This is a another short video of our mandarins and white call ducks. The particular video was recorded on February 28th, 2010. In this video, you’ll notice two pairs of regular mandarin ducks and one pair of white mandarins, as well as two pairs of white call ducks. As you can see, the mandarin drakes have been calling and displaying for the hens which should be laying in the next few weeks. If all goes well, we should have mandarin ducklings in the spring. Also, the call ducks began laying this week. We’ve been getting an egg a day from the call duck hens. And I’ve been storing these up for the past several days. Once I have enough, I’ll be putting them in the incubator. After that initial clutch hatches, I’ll probably give future call duck eggs to our cochin hens to let them hatch and raise the ducklings.
We now have black cochin bantam hatching eggs available for sell! These eggs are from our healthy and very pampered flock of black cochin bantams. These eggs are $15 for 6 well packaged hatching eggs or $28 for one dozen eggs. This price includes priority shipping. We have excellent hatch rates from our eggs, but can’t guarantee your hatch rate after shipping. We usually have these eggs for sale on eBay and EggBid. However, you can also buy them directly from us. We accept PayPal via scott at ozarkbantams.com. Please be sure to include your shipping address. Send an email or leave a comment if you questions about our birds or hatching eggs.
This week I acquired a trio of red golden pheasants (Chrysolophus Pictus). I had been wanting a pair or trio of these beautiful and exotic-looking birds for some time. I finally decided now would be a good time to get them, so that I will have them in time for upcoming breeding season. Golden pheasants are a wildfowl native to western China, where they live in dense mountainous forests. They have been kept in American zoos and aviaries since before the founding of the country. In fact, it is believed that George Washington kept golden pheasants in his personal aviary. Unfortunately, it is now difficult to find pure specimens of this bird in the United States as goldens have been interbred with the related Lady Amherst pheasant. The particular trio that I acquired derive from Kurt Landig stock and are F4 birds. Kurt Landig is one of the leading importers and breeders of ornamental pheasants in the United States. And these birds are only four generations removed from their wild (non-captive) counterparts. In other words, i was fortunate enough to locate and purchase a purebred trio of excellent stock. Needless to say, I am looking forward to breeding this trio and propagating their line. I’ll post more about these fascinating birds soon.
This is a short video of our call ducks and mandarins. The video was recorded on January 19th, 2010. As you can see, there are two pairs of white call ducks. There are also two split-to-white mandarin drakes, one regular mandarin hen, and one white mandarin hen. In this video you can also see the pen that I built for the ducks. I still need to paint the house portion barn red to match the adjacent chicken house. I also need to paint the top of the house black and cover it with shingles. The pond is a 30 gallon mortar mixing tub with a PVC pipe and attachment for ease of draining dirty water. The pen was actually intended for the call ducks only. I will eventually be moving the mandarins to their own pen. However, the mandarin pen will include a 80-100 gallon stock tank for a pond. Unlike this pen, the house of the mandarin pen will be two story, with the upper story divided into four separate nest box compartments. The lower story will be a communal area where feed is offered.
Yesterday I ordered a pair of mandarin ducks from a reputable waterfowl breeder in Tennessee. The birds should arrive sometime next week. For those unfamiliar with mandarins (Aix Galericulata), they are considered by many to be the most beautiful of all ducks. These small ducks are native to Siberia, East China, and Japan. And although their appearance is quite exotic, they are closely related to our North American Wood Duck. In fact, the mandarin hen is almost indistinguishable from the wood duck hen. Unlike domesticated ducks, mandarins are wild waterfowl. Nonetheless, they are one of the easiest wild ducks to raise in captivity and can be kept with other small ducks such as our white call ducks and black east indies. Although most mandarins in the wild look like the one pictured below, there is a white variety that is bred in captivity. We will be carrying the white variety in 2010. The particular pair that I order are split-to-white mandarins. Split-to-white mandarins appear like normal mandarins but they can produce both normal colored offspring and white offspring. Needless to say, We are looking forward to receiving this pair of ducks. The mandarins will be kept with our call ducks until I can build an additional pen or aviary exclusively for these beautiful birds.
November 22th Update: I received my new pair of mandarins as expected. Unfortunately, the hen escaped not long after receiving the pair. So I decided to order a replacement hen, as well as a white mandarin hen and an additional split-to-white mandarin drake. In other words, I’ve now ended up with two pairs of mandarins: a split-to-white drake with a white hen and another split-to-white drake with a regular hen. I soon hope to acquire another regular hen and a white drake. This will give us two split-to-white pairs and one white pair from which to breed mandarins this coming spring.
