Bubblingbrooks Journey - Salut!

[lorihadams]

My mom's church had an old fashioned "pounding" for us. Everyone brings something for the couple getting hitched. The term "pounding" comes from where everyone would bring a pound of everything for the new couple, like a pound of flour or a pound of sugar or a pound of bacon or whatever.

They bought a laundry basket and put all our gifts in it....we got all kinds of stuff. I've done that for baby showers and weddings too.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

One wedding down, off to the next soon.

We had never attended an Anabaptist flavored wedding before. It was a treat
Now we know what to expect with future weddings in our meeting.
Details later, and maybe a pic or two.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

DHs job "ends" at the end of the month. He is welcome to stay on as needed according to what happens with fishing guiding and if and when a slope job is found.
In preparation, we are cutting our internet package down to the lowest and slowest.
Depending on what we end up with, we will save $50-$75 a month.

We have sold 3 of the goats to cut costs as well. They will be gone this Saturday.
We will breed the new one and her mama this fall, and work on refining our herd to fit our needs. The kid will certainly of good weight come fall. She is very big and shoing no sign of her being half Nigerian dwarf.
Hope to have a share program going in a couple of years!

After observing our Muscovy's, I have been struck with how self sufficient they are.
They really have no taste or desire for the grains we give them, except for the BOSS. I know that will change come winter, but I am thinking about what it would be like to have two breeding pairs to winter over, and then letting them raise clutches over the summer for fall butchering.
If all they want to eat is forage in summer, the cost savings over doing meat chickens will be huge.
I have a large area that I can grow barley grass on in the summer, reseeding a couple times even, that will offer more greens, plus I can wander around the forest and roadsides and bring them all kinds of goodies as needed.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

 

[TanksHill]

Very handsome!!!

 

[justusnak]

very pretty ducks. Are they for breeding or eating?

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

very pretty ducks. Are they for breeding or eating?

Breeding for eating!
See post prior to pics

 

[BirdBrain]

The ducks really turned out beautiful!! If I had it to do over again, I would not have more than one male during breeding season. The only reason I kept two was incase something happened to one of them over the winter. Instead of keeping two pairs, you may want to think about getting an aditional two females instead. Or overwintering two pairs and dispatching the lesser of the two come spring time.

Charlie hatched out 10 babies last week and Digit started sitting on 15 eggs this week. The kids have been given permission to sell the females if they wish but we will probably keep most of the males for freezer camp. If you are interested, let me know.

With one drake and three ducks, you can end up with quite a few offspring by the end of the summer. Having two drakes is what got Digit off cycle of her sisters. They were both setting but she ended up laying eggs in many different spots due to the tension between the drakes and inability to consistantly get to her nest box.

Did you get any pictures from those weddings as you hoped? I'm interested in seeing them. What was different about the weddings than you expected?

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

The ducks really turned out beautiful!! If I had it to do over again, I would not have more than one male during breeding season. The only reason I kept two was incase something happened to one of them over the winter. Instead of keeping two pairs, you may want to think about getting an aditional two females instead. Or overwintering two pairs and dispatching the lesser of the two come spring time.

Charlie hatched out 10 babies last week and Digit started sitting on 15 eggs this week. The kids have been given permission to sell the females if they wish but we will probably keep most of the males for freezer camp. If you are interested, let me know.

With one drake and three ducks, you can end up with quite a few offspring by the end of the summer. Having two drakes is what got Digit off cycle of her sisters. They were both setting but she ended up laying eggs in many different spots due to the tension between the drakes and inability to consistantly get to her nest box.

Did you get any pictures from those weddings as you hoped? I'm interested in seeing them. What was different about the weddings than you expected?

More females is a good idea!
Never knew that breeding cycles could be messed up with two drakes!
I'll email you pics of the one wedding. We forgot to take any at the first.

 

[LovinLife]

I love my muscovies! I got 5 FREE ducklings a few weeks back and they are such good foragers. I give them a little bit of chick food in the evening just to get them into there fenced area for the night. Are you planning on building them a nesting house? I have an adult pair that will probably be ready to breed this year but didn't know how Muscovies like to lay and sit on eggs?