This is day 5 of extreme cold temperatures. The ducks have wads of poop frozen to their butts, because when they sleep, they poop and it freezes instantly to their feathers. Bathing in the icy water does not thaw the poop enough to remove it. If the wad grows too large, the ducks have to be submerged in warm water, brought from the house, to thaw the poop, or it could obstruct further poops. Gross! The chickens roost up higher, so they do not have that issue. The geese do, though, but not as bad as the ducks. Tomorrow the temperature is supposed to go all the way up to minus 25, whoo hoo. I will definitely have to bring warm water for the ducks several times to thaw those bottoms.

I noticed the fat tailed Karakul sheep, Dora, has been off by herself the last two days. I did not see anything amiss with her, but today there was some blood near her tail so I grabbed her and had a very close inspection. Her tail, that is the inside of it, was missing - gone!. The skin was flapping without the tail. It is not the way the dogs or coyotes normally would eat a tail and has me puzzled. I think the livestock guardian puppies must have eaten it somehow from the top to the inside, but why would she have allowed that to happen? Dora is a submissive sheep. So I moved Dora in with the Icelandics, away from the pups. I did not see any blood on the pups either, which is strange. I am miffed and so sorry for Dora. How painful that must have been, whatever it was, that ate her tail while she still had it on her. Now, what do I do with the remainder?

Oh, yes, and the rest of the animals are doing OK. The three Blue Faced Leiscester sheep have been treated for pneumonia, but one was still shivering today. I will have to call the vet again and see what I should expect from the very expensive drug he gave her. The other Dorset ram lamb that had diarrhea was treated at his farm prior to his arrival, but maybe he was missed. I have been in a dialogue with the previous breeder. If he kept good records, he might be able to tell me more. I will have to take a fecal culture to the vet and find out what his problem is and get it fixed so the other sheep do not contract it. He and his wife are confined to a small enclosure pen away from the sheep, but the llamas are on the other side. They do not have fence contact though.

And, the rest of the birds, the guineas and other chickens are just trying to stay warm, which is not easy when there is no let up in the frigid cold this week. Brrrrr.

I love to watch the geese and ducks. Their love of water is the most fun, after their conversations. The female ducks are the talkers. They bob their heads and wag their tails and chatter to other ducks. The ducks have a winter routine. They move around in the morning looking for food and water. The water is frozen, so they eat some of the fresh snow. There is not much interesting to eat in winter, unless I bring in some kitchen scraps. They are particularly looking for something green, but in the interim, they do nibble on the grass in the hay. It is not quite like fresh new grass, but it is better than nothing. Their dirt pile is now frozen so they will have to rely on commercial grit  and oyster shells. The geese, ducks, guineas and chickens all eat the shells, mostly for calcium, but also for some grit, which helps them grind and digest the grain. The highlight of their day is when the water arrives. They simply cannot wait to have a bath, but with only two tubs for a flock of geese, waiting is sometimes hard. Maybe there is room for two? Ah, yes, there is!

Ducks and geese are hardier than chickens by far. Some chicken breeds, those without large combs and wattles (the hangy down things from their noses) fare better in the cold. Large combs are subject to frost bite and freezing, then turn black and fall off. How painful that is for the chickens. One breed of duck, the Muscovy, has large caruncles, or red hangy down or puffed up warts around its face and eyes, and that area is most delicate and subject to freezing as well. Generally the other duck breeds and geese are very winter hardy and prefer to be out on the snow than cooped up in a building.
At the Fat Ewe Farm, the ducks and geese are housed together in a long hoop shelter, 16 by 8 by 6 feet high. It is covered with two tarps and the ground edge is shored with spoiled hay from the lambs next door, insulating the ground level area where the birds stay. In very cold weather, they tuck their legs up by their sides and rest their down covered bellies on the ground, nearly impervious to the cold. The females are better at tucking their heads under their wings than the males, but both will do it. Even when it is forty below, they want to get their whole bodies into the water for a bath. The droplets freeze on their feathers and they look like little ice men when they emerge. Then they spend the next hour preening, that is spreading the oil from their glands through their wet feathers. It is the preening that waterproofs them and weather proofs them and is very important in keeping them warm. If they do not have the opportunity to bathe, then they must at least have a bucket in which they can stick their heads or their eyes and nostrils can become pasty and dry. They will flick water on their bodies with their heads, similar to bathing, but not quite.

