on the patio. As the days pass, they go a little further out and there is less poop on the patio so I think it will be ok.

Chickens Are Not Smart...

I like my chicken flock. They have lots of personality and are fun to watch. But they are not smart. I read a lot of books about backyard chickens and did tons of research online before making the commitment to raise my own flock, and I read more than once that chickens are much smarter than people give them credit for. With my limited experience in raising chickens I feel I can say with confidence that chickens are not smart. Some are clever, I will go that far. Nickie knows that I set the colander full of treats on top of the coop while I dole them out, so she jumps up on top of the coop and help herself. Maybe that isn't a good example, since Nickie prefers it when I hold her treat in my hand so she can daintily nibble on it. See? Not smart.

Every night I go out into the yard while the chickens are roaming free and I bring them treats in an old yellow colander. They are smart enough to recognize that this colander holds chicken goodies, like spinach or tomatoes or pasta or some such. Every night I sit in my same chair along side the coop and set the colander on the coop. Nickie gets that, none of the others do and actually that is probably a good thing. Just about every night, Nickie and Shirley rally at my feet and demand a snack, while Esther, Mary and Bev run back inside the coop and pace excitedly back and forth along the chicken wire barricade, peeping loudly and wondering where their yummy treat is. I have to get out of my seat and guide them to the outside of the coop and over to my chair. Esther will snatch a treat and run back into the coop at least two or three times before it finally clicks that the goodies are being distributed on the outside. Not smart.

Probably the not smartest thing that chickens do is they poop in their food and water. I mean really, who does that? Just about every other animal in existence realizes that pooping in their food is bad policy. It's not even like they are pooping in their dining room or kitchen, they are pooping in their dinner plate. Totally gross. I still like them though. They are hilarious and watching their silly antics is a great stress reliever. But they are not smart.

Home on the Range...

The fence is fixed and so the flock was free to range! We let them out about an hour before dusk last night so they had a little more time to explore. We're trying to ease them into the notion of free-ranging because our yard is so big and crazy. It's a quarter of an acre, but it's not a nice flat rectangle of a yard. We live on a hill, so the yard slopes back to front and also left to right, and it's terraced so there are four levels. There are trees and shrubs everywhere. It's pretty cool, but it would be fairly easy for a chicken to get lost back there. The first night we let them out they stayed right close to their coop. Last night, they must have felt a little braver so they expanded their circle a bit. I brought out a colander full of spinach and tried to get them to sit on my lap and let me feed them, but only Nickie was into that. The others sat there and took some bites, but they weren't really enjoying it.

After a few minutes outside, they got a little more daring. They were running around and goofing off like kids on a playground. There were a few minor scuffles as they challenged each other for position in the pecking order. I'm still not sure if they've got that figured out yet. There is no clear order as far as I can tell.

Nickie was the only chicken to figure out where the spinach was coming from. Alas, Darling Nickie prefers to nibble her spinach like a lady whilst you hold it for her, so this was not working out in her favor. She mostly just flung spinach everywhere to the delight of her flock-mates awaiting on the ground below.

Backyard chickens...

So the foxtail crisis was dealt with, however, both dogs are now having sneezing fits. It seems they have allergies, according to the vet,and have to be on allergy meds. I find that kind of amusing.

The chickens have taken their first tentative steps out into the yard. We've only let them out in the evening because we don't want them to go too far just yet. The yard is still pretty messed up and dangerous for chickens. In fact, when I walked the yard last week to survey its condition, I discovered that one section of the fence was basically hanging on by about two nails and that the ground underneath it had eroded pretty badly. Poor Greg got dragged away from whatever he was doing that day to repair the fence. Ah, homesteading.

So far, the chickens have only explored the area right around the coop. Maybe it's because we only let them out just before dusk, or maybe they are just very cautious, but they like to hang out close to home. And they travel around in a tight little cluster almost like a school of fish but with more personality.