The ducklings are a bit over two weeks old now. They have a voracious appetite at this age, as shown in the video here.
From about this age to 4 weeks, they are put the more restrictive diet of 3 feedings a day (as much as they can eat in 5 minutes) rather than "free choice" their first two weeks. They can actually grow a bit too fast for their frames, making them wobbly as they age. If these were meat birds, it wouldn't matter (and they would be fed free choice); but they are layers, so feeding time is restricted.
2008/12/10
2008/11/25
quack * 12, meow * 3
The guinea chicks were transferred to the outdoor coop after less than three weeks. That is a bit earlier than normal, but past experience has taught me that once they are able to fly up to the edge of the 3' fence, they are within a day of flying around the living room. Out they went.
Today I took delivery of twelve ducklings. These are Golden 300 Hybrid from Metzer Farms. Here is a video of their unboxing:
In unrelated news, this evening I saw my first ever Mountain Lion in the wild... actually, there where *three* of them -- two youngsters (about 40 lbs each) and their mother sauntering across Alpine Road a few miles from my place. Yay!
Today I took delivery of twelve ducklings. These are Golden 300 Hybrid from Metzer Farms. Here is a video of their unboxing:
In unrelated news, this evening I saw my first ever Mountain Lion in the wild... actually, there where *three* of them -- two youngsters (about 40 lbs each) and their mother sauntering across Alpine Road a few miles from my place. Yay!
2008/10/04
chirp * 8
Eight keets are out of their shells and exploring their new surroundings. Two eggs never pipped, and the third is trying to break out but it does not look like it will make it. It's unfortunate but it's not a good idea to help a bird out of the shell -- they are usually the runts that will always have a hard life and will likely have an early death anyway. Additionally, shells tend to stick to the skin of the bird, so attempting to break them out almost always causes bleeding, and so they die immediately.
Picture below is the new brood. There are also three short movies on youtube: first drink, first food, and spider chow. I don't know exactly what color they will be -- the mother is a Lavender, and the father is either a Royal Purple or Lavender.
Picture below is the new brood. There are also three short movies on youtube: first drink, first food, and spider chow. I don't know exactly what color they will be -- the mother is a Lavender, and the father is either a Royal Purple or Lavender.
2008/10/02
first keet at 8:32pm
Right on schedule! It's typically 24 hours between first break to complete hatch. There are three more pipping, so tomorrow there will be four.
2008/10/01
hatch ahead of schedule
Came home and heard a chirp every few minutes... and found one egg with the first signs of hatching -- a single hole where the keet's egg tooth breaks through.
So, that means there will be keets as early as Thursday evening. By Friday they will be in full swing.
Pictures will be posted as the action picks up.
So, that means there will be keets as early as Thursday evening. By Friday they will be in full swing.
Pictures will be posted as the action picks up.
2008/09/18
guineas hatching October 4/5
Heard a guinea laying an egg on Saturday, September 6, and so I located the nest, and stole the eggs (if she sits on them, she'll become coyote chow). Popped them into the incubator, and now, 12 days later, there are signs of growth.
Mark you calendars, stop by if you like, come see the hatch somewhere around October 4/5. I will post an update a day or two before if the schedule changes.
Mark you calendars, stop by if you like, come see the hatch somewhere around October 4/5. I will post an update a day or two before if the schedule changes.
2008/08/25
Absolutely Nothing to report... strike that...
It has been very boring lately. No deaths, which is always a good thing. And no eggs -- they have been molting, and so production is down to 3 eggs a week.
But yesterday and today I found goose eggs! They haven't laid since June. What is up with that?!
But yesterday and today I found goose eggs! They haven't laid since June. What is up with that?!
2008/06/14
2008/05/31
New Gander on the Block
It's hard taking vacations with 40 or so hungry mouths to feed every day. So, with a trip to Japan looming in April/May, I started searching sometime in February.
