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Moose Manor Farms

Hurricane Sandy: The Frankenstorm (Day 1)

10/29/2012

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Twitterpic: @warrenellis
Hurricane Sandy has made landfall on the East Coast and it's colliding with a NorEaster to wreak havoc over 7 states.  Most of us are getting heavy gushers of rain, and if you're anywhere near the waterfront then you're experiencing amazing storm surge and crippling flooding.  Western Maryland, parts of Virginia and West Virginia are having white out blizzard conditions and at the time of this writing there was already 3 feet of snow in WV.

Last night and this morning in Southern Maryland we had buckets of rain and some high winds.  for the last couple of hours we've had a lull in the wind.  The worst is supposed to arrive at 2am tomorrow morning.  While the wind was down and I didn't have to worry about sideways rain, I went outside to take some video.  It's not the best quality since I have my phone shoved in a ziplock baggie and it's also getting speckled by raindrops.- plus I'm tromping around in my rubber boots making it a bit unsteady.  But so far, we've not sustained any damage.  There hasn't been (knock wood) any trees down in my yard or large branches.  We heard some loud cracking and crashing in the neighboring woods, but there isn't anything that will be crushed in those parts of the property.

I'm happy to say that these video's are very boring :)  Here's the front yard:

Then I went back to the barnyard to take some video of the animals.  The waterfowl are acting like it's just any other day (rain? what rain?).  They're staying inside the small duckyard and not venturing out into the rest of the barnyard, but otherwise they're acting like it's nothing to worry about.  The Muscovy are less thrilled and look a little miserable out there with their necks scrunched down just sitting like a bunch of dummies in the rain.  Some of my smarter Muscovy hens are hanging out inside their loft staying dry and, clearly, much warmer.

The chickens are pretty unhappy about the deluge.  They're mostly keeping inside the henhouse.  A few of the juvenile girls are making runs back in forth from one protected area to another, and a few brave souls are going on with business as normal and looking like a bunch of drowned rats.

Here's the barnyard:
Ocean City MD storm surge
AP News Pic

This is why I like to visit the beach but I don't want to live at the beach.  This nasty mess is a combination of surf foam and wet sand flying around like cotton candy and coating everything in sight.  Gross.



I'll keep you posted as new pictures or video are taken.  Like I said, so far we're doing quite well, just a lot wet and without power but I think we're set to deal with that just fine... at least until we run out of beer.

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Sharpsburg Poultry Swap & Farmers Market, Fall Edition

9/20/2012

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Sharpsburg, Maryland is a picturesque landscape of rolling hills and farmland with a very charming and nostalgic downtown that looks like it was lifted directly from a snapshot of the 1800's.  The town is near the West Virginia and Pennsylvania borders, tucked in beside the Antietam Battlefield and Historic Harper’s Ferry; it's a rather beautiful and bucolic 2 1/2 hour drive from my tiny farm in Southern Maryland.

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Speaking of charming, this swap is hosted at Green Hill Farm by Erin Moshier, a delightfully sunny gal with an infectious smile.  Twice each year (summer and fall) she hosts a fun poultry swap at her family farm just minutes from the center of downtown Sharpsburg.  But once you turn down that gravel road leading to the poultry barn and the horse stables where curious pony's whinny hello's over the fence, you feel miles and miles from anything but the countryside.

My MooseHerders and I arrived early in the morning with a modest selection of ducks, chickens and geese and quickly put up our canopy, table and portable poultry pen.  The feathered flock was soon nibbling on Erin's pasture and getting rehydrated after a long car ride.  Folks were milling about prior to the 8am "selling start time" and were very curious about what poultry or farm related product each vendor was preparing to sell out of that day.

I had 2 extra Holderread Penciled Indian Runner boys from my spring order I was preparing to sell.  Those birds were as nervous as ever and abjectly refused to stand at ease; they chose instead to peer nervously at their growing audience and sort of dance from foot to foot like a 5 year old who needs to use the potty.  The young Sebstapol goose was taking everything in stride (I could have sold him 10 times over!), and my affable juvenile Welsh Harlequin was attempting to charm the chickens into being his pals for the day (since he was raised by a chicken mama and didn't know he was a duck) and those Marans cockerels were not having any of it.  All in all it was shaping up to be an interesting day at my booth.