Aside from the water, they need to eat something. At this farm, they are fed whole oats, barley and wheat and dirt, plus oyster shells for calcium. The dirt is collected from the forest and is full of microbes and roots. They will spend hours rooting through it and gobble up whatever tasty morsels they find, along with the dirt. They do get minerals from the dirt. It is good to have the soil tested to see what they could ingest and what might be lacking. From time to time, they get lettuce and kitchen scraps and they do eat the meat that the dogs leave on their bones. People told me geese were strictly vegetarian, however; they are not. They will eat bugs, slugs, and worms, plus they do not mind nibbling at meat as well. Winter is hard for the waterfowl, because a good portion of their natural diet is grass, so I also feed them hay. They will eat the leaves and grass in the hay, especially any dried dandelions, which they seek out and gobble up rapidly. The roughage helps to keep their digestive tract healthy too, but they are getting roughage from the whole grains and the dirt/leaves/roots too.

I find the ducks very comical with their antics. They have become quite tame for the most part and do not move much when I walk amongst them. They also herd well and after one attempt to move them, they know where to go on their own. The geese have separate quarters, but they sleep with the ducks in the big house, along with two or three chickens and sometimes, if it is warmer, the guinea hens.Just a few duck or two geese could easily live in a dog house for the winter. Duck eggs are three times more nutritious than chicken eggs, but they do not generally lay in the winter in a normal situation. For that, they would need a heated coop and supplemental daylight. I believe in allowing their natural rhythms dictate their laying schedule because it gives their bodies a chance to rest and rejuvenate for spring. Ah, spring...just another six months away. Winter is a time of survival for the waterfowl, and for me.

Some days I have the luxury of sleeping late and not doing too much when I do wake up. Today was that sort of day. It was cold last night, minus 10, but the sun was shining this morning and the temperature quickly rose to 14. What a gorgeous day. I put plywood up on the lamb shelter to break the south east wind and enclosed a portion on that side as well. In winter, some of the most brutal winds come from the south east. The sheep do not go into their shelter much except when the wind is bitterly cold and when there is a blizzard. They hunker down in the snow and their wooly coats keep them warm and toasty. In the morning there is a depression in the snow where their bodies have melted the crystals enough to hollow out a portion. The lambs do not do this so much, unless they are by their mothers, but the mothers will be breeding in a month and the lambs are too young, so they will remain separated this year. Lambs and their mothers recognize each other two years after being apart and perhaps even longer. It is a delight to see them celebrate their reunion of love.

After that, I hung solar lights on the porch, and tiny ones on the arch way I created with a livestock panel earlier in the day. When the climbing rose is mature it will cover that arch, I am hoping. In between, the dogs got some raw liver, which they gobbled down, or at least Mikey and Joe did. The older dogs were not hungry at that time and lazed in the sun after working all night.

It was chicken catching day today because the roosters are scheduled to go to the processors tomorrow morning, but I could not bring myself to catch them. I called my neighbour Dale, a most wonderful man who actually practices what he preaches. He is a Mormon and is the pastor! I am glad to know him and his wonderful family and I know when in need, I can call for help. I try not to abuse that privilege, and would also assist him if he should ever ask. He brought his nephew along and the two men caught the roosters and put them in the large dog kennel for the night. It is in the smart car wagon because the transmission of the truck broke and I cannot afford to repair it at this time. I am grateful to have the smart car wagon for times like this for sure. Dale and his nephew also caught the last 7 chickens that were roosting in the tree and I stuffed them in the coop  to be imprisoned for the next 5 days until they know to come home to it at night. I would hate to lose those hens, those wonderful broody hens that raised wonderful chicks this summer. They were hard to catch too! Now they are safe and warm. Snow is not forecast until late November, yay!, a switch from last year, thank goodness, and temperatures are to remain mild until then too. Yahoo!