With about a month to spare, two sitters decided to take on the duty. They did smashingly, and I am very grateful for the service they performed. Thanks again, Jennifer and Cheri!
I have recently acquired a new Embden Gander named Fido. Apparently the previous owners thought he was a very good watchdog, as he is very aggressive. So they said. I have found him to be gentle as a kitten. Some day he'll be father of goslings, as I intend to breed him with Foie and Gras.
Fido integrated slowly at first, but after just one week, he hangs with the gang like he knew them from goslinghood.
With about a month to spare, two sitters decided to take on the duty. They did smashingly, and I am very grateful for the service they performed. Thanks again, Jennifer and Cheri!
I have recently acquired a new Embden Gander named Fido. Apparently the previous owners thought he was a very good watchdog, as he is very aggressive. So they said. I have found him to be gentle as a kitten. Some day he'll be father of goslings, as I intend to breed him with Foie and Gras.
Fido integrated slowly at first, but after just one week, he hangs with the gang like he knew them from goslinghood.
2008/03/11
Where do eggs come from?
Here is a bit on the birds and the bees...
During embryonic development, both right and left ovary and oviduct are present. But not all species have functional right sides. Ducks, geese, and guineas are firing on only the left sides.
Eggs start out as ova, a single cell. There are on the order of a couple hundred to thousand of these in the left ovary. The ova mature in order, adding yolk (food source) over time, with the largest being the next to be released and captured by the infundibulum.
There is a small 30-minute window where the ova is released by the ovary and the sperm get a chance to connect. Sperm are stored by the birds in special receptacles that keep the sperm alive for up to 30 days. The window is closed once the ova is captured by the infundibulum and begins the process of layering of the albumen (the whites).
The magnum is the longest part of the oviduct; it is here that the albumen collects. This is about a 3 hour process.
Following the layering of the albumen, the egg passes into the isthmus, where the inner and outer shell membranes are formed. This takes another hour or two.
Finally, the ova passes into the uterus, which is the shell-producing gland. It takes another 18 - 21 hours for the shell to form.
When the egg is laid, it passes through the vagina, where it picks up a cuticle layer, which is a protective coating that helps keep out bacteria. It does a 180 degree rotation here, so that the big end comes out first.
The cloaca is the "common sewer" of the bird. Here is where the digestive, urinary, and reproductive tracks all meet. What you actually see on a bird is called the "vent", the exit itself.
Fascinating fact: eggs from factories are washed to remove any sign of "stain" that commonly occurs when the egg passes through the cloaca. Washed eggs are actually more susceptible to infection because they have lost their protective coating, the cuticle. This is one reason why farm-fresh eggs tend to have a better shelf life. (Though, they do sometimes look nasty!) Store-bought eggs are washed in warm water, often containing soap or other chemicals, then sprayed with a fine mineral oil mist, which helps get back some of that protection it lost during the cleaning process. All of this just for the sake of a nice looking egg.
During embryonic development, both right and left ovary and oviduct are present. But not all species have functional right sides. Ducks, geese, and guineas are firing on only the left sides.
Eggs start out as ova, a single cell. There are on the order of a couple hundred to thousand of these in the left ovary. The ova mature in order, adding yolk (food source) over time, with the largest being the next to be released and captured by the infundibulum.
There is a small 30-minute window where the ova is released by the ovary and the sperm get a chance to connect. Sperm are stored by the birds in special receptacles that keep the sperm alive for up to 30 days. The window is closed once the ova is captured by the infundibulum and begins the process of layering of the albumen (the whites).
The magnum is the longest part of the oviduct; it is here that the albumen collects. This is about a 3 hour process.
Following the layering of the albumen, the egg passes into the isthmus, where the inner and outer shell membranes are formed. This takes another hour or two.
Finally, the ova passes into the uterus, which is the shell-producing gland. It takes another 18 - 21 hours for the shell to form.
