An update on our little flock…
We now have four ducks, 3 Welsh Harlequins and 1 Pekin; they are three years old. After several months of getting “dud” eggs pretty consistently, we finally determined one of the Pekins was throwing the duds, so we retired her. The duds were deformed shells: soft, like the membrane without the hard shell, sometimes with a string of shellish mass hanging off the end; or sometimes little to no shell at all–just the white and yolk in a splooshy mess with a little membrane-ish stuff along with it. After seeing one of the Pekins lay these a couple of times, we began calling her “Dudley”, and soon after that we had her for dinner. She was not good. I wondered if being an older duck would make her tougher, and it did–I should have made soup or stew, I suppose, rather than put her on the grill. As it was, we couldn’t eat it. Nice try.
With the four remaining ducks, we do still get an occasional dud here and there–they seem to be coming from the remaining Pekin (our current “Whitey”). On very rare occasions we get four good eggs in one day. I know that the 3 Welsh Harlequins lay good eggs, I’m just not sure if “Whitey” is done with her egg-laying days or merely a bit off for a while. We don’t really want to keep feeding a non-productive duck! I’ve been encouraged by two days with four eggs in the past week.
One duck has begun to lose feathers, and I suppose the others will soon, too. Along with the loss of feathers, egg production will drop off and stop as they molt. Another year done. Hopefully this coming fall/winter they will begin laying sooner than last year.
Ducks 2013
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| Fall 2013 |
We still have 5 ducks. Three are the original Welsh Harlequins we got the spring of 2011. The other two are the pekins we got the summer of 2012 (they are the same age as our WH’s).
In July I began freezing some of the eggs, thinking that during their molt and lack of egg production, I would need eggs. I scrambled and froze them in special ice cube trays that make each cube 1/4 cup. That make a handy measure of about one egg per cube. I also froze a few in larger blocks, 1 to 1 1/2 cups each. After making the cubes or blocks, I vacuum sealed them. I found that if frozen plain, they thaw out quite “glumpy”. By adding a bit of salt to them, they are less glumpy. I also read that adding sugar would help, but I didn’t try that. Many internet sources suggested to add 1/2 tsp salt per cup of eggs, but I’m uncomfortable adding that much salt. I added about 1/8 tsp per cup. They’re still a bit glumpy, but they still scramble up fine, or go into quiches or baked goods. I also froze a few egg whites, and they don’t require the extra salt. I’ve been glad to have these frozen eggs!
Most of the ducks began molting and stopped producing eggs around the first of August. One duck, I think it’s one of the pekins, never stopped laying throughout the molt. I still consistently get one egg a day, with an occasional day off. None of the other ducks have resumed production. Last year they started producing again in October-November, but this year we are still only getting the one each day. This one egg a day is getting pretty expensive, considering I’m feeding 5 ducks for it! We are giving them additional light in their house to equal about 13 hours of light each day, and we have a heat lamp in the house on the coldest nights.
One of the WH ducks began acting oddly during the summer, breathing quite heavily, like panting or steadily pulsing or heaving, 100% of the time. She was also much smaller than the others, and seemed to lose breath after running to keep up with her friends. She seemed to eat and drink normally. This went on for 2-3 months, but now she seems fine.
For a couple of months prior to the time the 4 ducks stopped production, one duck was producing ODD EGGS quite often. I would find the membrane part of the shell, with no hard shell, and a complete egg on the inside. Often these were found squished, with just the broken membrane and gooey egg oozing on the ground. Most often they were at odd times during the day. I wondered if she was expelling her eggs prematurely, before the shell had a chance to develop. I searched around online, but couldn’t find much information about this problem. I’m not sure which duck did this. Per my reading, it may have been insufficient calcium (I’ve been giving them extra calcium and it didn’t help) or some kind of infection. I’m thinking I will wait until they all begin producing again to see if this occurs again in the spring. If so, I may have to separate them, determine which duck is not giving us whole eggs, and do away with her. We aren’t too interested in vetting a duck.