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Browsers stopped by to ask over and over again what the heck kind of birds those Penciled Indian Runners were ("are those some kind of goose?")  and before too long a somber and truly gentlemanly young man hailing from West-By-God-Virginia quietly asked me if I'd be willing to sell him those lovely Runner ducks (he said it just like that).  I was more than happy to negotiate a price for that gracious, young aspiring farmer and help him carry his new waterfowl to his car.  Such a peach, I wish him well.

Tons of folks stopped by to chat with me at length, get advice about waterfowl, and tell me about their own flock. I gave out many business cards and collected a few as well.  What a great place to network!  There was so much to see and hear at the swap:  Craftsman selling poultry housing and nesting equipment, crafty-crafter ladies peddling so many wonderful handhewn wares, local feed stores, chicken farmers, duck farmers, guinea keets, peacocks, muscovy, turkeys, pheasants, chukar, bunnies, goats, and pigs (ADORABLE)... I even saw guinea pigs! 

And - holy moly - Someone had the nerve to bring some gorgeous German Shorthair puppies... O My GOODNESS!  Those hounds were absolutely snugglicious!  I barely contained myself at that booth.  I reminded my hard farmrgirl heart that hunting dogs and ducks were not the best bedfellows. *sigh*

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We had such a good time at the swap!  There was live music and great giveaways.  I bought a few things, sold a few things and met a bunch of interesting and fun folks.  You just never know who you might make a good friend out of until you go to one of these events!  For the upcoming spring/summer swap I'll be loaded up with hatching eggs, eating eggs, baby ducks, geese and chickens to sell in the early summer at Erin's next poultry swap... this event is too good to pass up!  I hope you'll join us all next year - especially at the early market when all those spring hatches will be ready. 

For more information or to be added to her mailing list, Erin's blog can be found here: http://mdpoultryswap.blogspot.com/. 

Don't forget: When you're in the area be sure to have lunch in one of the local establishments.  We did (twice - once in Boonsboro) and were NOT disappointed mmmmm... good!

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Crazy Birdy Bedtime

5/7/2012

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So I'm out locking up the birds for the night and start, as usual, with the duplex broody coop but find Mama Cochin and her 20 rowdy chicks (who've just started free-ranging this week) missing - uh oh!

Mama Cochin is sharing the duplex coop with my broody duck (due to hatch this week) so I peek in on the adjacent apartment occupied by Miss Blush, my Welsh Harlequin duck and her 10 eggs, where I find 5 fat baby chickens snuggled in there safe with her - LOL!  These two apartments share a single attached yard so those chicks must've figured cranky Miss Blush was better than cold, plain straw next door.

As I lock all the doors on all the various houses I search with my flashlight for Mama Cochin inside each - she has to find a suitable nighttime house for her babies. Just as I start to think I'll be covering a couple acres this evening hunting under prickery holly bushes for my Mama Cochin, the last house to be closed up is where I find her... she's taken over the doghouse my fat goslings are living in!  The small goosy-gooses are outside in their pen instead of in bed where they usually are after dark, so I herd them inside where I see my Mama Cochin tucked into a corner... many tiny heads poking out, curious as kittens, from her fluffy feathers.  Everyone safe and warm this windy, chill night.

Wonky but satisfying social dynamics you don't typically consider: Baby chickens shacking up with my broody duck (poor Miss Blush!); Mama chicken and her hooligan brood bedding down with baby gooses... and one adult Khaki Campbell duck (Miss Faith) who somehow ended up sleeping in the barn with my newly broody Muscovy girl, Lumi, this strange, mixed-up night.  Everyone completely tolerant, if not downright companionable, with the other.  Only at Moose Manor, eh?

Well, everyone is locked up tight and all babies are accounted for and pleasantly cooing while warming with a fluffy mama of some stripe.  It could certainly be worse!       

