[matilda duck]

Hi what a brilliant site this is....so friendly.    I am new to this as you will probably tell.  I had 4 ducks in July... Matilda, jemima, bob the builder( my little girl is only 3) and jeremy ( think top gear my lad is 7).  I brought them as Khaki cambells I think someone saw me coming!!! they are 4 girls, again 1 is a lad. They are just so funny I cannot believe how much they have changed our life!!  We are now getting chickens and have converted the shed this will be their new home.........any idea of what would be the best? we would like nice chickens as the ducks are very nervous and wont come anywhere near us... thanks for taking the time

[chickchick]

welcome matilda duck!
ha ha you have the chicken bug too, its very addictive isnt it?!!
our 3 led to 3 more and im thinking of getting some more!!!
the friendliest i was told are isa browns/warrens, but my amber is quite feisty!!
my belle blue is a lovely girl and my light sussex, actually all of them are lovely, just depends on whos boss!! amber is top of our pecking order!!
this probably hasnt helped much, but good luck, we love it!!

[poultrygeist]

Hello matilda. Welcome in.  

Can't advise on chicken breeds. We only have Amberlinks and they're pretty feisty when they want to be.  

Sounds like you'll be getting some fertile duck eggs before too long. Are you going to let a few hatch ??

Rob

[Kate and her Ducks]

Welcome to the forums!!!

I too have a Matilda and a Jemima but they are white Campbells and I agree pretty nervous.
Love mine and I hope you have fun with the chickens.

[matilda duck]

Hello matilda. Welcome in.  

Can't advise on chicken breeds. We only have Amberlinks and they're pretty feisty when they want to be.  

Sounds like you'll be getting some fertile duck eggs before too long. Are you going to let a few hatch ??

Rob

 

Hi rob erm well this is the real dilema!  We brought the ducks for their eggs i really wanted chickens but my husband is terrified of rats so we were told to get ducks instead.... Well now we have found out that one is a boy we are not sure what to do??? They havn't started laying anyway yet.....so being new to all this will we be able to have the eggs if they ever lay or have we got to let them hatch incase they are fertile??    I know this is probably obvious to most but..... anyway chickens are due in 2 weeks time..... :?  :?

[poultrygeist]

Rest assured that you can eat the fertililised ones just the same as the unfertilised. You won't notice any difference, unless you keep them in a warm place for a while  :shock:

At least you'll have the option, should you wish to go for ducklings  

Kate, Vember and others can advise on that.  

Rob

[matilda duck]

Rest assured that you can eat the fertililised ones just the same as the unfertilised. You won't notice any difference, unless you keep them in a warm place for a while  :shock:

At least you'll have the option, should you wish to go for ducklings  

Kate, Vember and others can advise on that.  

Rob

 Oh thanks!!! Your help is really appreciated this is such a useful site thankyou.

[poultrygeist]

You are very welcome.  

I'm merely repeating what I've learnt from others. I've learnt a lot about ducklings and ducks from several people (mainly Kate and Vember) and about chickens from many more.

It is indeed a very useful, made so by its members.

Rob  

[Vember]

Hi Matilda

Welcome to the mad house, we're all quackers  

Like Rob said no problems eating fertile eggies, they all taste the same...Scrummy is the word I'd use

Only one small thing that I feel I really should tell you, but it might be best not telling your hubby, rats aren't fussy  Ducks, chucks, geese they'll go round em all if they think there will be food near by even wild bird food  :shock:

Best advice that I can give on that score is feed the ducks in as open place as possible, rats love hidey holes so don't give them any, and don't over feed it's left over food outside that's the biggest attraction  


Hope to see some piccies of your babies soon


Sarah

[matilda duck]

Hi Matilda

Welcome to the mad house, we're all quackers  

Like Rob said no problems eating fertile eggies, they all taste the same...Scrummy is the word I'd use

Only one small thing that I feel I really should tell you, but it might be best not telling your hubby, rats aren't fussy  Ducks, chucks, geese they'll go round em all if they think there will be food near by even wild bird food  :shock:

Best advice that I can give on that score is feed the ducks in as open place as possible, rats love hidey holes so don't give them any, and don't over feed it's left over food outside that's the biggest attraction  


Hope to see some piccies of your babies soon


Sarah

 Thanks for that advice...I will do that!!

[poultrygeist]

We've had chickens (in a fairly dark, overgrown corner) for 8 months and I've never seen a rat, nor any sign of one. We have mice, because teh cat leaves their remnants by the door, but then not an infestation.

We feed in a hanging hopper. There are some minor spills on the ground but the run is fairly secure.
When we had the ducks in the garden, there was often some corn in the garden at night and it was always there in the morning still.
They're not inevtiable, providing you don;t have them now and if you do get them, there are steps you can take to get rid of them.

If you search on the forums for topics about them, there is some good advice from Bodger, Muntjac, and others.

Rob

[Vember]

We didn't have rats till we got the birds

They are nasty horrid things

I've seen first hand the damage they can do to sheds trying to get in for corn!!!!

Thankfully I got rid of ours & I'm alot more careful now with food etc..


Better to be safe than sorry in my opinion




Sarah

[Kazoo]

Despite living next to open fields we never had rats until we got hens.  Once you get them they are very difficult to get rid of and breed so quickly!  Ours weren't shy and would sit with the chickens eating with them in an open space in daylight.  You could go right up to them before they ran off, they even took over my pond.  Be very vigilent regarding hygiene and keeping all food in metal bins.  I had to remove all my wild bird food and hubby filled all the rat tunnels with concrete, laid bait and traps and eventually after months they went.  I still leave traps about and always clear up any leftovers from the hens.  I never feed them in their holding pen either, they just have to wait for freedom to feed now.

[matilda duck]

Despite living next to open fields we never had rats until we got hens.  Once you get them they are very difficult to get rid of and breed so quickly!  Ours weren't shy and would sit with the chickens eating with them in an open space in daylight.  You could go right up to them before they ran off, they even took over my pond.  Be very vigilent regarding hygiene and keeping all food in metal bins.  I had to remove all my wild bird food and hubby filled all the rat tunnels with concrete, laid bait and traps and eventually after months they went.  I still leave traps about and always clear up any leftovers from the hens.  I never feed them in their holding pen either, they just have to wait for freedom to feed now.

Oh dear we have open fields at the back of us so I'm asking for trouble here really...hows the best way to feed chickens then???

[Kazoo]

Hi There

My hens freerange but they are contained in a pen until I let them out.  I used to leave their mash so that when their automated pop hole opened they had something to eat straight away.  Now they have to wait until I let them into the garden where they get their mash in a hopper which is placed on a large tray - this allows me to completely clear the ground at the end of the day as all the bits they kick about stay in the tray.  Any treats they get are also placed on a tray so that I can clear any debris easily (not that they leave much anyway!). Basically I make sure that food is not left overnight which  would tempt the rats in.  The girls are quite used to this and seem to know that there is no food first thing only when I let them out.  They always have water though.