As far as the DUCK HOUSE, we are quite happy with it, except that the ducks do not consistently use the nest boxes, and we find them somewhat unnecessary. Otherwise, it has held up well and is perfect for the ducks. Tim has begun a new hobby of woodworking, so we have a good supply of wood shavings for the duck house–that’s nice! Besides, we have a nice, new, handmade dining table and chairs, and kitchen butcher block island!
I save all my EGG SHELLS, grind them in the blender, and add them to my soil for plants that require more calcium. I also have been adding them to the duck food, to give them more calcium. I have always provided oyster shell in a separate container for them to eat at will, but they rarely eat it that way. I now add a little of the ground eggshells, along with a little of the oyster shell, to their food. I mix it up with some water to make it stick together a bit. This way they do ingest the added eggshells & oyster shell without spitting it out, and hopefully this increases their calcium intake.
2013 PLANS
OK, so I’ve pretty well neglected writing on this blog. But, if anyone is listening, I’ve just posted my garden plan for 2013 on growveg.com.
The main garden can be seen here: MAIN GARDEN
The three sisters plot is here: CORN-BEANS-SQUASH
Right now it’s pretty brown and ugly outside. I’ve been working hard inside on plans and getting my new tracking system ready using Microsoft One Note–something I’ve never played around with before; so far it’s pretty handy. This year I am planning to do some of the most successful varieties from past years, and a few new things to try for fun.
The strawberry bed we’ve had near our cottonwood tree has never done well. After a suggestion and some research, I’ve discovered that cottonwoods put off juglone, a chemical that inhibits the growth of many plants. I’ll be removing the strawberries from that bed (if they’ve survived) and will plant several perennial herbs there that are supposed to be tolerant of juglone. Another bed near that tree has also had some sickly plants (especially the tomatoes, a couple of years ago). I’ve found that beets, beans, squash, onions, parsnips and carrots are supposed to do ok there, and will limit those beds to those items from now on. I’m still learning!
The greenhouse has done well this winter, and has provided us with enough greens for salads all winter. I’ve got some onions overwintering in there, too, and hopefully they will provide an early round of onions in the early summer. I will also be planting a couple of early tomatoes in the greenhouse, to get a head start on them for the season.
Duck Update: We still have the ducks (3 welsh harlequin, 2 pekin) and are enjoying four eggs a day at this point. It took them a long time to begin laying after their molt (the pekins began laying in October, the harlequins not until February). Every day we hope to find a fifth egg. Maybe tomorrow!
6-1=5
Sadly, Pinky is no longer with us. She hadn’t been acting normal in mid-July and we thought we might lose her then, but then she improved. Some days she moved slowly, but mostly she acted the same as the other ducks. Monday she was found dead. This was one of the reasons we got the two new ducks–in case something happened to any of the others.
As it is now, after getting the two new whiteys, all ducks have gone into their molt and we have not gotten any eggs since a couple of days after we got the whiteys. I guess the addition to the flock upset things so much, it threw them all into the molt. We knew it would happen at some point, but are sad to have no egg supply. The ducks are scraggly and there are feathers everywhere. Upon close examination, there are new feathers growing. Hopefully in another month or so we’ll begin to see eggs again and freshly feathered fowl.
Almost 100%
These ducks are really cranking them out! Almost every day we find four eggs from these four ducks. One day there were only three, and the next day five, so I suspect I missed one the first day, although I have heard it is possible for a duck to lay two in a day. When that happens, I’ll post a photo!
Usually the eggs are all in one of the nest boxes, although they have occasionally chosen a spot in the middle of the floor to make a nest. Funny. When we have enough extras, perhaps we’ll sell some to the highest bidder! (Or feed them to the dog.)
The winter weather really varies, from warmer days to colder ones. We’ve been keeping the pool full for them, although some days it never melts. They sure enjoy it when they can, and it isn’t much bother for us to keep it full, so we’re keeping them spoiled.
Four Ducks A- Laying
We’ve been getting three eggs almost every day, sometimes just two or one, but haven’t been sure whether all four ducks are laying. This morning there were 4 eggs, so now we know they’re all laying. So far, our egg eating has pretty much matched our egg production, so four layers is a good number for us. We’ve read that each of these Welsh Harlequin ducks lay an average of five eggs per week, so it seems we’re probably right on track.
