Recent content by thewhimsicalflock

Yes, I really struggled with looking at it when it first happened. I honestly was planning to cull, my husband convinced me to give them a chance. They're honestly doing great. The wounds are extensive but they're active, eating, drinking, quacking, etc. I've been really vigilant with putting...

They're still here. They're on the porch in a dry pool. It is definitely more than just feathers missing? The entire top layer of skin is gone. One of them is missing skin under her feathers. You can see the transition from muscle or fat to skin in the photo?

They seem to be doing better!

I'm so glad she healed!!!

I'm sorry you had to deal with that! Completely understand though. The ones here have definitely reproduced at a fast rate. We went in last night and there were dozens everywhere. It was eerie. We left our chickens (they roost) but moved our ducks to a smaller, unused coop. Our wounded girls...

I posted here yesterday about my ducks being wounded by rats/mice. The wounds are extensive and on their backs. I have been treating them with Vetericyn and Neosporin. I've kept them in a dog crate on the lanai. The issue is, ducks are notoriously messy/dirty. This AM I woke up to a filthy...

Thank you for this! I have been washing with warm water, and treating with the Vetericyn. I added Neosporin to this last wash after reading this. I dilued .5 tsp of Prairie Pride into two quarts of water and gave it to them and have been feeding them some of their favorite fruit + bird feed...

It is pretty bad. But they are active and alert, eating and drinking. I just towel washed them with warm water and some dish soap and applied Vetericyn. I tried to bandage it with a human grade burn gauze but they didn't stay on. They have electrolytes and are in a dog crate on the porch. If...

I was cleaning out the coop this morning and noticed one of my ducks sitting in the corner (the rest were all outside). I picked her up and the skin on her back and all of her feathers was gone. Her sibling (another buff) had the same. Picture is below, warning to those who are squeamish. My...

I have a flock of 22 chickens, eight ducks, and three guinea fowl. They all eat from a large rain barrel converted into a feeder. I opened the top and it was full of rat poop. I can only assume they've consumed some. I know what to do to prevent this from happening again (will move feeder into...

I completely missed this, thank you for the suggestions. I've been keeping my chicks in a run but the ducks have been roaming. Today, I got my first duck egg and quickly after lost my first duck. Bobcat came and took our only male right out of his pool.

Thank you!

Hello. We recently lost two of our flock to a bobcat. I'm planning on creating a fenced in area of our backyard with an electric fence so that my girls can still roam. We're going to do what we did with our goats, but eight feet of fence instead of four, and it will be electrified. We are...

That's exactly what I'm thinking re: electric. I'll probably do eight feet tall in the "orchard" directly behind the house. I used to volunteer at a wolf sanctuary down here. We were on the other end re: dispatch and relocating. Now that I've been on a farm, I've 'switched sides' to some...

I think what I'm looking at is an electric fence with t-posts, the coop on the inside, and then I just need a way of closing the space in from the top (if this helps).