I just purchased 8 Black East Indies hatching eggs that are due to arrive in a few days. I had been trying to acquire some Black East Indies hatching eggs for some time. Unfortunately, they’re not the easiest duck breed to locate. To acquire these elusive little ducks, you either have to order an adults from a hatchery or waterfowl farm (which often involves being put on a waiting list) or you have to know someone who has Black East Indies hatching eggs for sale. For several months, I had been posting on the BackYardChickens Discussion Forum that I was hoping to acquie some Black East Indies. I was finally contacted by someone today that has a trio of Black East Indies, and they kindly offered to sell me some of their hatching eggs. Needless to say, I was thrilled!
For those you who are unfamiliar with Black East Indies, they are a bantam breed of domestic duck known for their exotic appearance. Black East Indies typically weigh less than two pounds. Most notably, their feathers are black with a radiant green iridescence which shimmers in the sunlight. Although they are similar in size to Call Ducks, Black East Indies are more racier and streamline in appearance. They essentially look like a miniature of the Cayuga Duck. Once I receive the hatching eggs, they will be set under one of my broody cochin hens for 28 days until they hatch. It goes without saying that I am hoping for a good hatch rate. October is late in the year to be hatching and rearing ducklings, but I think they should be fine. Ideally, I’d like to get at least one drake and three hens out of the hatch. Once the Black East Indies ducklings are old enough to leave their hen, I hope to add them to the duck pen along with my White Call Ducks.
October 8th, 2009 Update: The Black East Indies eggs arrived today. I received 8 eggs, although one of them was slightly cracked. So, I now have 7 viable eggs. Thankfully, I had a hen that was already broody, and I sat the 7 Black East Indies eggs under her. If all goes well, the eggs should hatch in 28 days. This puts the hatch date at November 5th. I’ll post updates at that time.
November 8th, 2009 Update: Unfortunately, none of the Black East Indies eggs hatched. By November 3rd, I had discarded 4 of the 7 eggs as they were not developing. The other three were however, and I heard definite peeping and movement in two of those three eggs. Nonetheless, by the 5th none of those eggs had hatched. As such, the ducklings must have died right before hatch. Although disappointing, this sometimes happens. Circumstances must be just right for eggs to develop and ducklings hatch. Perhaps we will try again this spring.
I am currently working on a above ground raised duck pen that will sit adjacent to the chicken house. I had originally considered building an on-the-ground duck aviary with a pond. Unfortunately, ducks are notoriously messy with water. If kept on ground, ducks will quickly turn the area around their waterer or small pond into a muddy mess. They will even put dirt and mud in their bills and then mix it in with their drinking water. This results in foul water in no time. As such, I finally decided on an above ground design for reasons of cleanliness and functionality. The duck pen is 4 feet wide by 8 feet long. The pen is 6 feet tall, and the floor of the pen sits 3 foot above the ground so that the ducks are at eye level. The pen also includes a 3ft by 4ft duck house for shelter and a 30 gallon plastic mortar tub that will function as a pond. The floor of the house will be lined with several inches of wood shavings for bedding and warmth. Feed will be offered in the covered duck house in a galvanized feeder, whereas drinking water will be kept outside the house. The plastic tub is sunk into the floor of the pen so that the lip of the tub sits flush with the floor. The tub has a drain at the bottom for ease of cleaning. Because the pen is above ground, no dirt ever comes into contact with water in the pen. This will help keep the water clean and thus offers a major advantage over the on-the-ground aviary design. The duck pen will house my white call ducks and black east indies.
January 17th Update: The original pen has pen completed; however, I am currently making a second duck pen like this one. However, it will include a larger pond using a 80-100 gallon stock tank. Also, the house will be divided into four sections: three of those sections will be nest boxes. The forth section will contain a feeder. This new pen will house 2 to 3 mandarin pairs. I still need to paint the first pen barn red to match the adjacent chicken house.