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The Goslings Have Hatched!

4/18/2012

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On Easter Sunday 3 little baby goslings were coaxed from their satin shells into the world.  My mama Muscovy, newly named Gåsmer or "Mother Goose" in Swedish, has been such a wonderful broody, and now caretaker, of these fat Buddha goose babies.

Of the 6 eggs I put under her she hatched 3, and based on the notations Kim wrote on the shell, I now have 2 Sebastopol and 1 American Blue goslings.  It would appear that the golden baby pictured above is a white Sebbie and one of the dark & yellow fluffers is a Saddleback Sebbie.  The other dark gosling is my new little American Blue.

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Miss Gasmer & her troup

All 3 are very sweet and friendly.  When I open the door of their little house in the morning they meet me right away with their tiny necks craned out and their little baby goosey sounds peep peep peeping through.  One especially, my tiny Curious George, really does like to snuggle a moment every morning and chew on my hair.  GoldenChild is the least happy to be picked up but, honestly, doesn't seem to mind that much.  I've been handling them quite a bit to keep them friendly, although I'm not sure, in my experience, that there's a true correlation to the amount of handling they get as babies and their level of friendliness as adults.  I'll say for sure that some handling is helpful but once they mature I see a big difference between behavior as a baby compared to their level of trust as an adult - in opposing directions most often.  One thing remains constant: their response to the sound of my voice.  All my birds respond positively to the sound of my voice but each respond differently to my nearness.  So, all that said, I think a moderate amount of stress-free handling is important when they're small, but don't expect them to still be eating out of your hand in 2 months.

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I haven't determined the sex of these fluffers yet.  I did an initial gender evaluation but it was inconclusive so I'll have to do another after a short instructive video viewing at the Metzer Farms website.  I'm hoping that my American Blue is a girl so that I can finally have a pair... unfortunately, one of my 2 boys will have to find a new home.  Sad but very necessary for pair bonding.

I'm excited that the babies are finally here, healthy and happy.  I'll keep you posted on their progress!

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Candling Goose Eggs

3/18/2012

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It's been nearly a fortnight, so this evening I candled my goose eggs for the second time since setting them in the incubator.

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, "candling" is a method which bird breeders use to verify that eggs incubated for hatching are fertile. To candle an egg, a very bright light is held behind it to illuminate the shape of the embryo inside the shell. Fertility is determined based on the color, shape, and opacity of the contents. When no veining is present and the egg is very bright inside, we call this a "clear" egg, meaning it's unfertilized or otherwise not viable.  It all usually starts with a dark spot, which grows veins, then the little baby inside begins to take shape and you can often see it moving when you shine your light on it.

Here are pictures of the eggs.  These are not my best work, I haven't gotten the hang of ultra low light photography.  At least they're not blurry, which requires a lot of steadiness and holding of breath for such a dark room.

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Sebastopol Goose (bonus egg): you can see the faint but sure "spidering" and the large dark spot indicating fertility
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American Blue Goose: This one looks "clear"
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American Blue Goose: This one also looks clear but darker, you can see the definition here between the large mass and a much brighter back-side. Another scramble? :-/
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Sebastopol Goose (bonus egg): This egg also has all the signs of a developing embryo
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American Blue Goose: Looks clear but darker, there's a large mass but no spidering... scrambled perhaps??
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American Blue Goose: This one looks pretty clear also
Shipping is very hard on hatching eggs.  The post office is fairly rough with the boxes and no matter how well you pack them, sometimes you end up with broken eggs or detached air-sacks, or otherwise "scrambled" eggs on the delivery side.  Plus, it's impossible to tell whether an egg is fertile until it's been incubated for about a week. 

The right temperature and humidity conditions must be reached before all the eggs in a clutch sort of "click on" and begin growing.  This ensures that when the hen finally lays her last egg for a clutch that they all hatch within 24 hours of each other.  An egg laid 6 days prior to her setting the nest begins growing at exactly the same time as the one she just laid.  Right up until those perfect conditions are met, a fertile egg looks exactly like an infertile egg.  Many people believe that a blood spot on the yolk is an indication, that only means that a bit of blood was trapped inside the egg when it was being formed... hens with no male to fertilize eggs lay those just as often as the ladies who have a man around.