Since the drakes are gone, the females are much calmer. It’s a nice little flock. When it got really cold in early December, we emptied their pool, which they missed. We had some warm days and nights last week, so filled it again for them, and they’ve had so much fun in it, we may just keep it up. Most nights it freezes over, and most days it thaws enough by afternoon that they can get in. As long as the well isn’t too frozen to pump water, I guess we’ll try to keep cleaning and filling it. In summer we were doing it every three days or so, now it’s ok to do every 4-5 days. With fewer ducks and colder temps it doesn’t seem to get as dirty.
Three Ducks A-Layin
Monday we had two eggs, and have had two each day since then, and today there were three, so certainly we have three layers, with one more to go. So now it will be…
Eggs for breakfast,
Egg salad sandwiches or hard-boiled eggs on salads for lunch,
Quiches, omelets & souffles for dinner.
Egg in the Nest Box
I found another egg this morning, and it was in the next box. I didn’t see it at first, but the next boxes had a lot of the wood shavings pushed out of them. When I shoved the shavings back in, something went bump, and sure enough, there was another egg. Two days in a row; I guess we’re in business. Thanks, girls!
Egg!!!
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| First Egg – 12/15/11 – Ducks at 27.5 weeks old. |
Way to go, girls! They’ve done it. One egg was found this morning, right in the middle of the duck house. Wahooo! I don’t know who laid it, of course, but my guess is “Orange”, the duck with the orange band on her leg. She has seemed to me the most mature and has the most distinct blue on her wing, indicating she’s the most completed with her molt process. This morning she’s being pretty vocal, as well, more so than the others. Now we’ll need to train them to lay them in the nest boxes. I put it into the box and will leave it there a bit to give her the idea that’s where it belongs. Keep up the good work, gals!
Slacker Quackers
These slacker quackers still have not laid any eggs. They are now 6 months old (27 weeks). We have read different ideas as to when they should commence, and had hoped that we would have eggs by now. In Storey’s Guide to Raising Ducks, David Holderread mentions in one place that they should commence between 16-20 weeks of age. In another place he suggests 20-24 weeks. This assumes adding artificial lighting in the fall to imitate spring. Another resource I found on the web said 22-26 weeks. When we hit 25 weeks we were still hopeful. In Ducks and Geese in Your Backyard, Rick Luttman says they won’t lay until the first spring after hatching. He may be right. Dang. We really wanted to have eggs by now.
We’ve tried to “imitate spring” by adding light and increasing that light 15 minutes per week, as suggested by Holderread. Since it’s been so cold (below freezing nightly, and sometimes all day long), we’ve added heat in their house at night. The ducks may appreciate the cozy warmth, but still no eggs.
On another note, we butchered Whitey and Drakey a couple of days ago. It’s just the four girls remaining. Whitey (the White Appleyard) wasn’t so cute anymore, which was the reason we kept him around for a while. He was bossy and protective of his girls, which wasn’t unexpected. He would frequently put his head down and run at us like he was going to come get us. Funny, really. We’d been calling him “Christmas” for a bit, and he just may be our Christmas dinner, depending on how many we’ll be feeding that day. He’s a LOT bigger than the others were. He dressed out at a little over 3 1/4 lbs. Drakey was about 1 3/4 lbs.
Now that winter is here, we found that on the coldest days, which have not been above freezing, the water freezes even during the day. Usually it isn’t so cold that the ducks can’t break through the surface of ice to get water, but on some days it got awfully thick between times they went to drink, and it was a mess. We ended up putting out an electric dog bowl, which is working well. On the coldest days even it freezes a bit, but it’s much better. At night, they don’t get water, which is what we’ve done for quite some time. They are locked in their house with no food or water.
We’ve also provided for them a nice shelter, to keep out the wind and snow and keep it off their food. It’s working out quite nicely, with the down slope on the windward side.
Boy, these ducks have the swankiest duck house and yard. You’d think they would return the favor and give us some eggs in return. They just don’t know how good they’ve got it.