Apologies for so many posts. I am attempting to make my site more user friendly, hence all the new pages.
This is a page devoted entirely to predator issues.
Another poultry tragedy
Livestock predators
Livestock predators--update
Well, goodbye ducks
Showing posts with label poultry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poultry. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Livestock predators
Warning, graphic details of animal killings.
We put our turkeys out so they could enjoy the great outdoors. The next morning Ed found them dead. GRRRR! What is eating our livestock?
Well, our last three animal attacks all have similar traits. At first I thought it was our neighbor dog, but now I don't.
When our ducks were killed, they had their necks wrung. And one of ducks had the breast ripped off and missing.
When our duckling was killed, it had been pulled through the chain link fencing, half of its breast and foot ripped off and missing.
And the turkeys: both necks wrung, breasts missing.
All of the killings were at night. I don't think it was during twilight, as the dogs are usually awake enough when the sun is out to bark their head off. But I don't know that for sure.
The fact that the duckling was pulled through the fence tells me it is probably something that hunts with its hands and possibly a thumb. Possibly a coyote snuck up on the duck and pulled it by its feathers with its mouth (I've witnessed my dogs attempting to do this).
And then we have the turkeys. Their fencing wasn't as high as we were going to make it in days to come. It was only about 3 feet tall. So something got in there but couldn't figure out how to take off with the whole animal.
Each time our animals were killed they were mutilated in place. If it were a coyote, or the cougar in the area, I would think the entire animal would be missing. But they weren't. So that tells me it is an animal that is small and possibly cannot carry its prey.
I'm thinking that I am dealing most likely with a raccoon. They are notorious in this area. I had dismissed the idea originally, as the raccoons in our old backyard were no problem. But there probably isn't enough food in this area to keep them so friendly so they have to hunt.
We brought our video cameras from the old house, so we've set up a trap with the old turkey bodies. Well, its not a trap really, but the turkeys are left out and we are recording what happens. Hopefully we will be able to see what is out there.
We put our turkeys out so they could enjoy the great outdoors. The next morning Ed found them dead. GRRRR! What is eating our livestock?
Well, our last three animal attacks all have similar traits. At first I thought it was our neighbor dog, but now I don't.
When our ducks were killed, they had their necks wrung. And one of ducks had the breast ripped off and missing.
When our duckling was killed, it had been pulled through the chain link fencing, half of its breast and foot ripped off and missing.
And the turkeys: both necks wrung, breasts missing.
All of the killings were at night. I don't think it was during twilight, as the dogs are usually awake enough when the sun is out to bark their head off. But I don't know that for sure.
The fact that the duckling was pulled through the fence tells me it is probably something that hunts with its hands and possibly a thumb. Possibly a coyote snuck up on the duck and pulled it by its feathers with its mouth (I've witnessed my dogs attempting to do this).
And then we have the turkeys. Their fencing wasn't as high as we were going to make it in days to come. It was only about 3 feet tall. So something got in there but couldn't figure out how to take off with the whole animal.
Each time our animals were killed they were mutilated in place. If it were a coyote, or the cougar in the area, I would think the entire animal would be missing. But they weren't. So that tells me it is an animal that is small and possibly cannot carry its prey.
I'm thinking that I am dealing most likely with a raccoon. They are notorious in this area. I had dismissed the idea originally, as the raccoons in our old backyard were no problem. But there probably isn't enough food in this area to keep them so friendly so they have to hunt.
We brought our video cameras from the old house, so we've set up a trap with the old turkey bodies. Well, its not a trap really, but the turkeys are left out and we are recording what happens. Hopefully we will be able to see what is out there.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Breeding and/or selling poultry
I bought an egg incubator a few weeks ago. I tried to make my own, but had a hard time getting the temperature consistent. Evidently poultry needs a very specific temperature to hatch. I would love it if my ducks/chickens would lay their own eggs, but after finding a huuuge nest of eggs in my duck run and realizing that my hen was never going to sit on them, I decided I should incubate.
Many poultry breeds have had their broodiness (their instinct to nest) bred out of them. This is because they stop laying when they are broody and it is hard to get eggs away from them.
I have about 25 Cayuga duck eggs in the incubator. All but one so far has appeared to be developing. I posted an ad up on craigslist a week or so ago that said I had duck eggs in the incubator I think the majority are spoken for omce they hatch! I guess it helps that I have a jillion eggs just before Easter.
I also have about 15 of my Delaware chickens in the incubator. No one has spoken for the chickens yet but am not worried about that. I sold 4 laying hens about three weeks ago for $20 each.