I'm crossing my fingers on those two questionable American Blues.  I've never hatched goose eggs before so I'm going off of past experience with chicken, duck and Muscovy eggs.

Speaking of which, that Muscovy girl that looked and sounded like she was considering setting a nest is a confirmed broody.  She's been keeping a couple of wooden eggs warmed up and has created a beautiful nest for them, lined with downy feathers pulled from her own chest.  Tonight I took these goose eggs out of the incubator and put them under her warm bottom.  If they're gonna hatch at all, they'll do it under her expert care.  Then she can raise those babies instead of me.  I love babies but everyone will benefit from this pretty little Muscovy doing what she does best.
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Merry Kiss Moose!

12/9/2011

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Wishing everyone a warm holiday season and a very Merry Christmas!
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February in Feathers or I Heart You

2/14/2011

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It's been a while since I posted about farm going's on.  With a whirl-wind wedding for my brother to help with (and one for my mom next month!) plus a busy time in the office and mad-dash prepping for spring breeding season it's non-stop running!  I've been in a busy-busy-busy organization mode just lately in preparation for lots of babies on the farm soon.  There are so many things that need to be straightened or cataloged or cleaned or stacked... you get the picture.  It's a never ending job but sometimes it requires a determined focus to keep moving forward when you really just want to abandon all hope of ever getting it done!

Coupled with very un-newsworthy chores, the cold weather keeps me inside next to the woodstove more than outside communing with livestock.  But we do have a lot of sunny (if bitterly cold) days to enjoy in the National Capitol Region.  I can take the cold in stride (well almost... I DO hail from the Mojave Desert after all!) as long as there's bright sunshine to help me forget the extra crisp air.  Lucky for me, this week is supposed to be GORGEOUS!  I feel spring fever coming on...

This weekend I grabbed the camera and caught a couple of nap-time shots out in the duckyard.  The chickens were off doing very important chicken things so I'll have to catch you up on them some other time.
Holderread American Lavender Goose
Rusty Goosey-Goose does the old "one-footed-nap" thing... I would just topple right over!  I'm not even good at these poses when I'm very purposefully practicing yoga... I wonder how a fat goose is so good at it?
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Holderread American Lavender Goose
Rusty is now grumpy that I've disturbed nap-time: "Listen here crazy camera lady with all your fancy snip-snap-snap... we're CLEARLY trying to get some beauty rest here.  You don't think this majesty before you just happens by magic do you?"
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Fawn & White Indian Runners
Cindy-Lou and Daisy-Lou, my little runner babies.  These girls are my ditzy blondes of the bunch... they're so funny to watch running around being silly!  These little sweeties just started laying eggs.
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Black Cayuga Drake
This is Shadow, my Black Cayuga drake.  Isn't he a pretty boy? When he was just a little fuzzy thing he was a "house duck" and lived in Bethesda with a nice gal named Gina.  She called me to find out if I'd adopt him because she had to move and couldn't take Shadow with her.  When he first got here he followed me everywhere talk-talk-talking away.  Then, when it came time to integrate him with the flock, he discovered he was a duck and that he liked living with the other ducks and that I was simply no longer cool anymore.  I was sad the first time he didn't come to sit in my lap when I called him but I knew it was for the best and that he was happy.  He has 3 Cayuga girls to cover now anyway, so he's a busy boy these days.
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Black Cayuga Pair
Here's Shadow with one of his pretty little Cayuga girls. 