I recently stumbled across these construction plans for a basic chicken house and pen. Fall is often a great time to start a new building project, so I thought I’d share these construction plans with the hope that someone might be able to make good use of them. This chicken house caught my eye for two reasons. First of all, this chicken house would be great for the first-time poultry hobbyist looking for a straight forward, yet functional, design. Secondly, this chicken house is so similar in design to our own chicken house, which can be seen here. Even the interior layout is identical to our chicken house, with roosts along the back wall and nest-boxes on the front wall next to the door. It is, however, less than half the size of our chicken house. Nonetheless, I think this chicken house would be ideal for a small flock of bantams or a half dozen laying hens. The one modification I would suggest, however, is to make the width of the structure 8 feet wide instead of 6 feet wide. By making the house 8 feet wide, you would increase valuable floor space and also minimize sawing as most lumber is typically purchased in 8 foot lengths. At any rate, hopefully someone will find this design useful to their needs. If you are looking for more chicken coop plans, I’d suggest visiting this page by the North Dakota University Extension Service. It has dozens of free chicken house plans available for download in PDF format.
Today I attended the Fordland Small Animal Swap in Fordland, Missouri. I had been wanting to attend this event for some time. Unfortunately, the swap is only held once a month and is located near Springfield, Missouri which is over 3 hours from where I live. It just so happens, however, that I am in Springfield visiting family this week. So, I was able to make it to the swap meet this morning, and I am glad that I did. The main focus of the event is chickens of all breeds and varieties; however, there were also vendors who were selling turkeys, ducks, pigeons, peafowl, guineas, rabbits, pigs, goats, and other small animals. This was my first time at the event, and I was impressed by the number and variety of birds for sell. I hadn’t gone with the intention of buying anything in particular, but ended up getting a pair of white cochin bantams. I had been wanting a pair or trio of white cochins for some time, so I was thrilled to find a pair for sell at the swap. The vendor from whom I bought the birds had several pairs to choose from, and I was pleased with the quality of the pair I bought. As you might already know, my primary focus is on my flock of black cochin bantams; however, this newly acquired pair may eventually be the foundation stock for a future flock of white cochin bantams. I have included a photo of the pair below. Beautiful birds, aren’t they? I couldn’t have asked for a better looking rooster. And the hen, though a bit narrow for the breed, is very pretty. She is only 4 or 5 months old, so I suspect that she will fill out a bit as she gets older. Needless to say, I was very happy with my find today and look forward to adding the pair to my flock when I get back home with them. For those who might be interested in attending the event, the Fordland Small Animal Swap is held from 7am to 2pm on the last Saturday of each month through October. Or if you’re in the Southeast Missouri area you might also consider attending the Fruitland Small Animal & Poultry Swap in Fruitland, Missouri.
September 25th, 2009 Update: My new white cochin pullet began laying last week, so I was pretty close on guessing her age to be around 4 or 5 months old when I bought her. Cochin pullets begin laying at around 6 months of age. As is normal, her first eggs are considerably smaller than they will be after this her first laying season. If fact, they are about half the size of my other laying hens.
The call ducks are now two weeks old, so I thought I’d take a few photos and share them here. They are currently in an awkward stage. They still have their down, but some of their adult feathers are starting to come in. Within a month or so they should be fully covered in white feathers. We have been letting them swim occasionally in a goldfish pond until their pen is complete. Presently, they live in the chicken house brooder attachment. I’ve purchased most of the lumber to build their enclosure, but have not been able to get started building it yet. The duck enclosure will have a footprint of 8ft by 8ft, be made of treated lumber, covered in hardware cloth, and styled like an aviary. It will be 6ft tall and include either a concrete or preformed plastic pond. Ideally, I would like to make it as natural looking as possible with river rocks for the floor and plenty of plants. In time, I’d like to add a pair of mandarins or wood ducks to the enclosure. Time will tell…
I took this short video of the call ducks when they were about one week old. This video shows the ducklings first time in the water. As you can see, their chicken mom looks after them even while they were swimming. When feed was tossed into the plastic mini-pool, the hen would eat from the surface of the water and cluck to let the ducks know that food was in the water. Oddly enough, it never seemed to strike her as strange that her “chicks” were swimming in the water.
Great news! My first call duckling hatched this morning. I’ve posted a few photos below. The second duckling hatched this morning, and three others are currently in the process of hatching. I expect that they will have completely hatched by the morning. Unfortunately, the sixth duckling developed the full term but then died yesterday or today in the egg. Nonetheless, 5 out of 6 ducklings is a very good hatch rate, particularly when considering that these duckling were from shipped eggs. We are looking forward to watching these duckling’s foster mom (i.e. a bantam chicken hen) raise her “chicks”.
Update (July 15th): Out of the six eggs, five ducklings ended up hatching. By this morning, all of them had dried off, were moving around quite a bit, and seem healthy and happy. I gave them some water, and they began eating today. The hen seems as proud as can be of her new brood. Here are some updated photos…
