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1. Lotus (farmerlotus@regenerate.social)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 04:00:29 JST Lotus

   Got a little crash course in duck genetics yesterday. Super interesting stuff.

   The whole impetus was that we ended up with 3 black ducklings and none of the parents were black so I was like, “what gives? Are these the mailman’s babies?” 🤣

   Turns out Blue Indian Runners don’t breed true and a percentage of their offspring will be black or silver instead of blue.

   https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/mallard-derived-duck-color-genetics-basics.74277/

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   • Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think: (thatguyoverthere@shitposter.club)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 04:01:49 JST Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think:

     in reply to
     @FarmerLotus I have a black duck that hatched 3 ducks that looked more like a wild duck (except they were huge) than either parent. I have no idea what kinds of duck she comes from, but the father was a pekin (pure white) and all of them looked like wood ducks or something.
   • Flick 🇬🇧 (flick@spinster.xyz)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 04:09:40 JST Flick 🇬🇧

     in reply to

     • Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think:

     @thatguyoverthere @FarmerLotus I had what was supposedly a Campbell that I hatched from a bought egg. I’m pretty sure dad was an appleyard who got into the wrong enclosure, because she was huge and much more duck-shaped than my runners or Campbells:

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   • Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think: (thatguyoverthere@shitposter.club)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 04:09:40 JST Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think:

     in reply to

     • Flick 🇬🇧
     @Flick @FarmerLotus that's a very pretty interesting mix.
   • Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think: (thatguyoverthere@shitposter.club)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 04:11:34 JST Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think:

     in reply to

     • Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think:
     • Flick 🇬🇧
     @Flick @FarmerLotus I loved my runners. I need to get more.
   • Flick 🇬🇧 (flick@spinster.xyz)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 04:20:11 JST Flick 🇬🇧

     in reply to

     • Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think:

     @thatguyoverthere @FarmerLotus They’re great, but I did eventually move more towards Campbells in an attempt to slightly reduce the neuroticism.

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   • Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think: (thatguyoverthere@shitposter.club)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 04:20:11 JST Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think:

     in reply to

     • Flick 🇬🇧
     @Flick @FarmerLotus right now I have a harlequin, mallard, and mixed breed female and a Pekin male. I always forget the harlequin name for some reason and I was looking them to jog my memory and I think kiki (the mix) must have Rouen in her because her ducklings looked exactly like that.
   • Lotus (farmerlotus@regenerate.social)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 04:20:56 JST Lotus

     in reply to

     • Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think:
     • Flick 🇬🇧

     @thatguyoverthere @Flick

     Really interesting.

     I’m not really selecting for color at this point, more aiming for a diversified swarm of heritage breed crosses and the ones that thrive in our situation will be the foundation of our flock.

     But I still love seeing all the cute color combos that are popping up.

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   • Lotus (farmerlotus@regenerate.social)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 04:23:39 JST Lotus

     in reply to

     • Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think:
     • Flick 🇬🇧

     @thatguyoverthere @Flick

     This year’s swarm:

     * Hens
     3 blue runner
     2 fawn & white runner
     2 Welsh harlequin

     * Drakes
     1 Welsh harlequin
     1 welsh harlequin x blue runner

     Got some Ancona and Rouen that are just feathering out now. If any make it to next spring they will be added to the mix along with the best of this year’s farm born babies.

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   • Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think: (thatguyoverthere@shitposter.club)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 04:26:58 JST Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think:

     in reply to

     • Flick 🇬🇧
     @FarmerLotus @Flick We have 23 mix breed ducklings that we'll be selling in a few weeks. Anything we can't get rid of will stay with us until they are large enough to eat, but I don't think we'll be trying to keep any of them. We also have a gosling (just one) who may be integrated into the main flock once we get rid of the ducklings. Our geese are still sitting on eggs, but I don't think they're going to hatch. Could be wrong we'll see.
   • Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think: (thatguyoverthere@shitposter.club)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 04:52:59 JST Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think:

     in reply to
     @FarmerLotus We only got the geese last year. I've had ducks for 6 years or so at this point. I agree they (and the chickens) do a lot to improve the soil. Sadly I don't have any springs on the property (I am actually on city water), but I have been working slowly to build a pond for them which will hopefully require very little input once done. I pull from the pond to feed my fruit trees and bushes, and add water as needed. usually I do a 1:1 bucket swap (5 gallons of clean water in, 5 gallons of duck poop water out).
   • Lotus (farmerlotus@regenerate.social)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 04:53:00 JST Lotus

     in reply to

     • Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think:

     @thatguyoverthere

     I think we’ll probably incorporate geese into our system at some point but the ducks are already a really integral part of our soil building program and they are also just really enjoyable to work with, imo.

     The way we’ve got things set up, the ducks are super easy to keep during the warm season when water is ample. Their ponds are spring fed and get a constant supply of fresh water and then we send the duck poo water out to the fields to “fertigate” via flood irrigation.

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   • Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think: (thatguyoverthere@shitposter.club)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 05:03:31 JST Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think:

     in reply to
     @FarmerLotus Yeah winter is definitely a time to shrink down. You get a lot less out of a big flock than you put into it in the winter. During the warmer months you will get so can just give them away. In the winter there is a lot less sun so the hens don't give you an egg every day. Water freezing is a giant pain. Everyone needs more food to stay warm. There's less growing and fewer bugs around. Giving them access to a compost pile helps a lot, and you can even throw seeds in the pile while it's breaking down and you might see little sprouts which the birds will happily eat up, but winter is definitely a lot more work in some ways. That said, I think there is more "project" type work outside in the summer months. Most of my pond construction has happened over the weekends in the summer. But I'm not having to put in so much effort just to keep the birds alive so I can afford to do other things with my time I guess.
   • Lotus (farmerlotus@regenerate.social)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 05:03:32 JST Lotus

     in reply to

     • Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think:

     @thatguyoverthere

     They are much less easy to keep over winter so we’ll have to make some decisions about stocking density for the cold season, but the intention was always to fill the freezer and keep building a strong & resilient foundation flock to work alongside land management partners.

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