When the egg is laid, it passes through the vagina, where it picks up a cuticle layer, which is a protective coating that helps keep out bacteria. It does a 180 degree rotation here, so that the big end comes out first.
The cloaca is the "common sewer" of the bird. Here is where the digestive, urinary, and reproductive tracks all meet. What you actually see on a bird is called the "vent", the exit itself.
Fascinating fact: eggs from factories are washed to remove any sign of "stain" that commonly occurs when the egg passes through the cloaca. Washed eggs are actually more susceptible to infection because they have lost their protective coating, the cuticle. This is one reason why farm-fresh eggs tend to have a better shelf life. (Though, they do sometimes look nasty!) Store-bought eggs are washed in warm water, often containing soap or other chemicals, then sprayed with a fine mineral oil mist, which helps get back some of that protection it lost during the cleaning process. All of this just for the sake of a nice looking egg.
2008/03/06
The Mother of All Eggs
Extra Large chicken eggs are around 65 grams. On the right is a chicken egg meeting that qualification.
Next to the chicken egg is an average muscovy duck egg weighing in at 85 grams. It is well over what would qualify as a Jumbo chicken egg. This would be considered small if it were from a Pekin.
And finally, on the left we have a goose egg. This is average size, about 170 grams.
Below is The Monster. It weighs in at 335 grams, which is just shy of 3/4 lb. Poor girl!
2008/02/22
The sounds of the Farm
It is nice waking up to the sounds of a farm. There's lots of quack-quack-quack from the ducks, chi-chi-chi from the male guineas, buckwheat-buckwheat-buckwheat from the female guineas, and ... not sure how to "pronounce" it, but "Raaaaaaahhhhr" from Pate, the African gander. Pate seems to announce the sunrise better than everybody else combined.
Today I woke up to the above. It is a lot better than waking up to the increased AM noise of a city street, subway, expressway, highway, etc. In my opinion of course. I often wake up to coyotes howling, too. They can be annoying, but in a different way.
Normally I can slip in and out of sleep from that first wakeup call until 8am or so. At this time of year, sunrise isn't all that early, and I wake as fast as vultures anyway -- I need the sun to warm the ground before I get up.
Today Pate seemed to be particularly noisy. I'd drift back into a nice dream, only to be interrupted by more of his morning wakup. Raaaoooorrr! Rooaorrr! Ruh-ruh-ruh. Shut up already! I'll let you out at 8am like I normally do. Zzzzz....
Raaaoooooo! Zzzzzz.... Raaaoooooh! Zzz....
It's funny how much sound carries when it's foggy and rainy... it makes it sound like Pate is so close!
RAAAAAOOOHHHHH!
And with that final, rude, awakening yell, I realize that he IS close, and in fact standing outside my window, with 12 other geese in tow.
Pate and the rest of the gang has escaped the safety of the coop! I put on clothes, slip into shoes, run outside, and look for signs of carnage... no feathers, coop is not shredded to pieces... door is OPEN.
I count: 1-2-3-4-5-6 female hybrid geese, 1-2 male hybrid geese, Pate, Foie, Gras, Madonna, and Fred the geese. I herd them back towards the coop. I chastise them but they heed not. 1-2-3-4 female Black Indian Runners (one is "Snoop"), 1 male Black Indian Runner. (Phew, I just recently acquired "Ozzie" the lone male Black Indian Runner, don't know what I'd tell the young woman who gave him up to me recently should he have disappeared.) 1 male fawn and white Runner (Godzilla), 1 female fawn and white Runner (Bambie), 1 female brown Runner (Hershey). Ozzie's Pekin girlfriend. Two Rouen males, one named Frenchie. Two male Pekins named Showball and Jack. Three female Pekins named Michelle. One rescue female Pekin. 1-2-3-4-5 Black and White muscovy females. 1-2 Black and White muscovy males. 1-2 Brown and White muscovy females. 1-2-3-4 Lavender guineas. 1-2 buff dundotte guineas. 1-2 purple guineas. Hmm... one goose missing... it is Ceasar, the Roman Tufted goose. I eventually find her sitting on a nest inside the coop.
