Post for George



George

Breed: Swedish Landrace

Variety: Blue

Let me mention first that george is the only waterfowl I've ever heard of that has the physical ability to whistle. He has sharp claws and often picks fights with the chickens (once he got "rolled over" by a rooster and could have been killed if the rooster didn't think he'd won the fight).

Post for Molly

In this and it's 6 following posts, I am going to introduce to you in detail, my birds. And Molly's up first...

Molly

Breed: Orpington

Variety: Buff

Molly is the friendliest, cuddliest duck I have. This can be attributed to my hand-raising her. She is the loudest animal on the farm, too. Her voice travels father than all the ducks, and at that she rivals the heifer and Charlie the dog. She had left-most toe ripped out somehow (but it's all healed over now). Molly is the best flyer of the duck flock.

Long Live the King

Lazarus, my former Rooster, died this morning at dawn.

I had noticed that he was acting strange the other day (lazy, lack of interest).

At first I thought he died from Sleepwalkers Virus (Coccidiossis), but quickly ruled that out.

I now conclude that he died from Aspergillossis (a type of avian Pneumonia), which also fits with the cold, wet weather we've been having lately. It also kills quickly, which is what happened, and Coccidia viruses like Sleepwalkers take a good while to take they're toll.

Breeds of Duck (Mallard)

A List of all known breeds of Ducks form Mallard descent. (Alphabetical)

• Breed Name (approx. # of varieties)
• Abacot Ranger (1)
• Allier (1)
• Appleyard (4)
• Ancona (6)
• Australian Spotted (3)
• Aylesbury (1)
• Bali (?)
• Blekinge (Coast) (1)
• Call (Countless)
• Campbell (4)
• Canard de Bourbourg (1)
• Canard le Nantes de Challans (1)
• Cayuga (4)
• Chara Chemballi (1)
• Cou-nu (Naked Neck) (2)
• Danish (1)
• Duclaire (3)
• East Indies (Labrador) (2)
• Elisabeth (1)
• Vorst (Belgian Forest) (7)
• Gimbsheimer (1)
• Golden Cascade (1)
• Harlequin (2)
• Kromsnaveleend (? between 4 & 11)
•  Magpie (5)
• Majorcan (1)
• Merchtem (1)
• Orpington (7)
• Overberg (2)
• Pekin (1)
• Pomeranian (3)
• Rouen (3)
• Rouen Claire (1)
• Runner (Countless)
• Saxony (1)
• Semoise (1)
• Silky (6)
• Svensk Bla Anka (Blue Swedish) (4)
• Svensk Gul Anka (Yellow Swedish) (1)
• Termonde (3)
• Venetian (1)

(Above) A Silver Appleyard bevy. Other Appleyard varieties are: Blue Cream; Peach; & Chestnut.

(Below) A 'brooderful' of Hatchlings: Swedish, Orpington, Pekin and Cayuga.

 If you have any information about new breeds or breeds that aren't listed here, please leave a comment.

Rainy Day Ducks and Rust

Ducks don't seem to mind rain, being waterfowl.

The bevy went 'Exploring'  up to the house. They usually stay near they're coop.

This picture is enlarged to show Emily's color, Rust. Notice: the Brown mottled speculaum (the area that is blue in Sally's wing). Emily also has brown stipling fading through her black plumage. Emily has poor coloring (non-standard) but good type, meaning she probably is not a crossbred.

Meet the Ducks...

Meet my bevy of Ducks...

Sullivan (Left)

George (Center)

Molly (Right)

As seen loose enjoying the sunshine

And...

Emily (Front)

Sally (Rear)

As seen when they first came here.

In order to have them know where home is, you need to fence them in and lock them up in they're house every night.

Then after a few days, they will start going into they're house on they're own. And that's when you can trust them to go inside each night and you no longer reguire a fence.

George and Sullivan are Blue Swedish.

Molly is an Orpington

Sally is a Rouen Claire

and Emily is a very rare Rust Swedish.*

*Rust is black with an genetic factor that let wildtype feathers show through the black plumage. I will post some detailed picttures soon in example.

Meet the Chickens...

Meet My Broodhens...

Lazarus (Right)

Mary (who's rear end we see behind Lazarus)

Martha (Left)

They are Blackbreasted Red Old English Bantams*. Mary and Martha are my Broodhens. Martha

is an exceptional broody, but she has, well, an intolerable temperament. Mary is slightly less broody,

but is far friendlier . Lazarus is rather shy, but friendly as well.

*The BBRed color is simply Wildtype with the presence of a pair of Mahogany genes (Mh/Mh).