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Nap-time in the duckyard
See how big Shadow is compared to my American Goose? And while he's much lighter than my Muscovy drake (9lbs vs 14lbs) he's similarly sized.  He's also still very talkative with his deep and raspy drake voice.
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Khaki Campbell Juvenile hen
There's a special place in my heart for Khaki Campbell ducks.  Don't tell the other ducks, but these gals are my favorite :)  I only have two, this is pretty little Faith.  She's always the first of the group to come up to me when I have treats.  All the ducks are fairly shy (compared to my chickens who'll peck at my feet to get me to throw the greens their way!) and hang back a bit.  But this little gal isn't afraid to step up and ask nicely for her kale treat.  I don't mind so much that I'm just the "food lady", they are ducks after all, but it always makes me smile that she's happy to see me and runs over to see what kind of "salad" I have to hand out today.

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So long, Indian Summer... ya'll come back now, y'hear?

12/20/2010

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GoodbyeSummer
Goodbye, Summer... I'll miss you. Our time together was too short.
HelloWinter
Hello, Winter... please play nice this year. I have no beef with you.
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Flynn loves snow. Look out chickens! She's saving us from vicious, man-eating squirrels.
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Time to break out the DIY water anti-freeze devices (40 watt light bulb works like a charm)
DuckDuckGooseHennyPenny

The ducks are mad that their pools are frozen and the chickens really hate walking around in the snow
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I worry about the Muscovy since they're from South America. Saw Big Boy shivering today.
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Who moved my cheese?! The snow has thrown off the waterfowl routine - they hate change!
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Got the woodstove installed in the barn - Cozy warm now. (ignore the pile of boxes in the corner).


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Tales of the barnyard pecking order

8/31/2010

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My chickens are bossy.  

No… I mean it.  And the Rhode Island Reds are especially ornery little hens.

On any typical day the chickens are running around the property here there and everywhere.  Getting into stuff they’re not supposed to, eating the dog kibble (which is a lot more expensive than chicken kibble), and generally making a nuisance of themselves.  The dogs completely ignore them so their uppity attitudes are lost on my hounds, the cat steers clear of them because she can recognize a troublemaker when she see's one, but they get pesty and stubborn with me on a regular basis - stamping their feet and hunkering down in their mulish little way, forcing me to actually pick them up to remove them from off-limits places (like my hay bale stack).  But their most favorite pastime is to torment the ducks and geese.

Chicken & Muscovy Brawl
RIR's still ready to rumble and Big Boy has his forehead hackles up

This morning I heard a ruckus in front of the barn and went to have a look… my Cornish Rock chicken had puffed herself all up and was guns-drawn on my 14 lbs Muscovy boy who outweighs her by a dozen pounds.  He's normally pretty zen but Weheheeellll, lemme tell ya, he is NOT gonna let some chicken push him around so then when she rushed him he charged her.  That (previously sweet natured) chicken fought back like a fully feathered Calamity Jane and it was ON!  He got ahold of a big chunk of her neck feathers but before he could pull her down all the way to the ground she beat him with her wings pretty good.  He hung on and they tussled like that for a moment before the whole barnyard waddled and ran over to see the fight.  The other chickens jumped into the frackus with wings beating and Big Boy was outnumbered.  He pinched a couple of them when they got close enough and it was all over in 30 seconds.   I had my camera but by the time I switched it on the whole thing was done except for a little post-game chest thumping (pictured above).  I still don’t know who schooled who or which started the fight (I suspect the chickens tho).  The Muscovy all gathered up together and did that crane and bob thing they do in solidarity, all the while trilling and huffing what I’m sure were piercing chicken slurs at the retreating hens.  Now they’re out there with their duck-chests all puffed out, strolling among the chickens daring them to stick just one chicken toe across the line.

Geese high tailing it to safety
Geese and ducks high-tailing it out of the pasture

A few weeks ago I was out in the yard and noticed the ducks and geese were happily grunting and chortling and digging their little beaks around in the grass, not paying much attention to anything other than tasty bugs hiding in the greens.  The geese tend to stand sentry duty around the flock while they forage and were taking turns eating grass and keeping an eye out.  The chickens were busily running all over the yard in a hurry to get from one very important chicken task to the next.  As one of the RIR’s was wandering her way past the ducks I noticed her do a little second take at one of the geese's backside (I could almost see the wheels turning in her malicious little chicken brain)… just as the goose bent to nibble some grass that chicken goosed him!  That poor Goosey-Goose jumped 4 feet in the air and let out a big old rusty honk.  The RIR just carried on like nothing had happened.  I would have to say the chickens firmly believe they're running the barnyard... goosing the goose?  Are you kidding me?