A parent of twins has no difficulty identifying his/her own children. So it is with my birds -- I know the exact count, breed, and gender of all animals. Each matters. Everybody is accounted for. No losses.
Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket.
Today I woke up to the above. It is a lot better than waking up to the increased AM noise of a city street, subway, expressway, highway, etc. In my opinion of course. I often wake up to coyotes howling, too. They can be annoying, but in a different way.
Normally I can slip in and out of sleep from that first wakeup call until 8am or so. At this time of year, sunrise isn't all that early, and I wake as fast as vultures anyway -- I need the sun to warm the ground before I get up.
Today Pate seemed to be particularly noisy. I'd drift back into a nice dream, only to be interrupted by more of his morning wakup. Raaaoooorrr! Rooaorrr! Ruh-ruh-ruh. Shut up already! I'll let you out at 8am like I normally do. Zzzzz....
Raaaoooooo! Zzzzzz.... Raaaoooooh! Zzz....
It's funny how much sound carries when it's foggy and rainy... it makes it sound like Pate is so close!
RAAAAAOOOHHHHH!
And with that final, rude, awakening yell, I realize that he IS close, and in fact standing outside my window, with 12 other geese in tow.
Pate and the rest of the gang has escaped the safety of the coop! I put on clothes, slip into shoes, run outside, and look for signs of carnage... no feathers, coop is not shredded to pieces... door is OPEN.
I count: 1-2-3-4-5-6 female hybrid geese, 1-2 male hybrid geese, Pate, Foie, Gras, Madonna, and Fred the geese. I herd them back towards the coop. I chastise them but they heed not. 1-2-3-4 female Black Indian Runners (one is "Snoop"), 1 male Black Indian Runner. (Phew, I just recently acquired "Ozzie" the lone male Black Indian Runner, don't know what I'd tell the young woman who gave him up to me recently should he have disappeared.) 1 male fawn and white Runner (Godzilla), 1 female fawn and white Runner (Bambie), 1 female brown Runner (Hershey). Ozzie's Pekin girlfriend. Two Rouen males, one named Frenchie. Two male Pekins named Showball and Jack. Three female Pekins named Michelle. One rescue female Pekin. 1-2-3-4-5 Black and White muscovy females. 1-2 Black and White muscovy males. 1-2 Brown and White muscovy females. 1-2-3-4 Lavender guineas. 1-2 buff dundotte guineas. 1-2 purple guineas. Hmm... one goose missing... it is Ceasar, the Roman Tufted goose. I eventually find her sitting on a nest inside the coop.
A parent of twins has no difficulty identifying his/her own children. So it is with my birds -- I know the exact count, breed, and gender of all animals. Each matters. Everybody is accounted for. No losses.
Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket.
2008/02/10
goings on
I hate to report about losses so suffice to say the lack of posts was because of all the losses....
In more happy news, I scored a bunch of muscovies -- 5 female, 1 male -- from Silicon Valley Wildlife Rescue. There were more, about a dozen total, but, well, I was greedy and took the females and just one male. Too many muscovy males presents a problem. There was also a female Khaki Campbell that came with the team. Lots of eggs are in my future!
The geese are starting to lay. I have 10 females, so I will soon be awash with not only duck eggs but goose eggs. They make for good barter material at the local farmer's market.
In more happy news, I scored a bunch of muscovies -- 5 female, 1 male -- from Silicon Valley Wildlife Rescue. There were more, about a dozen total, but, well, I was greedy and took the females and just one male. Too many muscovy males presents a problem. There was also a female Khaki Campbell that came with the team. Lots of eggs are in my future!
The geese are starting to lay. I have 10 females, so I will soon be awash with not only duck eggs but goose eggs. They make for good barter material at the local farmer's market.
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