Originally posted on another forum Sun 20th March, copypasted from there:
Apparently, four dogs and three cats wasn't enough, so we've now supplemented our menagerie with five chickens and two ducks.
Here we have, from left to right, Gary (she's a troublemaker), a currently unnamed Sussex White, Claudia (the small puffball at the back), Cynthia, Clara, and the two ducks Gadaffi and Priscilla, Queen of Ducks.
The water tub you see on the right is a temporary measure until we get a bigger pool, but I'm most likely going to end up digging a pond at the end of the run that I'm currently digging over and sealing off - it's twice again the length of this enclosure, but I had to dig over the old vegetable patch before I can put chicken wire up tomorrow. I'd just replaced that tub of water and popped back inside to get my camera - this pic is less than a minute after I put the fresh, clean water down. Gadaffi rolled in mud just as my brother was picking her out on Saturday and she's spent the last two days cleaning herself up.
We originally only had Gadaffi, but picked up Priscilla, Queen of Ducks today to give her a bit of company. She latched right on to the slightly bigger Gadaffi and they've been inseparable all day.
This is a side view of Claudia - she's not doing anything weird with her head, that's how she stands normally. She has strange, wavy feathers and she bounces like a ball when she runs.
Cynthia, at the front, came with a very, very hard glob of **** wedged on to the rear claw of her left foot. It must have been there for a while, because it was rock-solid - after 10mins soaking in water, I still had to cut it away with a pair of scissors. Clara, the black on the left, made two escape attempts today - apparently 6' 6" of wire enclosure isn't high enough, so I've added an extra 2' of chicken wire around the borders of the neighbour's garden - at least if she escapes she'll still be in our garden.
The pink door leads into their shed. It was originally a complex built for the 8 puppies we brought back from Ireland, where the bitch's owner had recently died and the son would have drowned them if it weren't less trouble to let us take them away. We later went back and got the bitch, but our pack of 9 has dwindled to 4 - the bitch and 3 of the pups. Now they live in the house, it serves well enough. I've built two units with 5 separate compartments to roost the chickens at night and the ducks will sleep on the floor, where I've placed two trays beneath the units mounted on the walls.
So far Gadaffi, Clara and the white have each laid an egg - I've never had duck eggs before, so that'll be fun to try. They're all layers so we should have a steady supply coming in - it seems weird to feed the shells back to them, but until we get some proper grit apparently it's very good for their eggs. Aside from that it's basic poultry feed and vegetable mash, which they love. They'll be scratching around for worms and the like soon enough, and Priscilla, Queen of Ducks found a couple of snails soon after arriving - never knew ducks ate snails, so I've learned something already.
Apparently, four dogs and three cats wasn't enough, so we've now supplemented our menagerie with five chickens and two ducks.
Here we have, from left to right, Gary (she's a troublemaker), a currently unnamed Sussex White, Claudia (the small puffball at the back), Cynthia, Clara, and the two ducks Gadaffi and Priscilla, Queen of Ducks.
The water tub you see on the right is a temporary measure until we get a bigger pool, but I'm most likely going to end up digging a pond at the end of the run that I'm currently digging over and sealing off - it's twice again the length of this enclosure, but I had to dig over the old vegetable patch before I can put chicken wire up tomorrow. I'd just replaced that tub of water and popped back inside to get my camera - this pic is less than a minute after I put the fresh, clean water down. Gadaffi rolled in mud just as my brother was picking her out on Saturday and she's spent the last two days cleaning herself up.
We originally only had Gadaffi, but picked up Priscilla, Queen of Ducks today to give her a bit of company. She latched right on to the slightly bigger Gadaffi and they've been inseparable all day.
This is a side view of Claudia - she's not doing anything weird with her head, that's how she stands normally. She has strange, wavy feathers and she bounces like a ball when she runs.
Cynthia, at the front, came with a very, very hard glob of **** wedged on to the rear claw of her left foot. It must have been there for a while, because it was rock-solid - after 10mins soaking in water, I still had to cut it away with a pair of scissors. Clara, the black on the left, made two escape attempts today - apparently 6' 6" of wire enclosure isn't high enough, so I've added an extra 2' of chicken wire around the borders of the neighbour's garden - at least if she escapes she'll still be in our garden.
The pink door leads into their shed. It was originally a complex built for the 8 puppies we brought back from Ireland, where the bitch's owner had recently died and the son would have drowned them if it weren't less trouble to let us take them away. We later went back and got the bitch, but our pack of 9 has dwindled to 4 - the bitch and 3 of the pups. Now they live in the house, it serves well enough. I've built two units with 5 separate compartments to roost the chickens at night and the ducks will sleep on the floor, where I've placed two trays beneath the units mounted on the walls.
So far Gadaffi, Clara and the white have each laid an egg - I've never had duck eggs before, so that'll be fun to try. They're all layers so we should have a steady supply coming in - it seems weird to feed the shells back to them, but until we get some proper grit apparently it's very good for their eggs. Aside from that it's basic poultry feed and vegetable mash, which they love. They'll be scratching around for worms and the like soon enough, and Priscilla, Queen of Ducks found a couple of snails soon after arriving - never knew ducks ate snails, so I've learned something already.
Love it.
