by "Tripper" (tripe46)
Published 12/06/2017 at 08:59
by "Tripper" (tripe46)
Published 12/06/2017 at 08:59
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STARS: 3
The last of our 3 chickens to lay an egg finally dropped one this morning! Also it turns out that my boy Lawrence (the duck) is actually my girl Lawrence as she is laying eggs too, and they are huge!
Now we have too many eggs! I ate one of the duck eggs on top of a burger the other night, and it was fantastic.
Car Content:
A really pretty cooper
"PotbellyJoe and 42 others" (potbellyjoe)
12/06/2017 at 09:25, STARS: 3
I love hard-boiled chicken period for breakfast.
"Funktheduck" (funktheduck)
12/06/2017 at 09:34, STARS: 1
I had a pet bird that was sexed as male. Few years later, she laid an egg.
"random001" (random001)
12/06/2017 at 09:37, STARS: 0
So your boy Lawrence is your girl Jennifer Lawrence?
"OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars" (jakeauern)
12/06/2017 at 09:42, STARS: 1
Does the duck think it’s a chicken?
"Tripper" (tripe46)
12/06/2017 at 09:42, STARS: 1
Yea the guy at the store said it was hard to tell. When we got the chickens we had no plan to get a duck, but I saw the ducklings as my wife was taking delivery of the chickens that she ordered. So I said “I want that little guy back there, and I’m going to call him/her Lawrence”.
"Tripper" (tripe46)
12/06/2017 at 09:43, STARS: 2
Hah, ya. Others have suggested “Florence” but I’m sticking with Lawrence. She still looks like a Lawrence.
"Tripper" (tripe46)
12/06/2017 at 09:49, STARS: 4
The duck is somewhere between chicken, duck, and dog. When we let the birds out to roam the duck divides his time grazing with the chickens, splashing around in his baby pool, and chasing the Frisbee with the dog. Duck trying to beat dog to the Frisbee is hilarious.
"OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars" (jakeauern)
12/06/2017 at 09:50, STARS: 0
Now I want a duck. Does it sleep inside or with the chickens?
"haveacarortwoorthree2" (haveacarortwoorthree2)
12/06/2017 at 09:53, STARS: 0
Let that be a lesson — never sex your bird!
"Tripper" (tripe46)
12/06/2017 at 09:56, STARS: 1
The duck is super cool, the chickens are kind of dumb as you’d probably guess but the duck is smart. We heard a hawk screetch when we had them out one day and the chickens just went about their business. The duck hid next to the dog until it could make a run for the coop.
I recently built a “duck house” in the coop because the duck can’t get up the ladder to the hen house. So we would have to go out every night and pick her up and put her in there with the chickens. Now shes got her own spot. We have a heater for their water and have wrapped the coop with clear tarp to keep a little heat in.
"OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars" (jakeauern)
12/06/2017 at 09:59, STARS: 3
I like this duck.
"Shoop" (shoopdawoop993)
12/06/2017 at 10:06, STARS: 0
Did you just assume that ducks gender?
"Tripper" (tripe46)
12/06/2017 at 10:09, STARS: 0
Haha, I sure did.
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
12/06/2017 at 11:43, STARS: 0
Nice! We’re planning to get a couple ducks in the spring.
"Tripper" (tripe46)
12/06/2017 at 12:07, STARS: 0
Awesome, we’re going to get another in the spring as well. Lawrence had a buddy, but she was murdered by a fox before we had the coop built:( If you hold them a lot when they’re young they’ll be your buddy for life. Lawrence is cool with both of us but he loves my wife. He hops up into her lap to get his head scratched!
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
12/06/2017 at 14:05, STARS: 0
Nice. (sorry for the loss...) We’re hoping to get two (male & female, if we’re lucky), raise them in the garage (I guess?) and then eventually let them live out by our pond. The previous owners had some and there’s already a duck house out there.
Any advice?
"syaieya" (syaieya)
12/06/2017 at 14:58, STARS: 1
"Tripper" (tripe46)
12/06/2017 at 15:53, STARS: 1
That sounds good, they’ll love the pond. We raised our ducklings indoors in the unfinished part of the basement. Took them for swims in the bathtub etc... If you’ve got any predators, they’ll need somewhere to go at night when they’re grown. Ours go in the chicken coop which we had to make super secure because of foxes. We ran the wire mesh out almost 3 feet around the coop and let the grass grow through it so that they can’t dig underneath (they’ve tried).
As far as breeds, do your research. Lawrence is a Cayuga duck, and the other duck we had (Daphne) Was a Khaki Campbell duck. Both are known to be “quiet” Lawrence is quite for the most part, but during the warmer months she quacks her damn head off to be let out/fed.
If you have any questions as you go along, you know where to find me. Most of the places where you can buy ducklings are super knowledgeable.
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
12/06/2017 at 16:03, STARS: 0
Yeah, we have lots of coyotes around, so keeping them safe once they’re mostly independent will be a definite concern.
Letting them out & feeding them - more chores for the kids! =) Think they’ll be able to forage for themselves mostly around our pond, or will they still rely on us mostly for food?
Thanks! We’ll most likely be getting ours from a local farm supply place.
"Tripper" (tripe46)
12/06/2017 at 17:18, STARS: 1
I’m not 100% sure on the food, I think it depends on what’s available in/around the pond. Lawrence is really good at picking worms out of the ground, but since we don’t have a pond she depends mostly on us. There’s feed, but we mostly give her left over vegetable trimmings, or veggies that are starting to wither... stuff like that. Every once and a while stale bread etc.
If the pond is full of snails/small fish, they’ll probably be good to go, just have to keep an eye on them. You’ll need some sort of “treat” to get them to go back into their pen if they don’t go in when you want them to. Lawrence likes celery, and also mealworms.
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
12/06/2017 at 17:27, STARS: 0
Thanks for the info. I’m really looking forward to raising a couple with our kids. =)
"Tripper" (tripe46)
12/07/2017 at 08:15, STARS: 1
Anytime. Great idea for the kids. Our neighbors 3 y/o loves the birds!