More chores were completed during the day, then the dishes were done when I came inside. I cooked Portabella mushrooms with kale for supper and then had a bowl of popcorn. The moon is stunning tonight, illuminating the sky and the Earth. Isn't life grand?

The borrowed styrofoam incubator has an automatic egg turner and a fan, unlike my old Bower, which has neither. I followed the instructions, but to date, out of 30 eggs, only 4 have hatched so far, 3 Khaki Campbells and 1 Rouen. None of the Saxony eggs hatched and none of the Muscovy's, but I understand the Muscovy eggs take 5 days longer. It has been three days over the hatch date now and there are still plenty of eggs to hatch. I hear peeping in two of them, but nothing in the others. Several have turned blackish inside, likely indicating a totally dead and rotting egg. The smell in the incubator is anything but pleasant. I am going to remove the blackened eggs tonight, assuming they are duds, and hope that the two peeping eggs will hatch, as well as the Muscovy eggs.

I am not thrilled to hatch eggs as many are. The little ones are very cute for sure and they have little birdie ways that are fun to watch too, though I would rather leave the hatching aspect to others who really enjoy it or the mother hens themselves. The electricity to run the incubator for 21 or 28 days , 24 hours a day, is considerable. Then the babies have to be put under a heat lamp in a brooder for 4 weeks, again an expensive proposition.  The trouble is that Khaki Campbells seldom, or rarely, ever hatch their own eggs and Saxony and Rouen ducks are not known to do so much either, so if more ducklings are desired, hatching the eggs in an incubator is the only and usual way. This is the second generation hatch, which means that some of the eggs are fertilized by a brother or father. Next year, I plan to look for new drakes for the Campbells and Rouens so there are fresh genes. Many people have trouble hatching duck eggs, so I know I am not alone with the poor results. I washed the poop off the eggs, something that is controversial. Some say that the eggs should only be dry brushed and others are fine with washing the eggs. They were not sparkling clean by any means, but the big lumps were certainly washed off. Maybe washing the 'bloom' from the egg harms the chicks in some way. The bloom is the final covering the mother coats her eggs with to seal them while allowing the contents to breathe. The outside bacteria does not enter though, which is why unwashed eggs can sit on a counter at room temperature for a long time and not go bad, where as eggs that are washed and refrigerated do go stale rather quickly, since the washing has removed the 'bloom' which then allows bacteria and air to enter the egg.

We shall see over the next 5 days how many of the remaining eggs hatch. I sold 3 of the ducklings today, the Campbells. The remaining Rouen is in with the 3 bantam cross chicks that hatched in the old Bower incubator a few days earlier. Until then...

The first batch of eggs did not fare well, but the ones set a week later seem to be doing better. So far, one duckling and one gosling have hatched and 4 more duck eggs have pipped, that is the ducklings have penetrated the shell to create a breathing hole while they slowly peck their way out of their shells. No more of the goose eggs have pipped, but they usually take a few days extra. And to think, I was ready to give up and had already unplugged the incubator, when two of the little ones called to me.

I listened carefully and sure enough, there were babies waiting, so I plugged the machine back in. One of the ducklings was very quiet, so I helped him open his shell. I think that might have been a mistake. They need the pecking and resting to absorb the last of the yolk. There was some blood in his shell and I am thinking yesterday when the two hatchlings were still in the incubator, they could have banged the eggs around and caused harm. He is not doing so well, but is still alive.