Evidently people really want the hatching eggs for themselves. I posted an ad up on craigslist a week-ish ago and sold a dozen eggs for $9 and the next few dozens are spoken for. I also sold three started Araucana pullets.
Poultry is a hot commodity around Portland. I never intended to do any sort of side biz with eggs/chickens but thought I would just offer any extra for sale. Except that right now I don't have any extras! And three of my Delaware hens are my mom's christmas presents.
So I've decided to expand a little and add three additional breeding chicken flocks. They are all different breeds with differing characteristics. Australorps, which are supposed to be very big and heavy layers. Easter eggers, which are docile and will lay all sort of different colors from blue/green to pink. And Stars, which are sex-linked, meaning the males and females are different colors when they are born.
Also, I have ordered a batch of Blue Slate turkey eggs. They are a rare, heritage breed that is supposed to have very good flavor. They breed naturally unlike most commercial turkey strains, which have to be artificially inseminated because their breasts are bred to be huge and are too large for them to hold themselves upright. I've read that turkeys can be a pain to rear, but I really like turkey and would think it would be nice to maintain my own breeding flock and sell any extras.
So that will end up being a lot of birds. But, I will need the fertilizer they create. Not to mention they have been eating the sod that refused to die after Ed tilled it three times last fall. And eating cutworms and whatever bugs. And if people still want the hatching eggs or just eggs for eating I could have a bit of extra cash.
Many poultry breeds have had their broodiness (their instinct to nest) bred out of them. This is because they stop laying when they are broody and it is hard to get eggs away from them.
I have about 25 Cayuga duck eggs in the incubator. All but one so far has appeared to be developing. I posted an ad up on craigslist a week or so ago that said I had duck eggs in the incubator I think the majority are spoken for omce they hatch! I guess it helps that I have a jillion eggs just before Easter.
I also have about 15 of my Delaware chickens in the incubator. No one has spoken for the chickens yet but am not worried about that. I sold 4 laying hens about three weeks ago for $20 each.
Evidently people really want the hatching eggs for themselves. I posted an ad up on craigslist a week-ish ago and sold a dozen eggs for $9 and the next few dozens are spoken for. I also sold three started Araucana pullets.
Poultry is a hot commodity around Portland. I never intended to do any sort of side biz with eggs/chickens but thought I would just offer any extra for sale. Except that right now I don't have any extras! And three of my Delaware hens are my mom's christmas presents.
So I've decided to expand a little and add three additional breeding chicken flocks. They are all different breeds with differing characteristics. Australorps, which are supposed to be very big and heavy layers. Easter eggers, which are docile and will lay all sort of different colors from blue/green to pink. And Stars, which are sex-linked, meaning the males and females are different colors when they are born.
Also, I have ordered a batch of Blue Slate turkey eggs. They are a rare, heritage breed that is supposed to have very good flavor. They breed naturally unlike most commercial turkey strains, which have to be artificially inseminated because their breasts are bred to be huge and are too large for them to hold themselves upright. I've read that turkeys can be a pain to rear, but I really like turkey and would think it would be nice to maintain my own breeding flock and sell any extras.
So that will end up being a lot of birds. But, I will need the fertilizer they create. Not to mention they have been eating the sod that refused to die after Ed tilled it three times last fall. And eating cutworms and whatever bugs. And if people still want the hatching eggs or just eggs for eating I could have a bit of extra cash.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Cayuga ducks
About a year ago when we were living in the city I was considering switching our poultry to ducks, as I have heard that they love eating slugs. Then I found out that they are awfully noisy. My mom has a flock of 30 or so ducks, and they are really loud--quacking until the middle of the night.
I read about Indian Runner and Khaki Campbell ducks, which rival chickens in their egg production. Not many duck breeds lay very many eggs. I was pretty sold on one of those breeds until I found out about these cayuga ducks.
I traded two of my Delaware hens for this pair of ducks. The cayuga breed lays a pretty good amount of eggs per year, and best of all, they are relatively quiet. We can hardly hear them.
The other day I discovered four eggs that had been laid recently. Since I didn't know when exactly they were laid and had been sitting out for so long I decided not to eat them, instead, I hope they will hatch! We will see.
FYI, ducks eggs have a significantly larger yolk and therefore a higher fat and cholesterol content. They don't really make good scrambled or fried eggs but they are particularly good in baked foods, cookies, french toast.
Anybody else have experience raising ducks?
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