Ducklings and Chicks

 

We have several new members of our little farm this spring!

Last November, on my daughter's birthday, all of our chickens were eaten by something. We have seen fox, bobcat, and racoons in our woods and assume that there have been coyote, as well. We suspect the fox, as the job was thorough and stealthy. 

But that meant we needed to get a new flock! So this year, we ordered 11 chicks from Ideal Poultry. Last year was actually a disaster all around when it came to getting chickens. We had ordered 10 Black Sex Link hens from Tractor Supply company. The website and confirmation email said that the chicks would arrive at the post office and that I was to pick them up when they gave me a call. Instead, our chicks arrived on our doorstep with no call. It was February, and although Texas can be warm, the chicks had come from Minnesota, which is not. 5 arrived dead, 2 more died within 24 hours, and an 8th lasted for 2 days before expiring. We got our money back, but the loss of 8 chicks was a blow. 

The worst part was that my daughters were home with my husband when they discovered the chicks. I was at a home show with a friend. The girls were very excited that the chicks were here! But when they opened the box and found the carnage (they actually thought that all 8 were dead, but I helped them with the semi-living 3 when I arrived home an hour later), they wailed! Daddy had them video call me, but it was too loud at the show for me to hear them, and they were crying while talking, which makes them even more difficult to understand. 

This year, we had a much better time of it. I researched more than I did last year to find either a local producer or at least one that had good reviews. I went with Ideal because they had the breeds I wanted and are located in Texas. They overnight chicks to all Texas locations and that made me feel more confident ordering again. 

When I went to order the chicks, I noticed that they were having a duckling sale! I don't know why, but they were selling a random assortment of ducks for $2.12 each! Currently, ducklings are $6.49 to $7.99 each and that is before the Easter surcharge (apparently, people like to get ducklings for Easter, so they charge a dollar more per duck). I decided to order 5 ducklings! 

All ducks are sold straight line, which means they are not sexed before they are sent to you. This meant that we had no idea if we would have all males, all females, or a mix. The deal was also on random breeds- you could get any of the breeds that Ideal carries. So, when they first arrived, we didn't know what we had. 

The chicks were easier to tell. I ordered 11- 10 hens and a rooster. In hindsight, I probably should have waited to see if all the hens actually were hens before ordering a rooster. There is about a 90% success rate with Ideal, but that doesn't mean anything if you get all of the 10%. Luckily, it looks like we did get what we ordered. Just waiting for our rooster to start crowing to be sure. 

We ordered 2 Black Sex links (also known as Black Stars), 2 Brown Stars, 2 Blue Stars, 2 Rhode Island Whites, 2 Olive Eggers, and a Welsummer rooster. The Welsummer is a Dutch breed, so our kids asked what names were Dutch. I mentioned Holland and they liked it, to which I joked, "We'll call him Tom for short." They were confused until they saw it written down. 

About 3 days after the chicks arrived, though, Timid was sick. She curled up her feet and would not get up. We didn't know what to do, and when I Googled the problem, it said the possibilities were Marek's disease (which does not show up in chickens that young) and a riboflavin deficiency. Timid died the next morning and 2 more of our chicks were curling up their feet. So I ran to the store for some chick vitamins and within a couple of days the two were back to good health. 

The chickens are very easy to identify except for the Brown Stars and Olive Eggers- they look about the same. Even now, the three we have left (Timid was one of those two breeds) are mysteries. I guess we'll find out more as they begin to lay eggs. At different times we could say that 2 looked alike and the other two looked alike, but as each week passes, it is harder. I'm hoping that our early assessment that Stripes and Nibbles are Olive Eggers and Belle and Timid are/were Brown Stars is correct. I'll keep you updated.

It's only been 5 weeks and they are HUGE!!

But if you think chicks grow quickly, you should see the ducks!

You'll notice that Magellan is a bit small. When she was 2 1/2 weeks old, she was dropped on her head on the sidewalk. It was harrowing and my mama heart broke when I heard the cry of the child who dropped her. Luckily, the internet helped us to know how to nurse her. With head injuries, the brain can swell and cause wry neck. This is a huge problem because the duck can't sit up, stand up, or walk. She kept trying to get herself into a position that she could sit in, but her neck kept swaying and tipping her onto her side or back. It was horrible looking. The swelling takes a couple days to go down, during which time you have to carry the duck to food and water. Because she was so small, I did this about every hour during the day. We also separated her from her friends, which was sad as ducks are such social animals. I tried to hold her with her friends every day and I held her while we did school so she could have some society of humans. 

After 2 days, she was able to sit up! It took another 2 for her to be able to wobble to her food and water. The day after that we let her join her friends, who had grown a ton in a week, while her energy had all gone into healing. So, she is about a week behind them in growth. But we don't care because she is back to doing all the duck things and looks like she'll grow into a great duck! 

Now that the ducks are older, we can also begin to see their breeds better and sex them! We were super lucky! It looks like we have one drake and 4 hens, which is what we wanted! Cautious is all boy- he is larger than the others and has a raspy voice. He also looks out for his girls, which is why he is called Cautious. He and Lt. Duckinald Quacklay (formerly Wanderer) are Pekin ducks. The Lt. has a very female quack. They will be all white and large. Ambula is a female crested Khaki Campbell. Magellan still peeps because she is a week behind the others, but we're pretty sure she is female. She is a crested Black Swedish. And Sniffles is a female Black Swedish. We plan to breed from them eventually.

We hope to have tons of chicken and duck eggs by about July!

We have one other addition and one subtraction from our little farm. Out big goat, Oreo, was getting to be too destructive (he broke every fence we put him in) and too aggressive toward our little goat. So, he had to go. Luckily, some very brave friends of ours adopted him and even got him a girl to hopefully calm his raging hormones (I'm not sure that will work, but we'll see!). And a friend of a friend offered us their Nigerian Dwarf as a replacement. His name is Loki, but we usually call him Mini Goat (to keep with the theme). 

Both of these goats are the same breed (although, I will admit that I don't know their family tree). You can see how different they are, which may indicate that one or both have been cross breeds in their tree or else it could indicate that they were bred for different characteristics. 

Loki has not yet warmed up to us. He calls to us to feed and water him, and he is willing to be within a few inches of us. But if we try to pet him, he shies away. The General, on the other hand, is very friendly. We've had him since he was about 10 months old. Both goats are a bit over 2 years now. We may breed one or both of them in future, but right now they are just pampered pets. 

If you're wondering about stats for our ducks and chicks, you can see them on Ideal Poultry's website.