I have learned a great deal about hatching. This was my first attempt. I have a very old incubator that does not measure humidity or temperature. There is a pan of water inside, however; the holes should have been taped over for the first while, until hatching starts. This raises the carbon dioxide levels and keeps the humidity inside, more like the conditions under the duck. Turning the eggs and wetting them down with a sprinkle of heavy misting is necessary too. I did keep a thermometer inside and the old incubator was excellent at maintaining the temperature, but I should have had it 100, not 98. They take two days longer to hatch when the temperature is 2 degrees cooler, or so the book says.

When I first put the new hatchlings in with the few days old duckling, he tried to run at them and bite them. To protect them, I put a divider in the container, where they could communicate and get used to one another. After an hour, the divider was removed and they are snuggled together. The older duckling taught the babies to eat and drink. It was so cute. I cannot say that hatching is fun, but it is rewarding and heartbreaking at the same time. Some of the babies were fully developed and died in the shell. This can happen when the embryo is just not viable, or when the conditions are not quite right. I suspect better humidity control will prevent most problems, so after these babies hatch, I will set another load of eggs. Having learned 'how' now, I am sure to have better results with the second try. And they are adorable and quirky and so much fun to watch.

The babies are on dirt from outside. When I set it up for them, there were a few ants crawling in the dirt, a spider, some straw and I picked some green grass tips, so it is more like nature than shavings. I have started them with duck and goose starter, commercial feed, against my better judgement, since it contains mostly genetically modified grains and chemical additives. I will offer them soaked chopped grains in a few days. They have already been eating their dirt to some extent and I will continue to pick grass for them. Last year, a Khaki Campbell raised 8 babies and from the day they were hatched, she had them outside foraging. Surprisingly, they are extremely hardy compared to chicks and could be out without warming for a long period of time. I do enjoy waterfowl very much and have just purchased a pair of Blue Swedish ducks. Soon it will be The Fat Duck Farm!

This is day 28 in the incubator, the day that some of the eggs should hatch. Something went wrong with about a dozen eggs. There were a few that were not fertile. These eggs were the first collected in the season and some were almost frozen. The ducks were mating, but not much. Obviously these eggs were fertile and developing, but for some reason, the development was arrested and the embryo quit growing and died. Through the shell, these eggs appeared blotchy and blackened in places. None of the other eggs looked that way. If the eggs are rotten, there is a smell that comes right through the shell and it is not a nice smell. One would not want one of those rotten eggs to explode in the incubator, so it is prudent to watch carefully what is happening. These eggs were not rotten. One had a very runny interior with a tiny embryo, and the other two had well developed embryos, but not so that one could actually see the duckling yet. The blackened interior was first visible a few days ago.

This is my first attempt at hatching. There was a problem with my diligence. At three points, the tray that holds water in the incubator was dry. Ducks and geese need at least 50% humidity and a dry tray means dry eggs. Perhaps at one of those points, the development ceased for these eggs. There were a few eggs that have been removed because there is no sign of development, even though they appeared fertile. Still, there were over 50 eggs set, and the removal of a dozen leaves a large hatch possible. The goose eggs are so thick shelled it is nearly impossible to see inside, but duck eggs have transparent shells and it is interesting to watch the progress. Now, at hatch time, the only thing visible in the egg is an air space and the rest appears full. Of course it is. It is full of baby ducklings and goslings! So sorry the other eggs did not make it, but I will set another 50 eggs and try again, this time with utmost care to inspect the water tray every day. Fertility and frozen eggs will not be an issue at this point. The three duck breeds are separated too, so the ducklings will be true Khaki Campbells or White Campbells (one drake is white), Rouens or Saxonys. The only reason for incubating goose eggs is to sell the goslings or raise them until they are ready for the table. That part, this farmer has a hard time with, so maybe no more goslings? We shall see. By morning, I am hoping for some babies. The Sebastopol gosling might just get some company.