Queeny Girl Muscovy
Queeny is actually a very calm & sweet girl

Another time, back when Duck Dodgers had 5 Welsh Harlequin girls all to himself (I’d just harvested the other 3 drakes), he must’ve been feeling like he was the big man on campus and his little ducky britches got a bit too big for him.  I was walking across the barnyard to get from one chore to another and out of the corner of my eye I saw Duck Dodgers make an opened beak threatening gesture at one of my Muscovy girls, Queeny.  I stopped to watch just to see what would happen.   At first Queeny pulled her head back in surprise, then a moment later she narrowed her eyes, craned out her neck and huffed her quiet Muscovy trill at him, like, “don’t you dare talk to me like that!”  Duck Dodgers held his ground so she charged him!  He ran, she chased and finally when she caught him she jumped on his back, dug in those pterodactyl claws, mashing him into the dirt, grabbed the back of his neck and hit his head against the ground a few times.  He managed to get away and she chased him just a second longer.  When he stopped and turned around she advanced again and he boogied it on out of there while she huffed and trilled and bobbed her head at him.  He went back to his girlfriends and fluffed up his feathers, then resumed leading them to grazing.  He didn’t mess with the Muscovy girls after that.

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Big Boy with his girls
The four Muscovy prefer to flock by themselves.  They’re a bit like a flock of 3-year-olds: very curious, get up to a bunch of hijinx, and like to explore on their own.  They have their own pecking order and prefer that the other ducks maintain a little distance but they’ve generally allowed the Harlequin to hole up in their barn with them when they catch sight of a predator and run for the nearest safe portal.  

The Muscovy have all been sequestered for the last 3 weeks in a smallish run while they heal from hawk wounds, but I let them out into the barnyard this weekend where they encountered the geese face to face for the first time.  There’s always been a thin wall of fencing between them, but they’ve interacted many times through it without any trouble.  I reckon the geese decided the Muscovy would be easy to bully and came right over to lay  claim  to  the  water  dish the  Muscovy  were  using.  My  two  most  timid Muscovy hens high tailed it

Goosey Goose chasing someone out of the pool
'Queeeeeeg? Out of my pool!'
out of reach but Queeny ignored the goose and continued to drink while Big Boy wouldn't be bullied either and did the Muscovy huff and puff.  Everyone stood their ground for a moment but it looked like a draw to me since they both went their separate ways.  Then later that day one of the geese wanted to push Queeny away from the waterbowl again but she ignored the goose… until he stuck is long neck out and made his rusty gate sound “Queeeeeeg?!” (you dare disobey?!).  I could tell from her body language that the goose was about to get it.  She stretched out her own long neck right back at the offending goose, who didn’t back down, so Queeny reached out and got herself and nice fat bite of goose chest meat in her big, pinchy beak and twisted hard… and hung on tight!  The goose started to back up – all the while honking in a panic – and she hung on like a pit bull until she was sure she got her message across then she chased him for good measure.  That big ol’ goose had learned a valuable lesson: don’t mess with Queeny the Muscovy girl!

It might sound like there’s one rumble after another in the barnyard but most days all the animals just play and chortle and make their way from the grass to the pool.  Once in a while I catch sight of… well… a sight.  There’s no lack of entertainment around here, that’s for sure!



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Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century

8/21/2010

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I’ve been watching my lone Welsh Harlequin drake, Duck Dodgers, slowly working his way through a brand new pecking order and it’s been a little heart wrenching but also very interesting.

The Back Story: So when I started out my duck enterprise it was with 3 little Khaki Campbell ducks I hatched in my incubator.  You can read all about them in this post.  Not long after I purchased a flock of 14 adult and juvenile Welsh Harlequins along with 11 assorted tiny ducklings and 2 goslings.  Duck Dodgers was the leader of the pack of the adult Welsh Harlequin when they came to my farm.   The others were happy to follow him to and fro around the property and he was easily able to keep the mostly juvenile drakes in check.  

