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Post by aliahna on Jan 25, 2009 9:44:01 GMT 8
Hi everyone Just thought I would introduce myself. My name is Alexandra and I live down in Wagin. I am quite new to poulty and have 3 Isas, 4 silkies, 3 bantam wyandottes, and 2 beautiful dark campbells. I hatched the campbells from some eggs that I bought off of Tina - Thanks Tina! I will try and post some pictures of the campbells, they are 7 weeks old now. I love my chooks but I have to say the ducks have won my heart. Anyway, I have been a member of this forum for a while and have been reading all the posts. I have learnt so much from everyone - thanks. Alexandra
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Post by Cluck N Waddle on Jan 25, 2009 15:01:36 GMT 8
Hi Alexandra, Welcome Your ducklings are looking good. We'd love to see some piccies of your chooks too
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Post by lakelands on Jan 25, 2009 15:13:27 GMT 8
Hi Alexandra your ducklings look lovely. Look forwrd to hearing about your flock and maybe some more pics soon too. Your vegie patch looks good too. I'm sure the chooks and ducks love it in there lol
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Post by aliahna on Jan 26, 2009 8:04:04 GMT 8
Thanks for the welcome Cluck N Waddle & Lakelands. Yeah, the chooks love the vegie patch, they spend most of their day in there. I've got big holes everywhere where they dust bath themselves lol. I will try & get some photos of my chooks for you soon. Alexandra.
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Post by chooksrus on Jan 26, 2009 10:04:02 GMT 8
Hi Alexandra, Welcome to this great site. Love the pics of your ducks. They look like real characters.
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Post by horses7 on Jan 26, 2009 11:37:28 GMT 8
Welcome to WAP, Love your pics
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Post by fluffychook on Jan 26, 2009 17:49:55 GMT 8
Hi Alexandra, I have wondered so many times how you went with those eggs, now I know. They look great, can you tell what sex they are yet? Oh and welcome to the site.
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Post by aliahna on Jan 26, 2009 20:08:13 GMT 8
Hi Tina Thanks again for the eggs. I hatched these two (fluffy & sticky because that's what they looked like when my daughter first saw them), and there was one other that died a couple of days before it was due. I felt a bit sad, but these things happen when hatching eggs. You will be happy to know that fluffy & sticky hatched easily, and have been very fit and healthy right from the start.
As for sex, at this stage I think I maybe have 1 boy & 1 girl. One has been honking quite loudly for weeks now, while the other one is still cheeping. The one I think is a boy also has a fairly green bill, and is quite a bit bigger than the other. However, I can't see any hint of a greenish tinge to its head yet when they are out in the sun. Do you have any hints on the best way to tell? Alexandra
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Post by fluffychook on Jan 27, 2009 7:41:13 GMT 8
Sounds like you have one of each. The girls are very noisy and loud, the boys make hardly any sound until much older. The one with a green bill is a drake and won't get his green head until he gets his adult plumage another hint is that he is much larger than the other one. But I find the bill is a great indicator.
My ducklings, seems wrong to call them that now, are about 10 weeks old and are bigger than their parents. They have just started to get more mature feathers and you can see bits of green in the drakes head in the sunlight.
I am so pleased that all went well with the hatch, even though your lost one which is very sad, but these ones look very healthy and happy. I have put a sprinkler in with mine on hot days to help cool them down, they are sooooo funny to watch as they try to catch the water drops.
Tell your daughter I love their names, especially partial to Fluffy....lol....and would love to see updated pictures as they get older.
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Post by fluffychook on Jan 27, 2009 7:45:40 GMT 8
Can you tell what you fed your ducklings on and for how long. We had a problem with Angel wing and think that we fed them starter for a couple of weeks too long. Hides has ducklings at about 4 weeks old and we want to make sure that they don't develop this condition. Thanks Tina
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Post by aliahna on Jan 27, 2009 9:00:01 GMT 8
Yeah, I had a lot of trouble finding feed for my two - what a mission. I started with the Milne duck crumble as it was the only duck food I could find anywhere in my area. But when I read the pack, it said that it was for fattening up meat ducks from hatch to cull. I definitely didn't want them to grow too fast for the exact reason you mentioned. So I fed them that until they were about 3 weeks old, then I bought some milne layer crumble which had only 14% protein. I mixed this in with the duck crumble, about 1 part layer to 2.5 parts duck crumble. I didn't want to use too much layer as I read the high calcium can cause leg deformities in growing ducks. Being mixed with the duck crumble would have brought that down and I haven't had any problems with their legs. At about 5 weeks I started to add some wheat as well. I have finally managed to get hold of some of the wesfeeds grower pellets, but they are just as high in protein as the duck crumbles. I have been using the grower pellets now for the past week in place of the duck crumbles, but still mixing them with the layer crumbles and wheat to keep the protein down. I have kept a close eye on their wings, and they have shown no signs of Angel Wing at all. Hope this helps.
I'll definitely keep you updated on their progress, and get some more pictures as they get older. Alexandra.
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Post by fluffychook on Jan 27, 2009 12:24:18 GMT 8
Thanks for the info Alexandra, what you did was obviously the way to go. I finished up adding wheat to my grower pellets to drop the protein percentage down, but by the time we realised they were developing Angel wing and taped their wings it was too late. Taping definately helped, but if we had of followed our instincts a week earlier we may have had higher success.
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