Last year my friend Allan found this very ancient Bower incubator. The folks pretty much forced him to take it away, so he brought it home and spent time fiddling with it and cleaning it up. Then he offered it to me for sale and I bought it. Never having hatched any birds before, this will be a first time experience.

My first responsibility was to familiarize myself with the Bower, so I read as much as I could find online regarding its operation and success. In its day, it was considered state of the art and hatches were as good as any in the fancy self turning, self humidifying incubators of today. The eggs lay on a screen, under which is a pan of water. Because these are duck and goose eggs, I mist them a minimum of three times daily and turn the eggs at that time as well. My little system is to mist them, then turn them, the misted side unturned and the dry side then indicating that the egg has already been turned. I have a thermometer in with the eggs. A twist of the screw on the top of the incubator regulates the temperature, so currently it is set just below 100 degrees F. The heating element is without a fan, so the eggs directly below the element stay at 100, while the eggs furthest from it, are somewhat cooler. The thermometer is placed on the outside of the egg circle so the coolest then registers no less than 98. This is not unlike the eggs under the mother duck or goose, with those directly in full contact with her breast will be the hottest, while those on the perimeter of the nest, will be cooler, but mamma duck and goose are experts with intuitive knowledge and not only turn the eggs frequently, but rotate and move their positions in the nest. It does not bother me then that at times some eggs are a bit cooler, as long as I, the mamma duck, turns and exchanges positions so the cooler ones also get a chance to be very warm.

Today, the eggs were candled, that is, a strong LED flashlight was shone through the shell in a dark room to illuminate the contents. It is very early to tell and some of the eggs, marked with an x in pencil, were added a full day after the others. Still, all the goose eggs showed vein development and most of the duck eggs as well. There were about 4, not all the late additions, that were neither duds, nor developing as quickly and one that was cracked. The contents in the cracked egg were watery in comparison and the yolk was not vivid. The eggs were collected in below zero temperatures and it is my bet that the crack was the result of a frozen egg. It was removed and will be fed to the piggies, who will be grateful for the treat. In a few more days, the eggs will be candled again, and by then, the heart should be beating and quite visible in most. The shells on the goose eggs do not afford a good look inside, but duck egg shells are almost translucent and the contents are quite visible. So far, so good. I have learned a lot and am excited to see the babies in 2 weeks. The hatch time is more or less 28 days for both ducks and geese. I have already started collecting eggs for the next hatch!

It is a little warmer than it has been, but the temperature is still below zero. The wind chill tonight will give the feel of -17. When the sun is shining in the daytime and the day times being longer now, the ducks have the instinctual mating urge. I have been letting them out to comingle in the yard just outside their pens. In winter, they are not interested in going too far, just far enough to have a bath in the new pool (old toboggan) where they can share the water. Mating in water is best for the heavy breeds that live here, the Rouens and Saxony ducks. The geese do better in deeper water as well. 

The ducks have been pulling feathers from each other's breasts and the drakes have been fighting by pulling neck feathers. One of the geese grabbed a drake and caught him by his wing, keeping it in his beak for about 10 feet. This mating frenzy is earlier than last year. It is time to separate the ducks into breeding pens where they are numbered correctly. A Khaki Campbell drake is rather, um, busy, and likes to have a dozen or so wives. The Saxony drake is happy with his 4 wives and the Rouen drake can manage about 10 or so. There are quite a few Khaki Cambells so they need to be split up into 5 breeding groups of hens and drakes to keep themselves happy. The problem is that the hoop shelters are still snowbound. When the new skid steer arrives, I will be able to lift them out of the snow and then the waterfowl can be mating to their heart's content. If I am fortunate, a few of the females will nest and hatch a clutch of up to a dozen or more ducklings. The Khaki Campbell sat on 18 last year, but they are small ducks and she could only keep 8 warm. Until they can be separated, the best thing to do is to give them lots of room, so they are let out daily. Now, if I can only keep that huge gander from trying to mate the little Cambell ducks.