Well, some sort of predator (hawk or owl most likely) moved in who wasn’t partial to free-range chickens in the least was pleased to see I’d finally set up a free-range duck buffet.  So she invited her raptor friends who especially enjoyed rare Khaki Campbell and Welsh Harlequin duck.  Needless to say, I lost all the Campbell’s and most of the Harlequin in the ensuing months.  Terribly sad and disappointing.  I think I’ve got a good management plan figured out now but poor Duck Dodgers and his WH gal Blush have had to blend in with a separate well established flock since it’s just the two of them left from their old one.

Unfortunately for Duck Dodgers, that established flock includes two large American geese who are, without a doubt, at the top of the pecking order and are unlikely to ever be knocked from their lofty perch (not at almost 30 lbs and over 3 ft tall).  But that little WH drake had to peck and push his way through 11 other ducks to regain some semblance of his previous position. 

Not My Ducks
Ducks in a pecking-order shoving match (not my ducks)

He was able to out-push the 3 runner ducks one at a time, the 2 Khaki Campbell’s gave him a run for his money but he eventually won that shootin’ match.  He ran up against 2 rotund brick walls when he next had to challenge the Black Cayuga hens (Darkwing Duck #1 & #2).  That little pecking match lasted a long time.  He would challenge one of those big girls and she was always ready to put her head down and push him back with all her weight.  One day I was watching the latest bout between one Darkwing Duck and Duck Dodgers.  It was a vigorous shoving match and just when I thought old Dodgers was gonna win... one of the geese came over to break  it up. 
Duck Dodgers
Now  I  didn’t  think  that  was.fair so I was a bit disappointed, but - whoa-nelly - not as much as poor Dodgers!  He was clearly very frustrated that the bully goose had stepped in when he was making progress in shoving that Cayuga back a step that he didn’t even bother to lift his head but ran like Toro the Bull straight at the goose and hit him square in the (lower) chest.   He pushed the goose back a step (mostly from surprise, I think) then stamped off, clearly bent out of shape, to the other end of the duck yard draking and muttering who-knows-what all the way.

I wasn’t sure he’d ever out-shove those Cayuga, but watching him today it seems that he’s positioned himself just below the geese.  Ducks are pretty subtle most of the time in their pecking order so I can’t say for certain, but I haven’t seen him spar with any of the other ducks in a while though I have seen him pinch a few to tell them to get out of his way… and they do.

It appears that meek little Blush isn’t interested in climbing the duck ladder so she’s happy to find another water dish when a flockmate is being rude.  I did notice the other day that the Runner drake got a little pinch from her when he got too close.  Guess she's not completely at the bottom ;~)

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    Dana

    About Farmrgirl

    Small town Calif. farm-girl leaves the ranch behind for many years of adventure at sea, travels the world, then moves to Washington DC in 2007 where she finds the perfect homestead to settle down: acres of secluded Southern Maryland woods where she goes granola by raising her quality of life, Mastiffs, ducks, chickens, and tomatoes {& one Bengal kitty}... sustainably.


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    Stuff I've blogged about

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    Agri Monster
    Ancona Ducks
    Art I Love
    Baby Animals
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    Brooder
    Broody Hens
    Building Projects
    Campbell Ducks
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    Chicken Tractor
    Cornish Roasters
    Corporate Organics Myth
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    Farmers Markets & Swaps
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    Great Articles
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    Losses
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    Military
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    Moyaone Market
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    Muscovy Ducks
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    My Mooseherders
    Patriotism
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    Runner Ducks
    Sexing Babies
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    Washington Dc
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Moose Manor Farms, LLC   |  Moyaone Reserve, Accokeek, Maryland   |  (301) 678- 3533   |    All Rights Reserved 2022   |    NPIP 51-582   |  Newsletter  |   Contact

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