DUCKS CATCH MICE!

by DucksGolden Cascades

A couple of times, I've found a dead mouse in the ducks' paddock, and it looked a bit chewed. The other day it was pretty fresh, and I know that KK (the cat) hadn't been in there. It had to have been the ducks. I've googled it, and sure enough, ducks do catch (and eat!) mice. I didn't know we were getting more mousers when we got the ducks. By the way, KK and the ducks get along quite well. I have no worries about leaving them out together. I think the ducks are too big and scary for KK to me ...

WORKING ON THE BATHROOM

by Mountain Gaitway

We're working on finishing the bathroom now. Actually, Laurie is doing most of the work at this point. She textured the walls and is now painting them. She looks like she's having WAY too much fun! (Can't find the photos for this post.) Laurie will be adding the grout to the tile next. At the same time, I'll be putting down the floor and installing the vanity/sink and toilet. If all goes well, we'll have a fully functional bathroom in a few days! We're getting really close to gettin ...

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LOOKING UP

by Mountain Gaitway

One of the very unique features about our round house (think "yurt" but not made out of canvas) is the peaked ceiling with the sky dome at the top. It really adds something unique to the feel of the house. It's hard to describe until you experience it. I finally finished all the woodwork on the compression ring (on which the sky dome sits), all the tongue and groove pine and the finish trim between the ceiling segments 8' down from the top. The rest of the ceiling trim has to wait until the w ...

NO LIGHTS IN THE DUCK HOUSE

by DucksGolden Cascades

Since two of the ducks have suffered a prolapsed oviduct, we've done a lot more reading about this issue. One of the causes may have been that the young ducks were forced to commence laying at too young an age by adding artificial light to their daily routine. I will say that I didn't begin adding the artificial light too soon, according to several references. Most resources recommend somewhere between 19-23 weeks of age, and I began lighting at 21 weeks, just a little more than the natural dayl ...

GERTRUDE – UPDATE

by DucksGolden Cascades

Gertrude is doing well! Yesterday evening (the end of the first full day in "lock-up") I discovered that Gertrude had laid an egg--the first in a few days. Again, this morning there was another egg on her side of the fence, and all body parts are still intact, nothing hanging out. We will keep her in lock-up a few days, and hopefully this problem will be resolved. The three remaining ducks have spent a lot of time hanging out just outside the side of the duck house where Gertrude is held. I gues ...

GERTRUDE

by DucksGolden Cascades

After yesterday's visit to the wolf sanctuary with Bess, we came home to deal with another duck. Gertrude has also begun to show signs of a prolapsed oviduct. Since I've only begun to notice this and it is not in such an advanced stage as Bess, we will attempt to treat this. After doing a lot of research, here's what I did: First, I set Gertrude into a tub of lukewarm water with epsom salts and held her there for about 10 minutes in our shed, which was shielded from wind and the other duck ...

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BESS

by DucksGolden Cascades

Sorry to say it, but we've had to let Bess go. She developed a prolapsed oviduct, and it would have required an expensive visit to a vet to repair her. It just wasn't worth it to us to take the time or spend the money. Apparently it is somewhat common, we've just never experienced it before. I believe she was our first duck to lay eggs; the day we first had eggs, she had a wet, drippy rear end with something hanging out. This led me to believe she was the one to lay. Perhaps she had problems rig ...

GUFFEY GARDEN?

by GardenGuffey

As January rolls on and we've been receiving seed catalogs and emails from favorite seed companies, I'm itchin' to start a garden here at our new location near Guffey, CO. Our house is well along the way, and we hope to be able to move in by the end of February. However, the house won't really be "done". There will be continuing work to complete the interior, even after we've moved in. I'm afraid I won't be able to do much of a garden this year, and am not yet looking at the catalogs. I do ho ...

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ALL DECKED OUT – PART II

by Mountain Gaitway

A while back, I had a post called "All Decked Out". This showed the completion of the deck. However, the railing was not up. So, here's "All Decked Out" - Part II. We had a few days of nice weather, so I moved back outside and put up the railing on the deck. There are code requirements to meet, but we wanted the railing to be as minimally obstructive to our view as possible. We think we succeeded. Here's a pic looking at the house from where the horse paddock is: This one show ...