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Season Two – Episode One – The Duck Chronicles

ninemilelogoThe Second Season of The Duck Chronicles begins today.  In  S2 -The Duck Chronicles – Episode One – Another Journey Has Begun the new ducks are here, and I had to run out and get them at 5 AM because a shipping delay caused them to be a day longer in transit than expected.  We only lost one little girl due to that, and sometimes that just happens.

We had one get really wet and cold before I got the right waterers in the brooder but all are happy and dry and eating like mad now.

One little gal was in a cup used to provide Grow Gel for them in transit.  She looked dead but turned out to just need some warmth, love and a bit of water.  She does have some mobility issues but has already improved a great deal, so I think she will be fine.

These are the reptile screw in heat emitters I use http://amzn.to/1Ljz0Ev

To see all past episodes including the full first season just visit, www.duckchronicles.com

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Why Our New Ducks Will Never See a “Brooder”

The Closest Thing to a Brooder Our New Ducks Will Ever See.

The Closest Thing to a Brooder Our New Ducks Will Ever See.

See the above picture, assuming our shipment from Metzer Farms arrives tomorrow it will be full of 60, 2-day old fuzzy ducklings by about 10AM tomorrow morning.  No brooder for us.

Now look I am not saying everyone should do away with the concept of a brooder just that we are in some ways and we have our reasons.  In fact right now we have 130+ quail only a few days old in a “tractor” on grass and not in a brooder.

Why?

Over the years we have lost more birds in brooders than any other way, that is why.  Today we lost three quails in a brooder.

How?

Crushed as they all bunch up and form large throngs all seeking food or warmth or cool spots.  Sometimes it is from getting wet and then pushed aside.  Now I am not saying brooding is bad, or that it doesn’t work at times just that it often may not be necessary or as necessary as we are led to believe.  What is necessary are the attributes we believe a brooder should supply.

What are these?

  • Sufficient Warmth
  • Protection from Predators
  • A Dry Environment
  • Clean Food and Clean Water

That is it!  Nothing more, the theory is such can’t be provided or at least can’t be provided sufficiently unless we put small birds in a box or a stock tank or what have you.   Yet if we can a much larger environment is much safer in my view.  Let’s tackle each of the above in a “tractor” or in our case a small “yard” created with 4, 16-foot cattle panels.

Sufficient warmth – every article you read will say that baby birds need to be at 98-100 degrees constantly for the first few weeks to survive.  But this isn’t accurate at all.  When our ducks have babies they are out and about on day one often in temperatures in the 70s and lower.

But many say that the mother keeps babies warm.  Now let me tell you, we have mothers hatch 12 or more babies in one go, 12 babies do not fit under one mom folks and they spend most of their days out and about.

What they actually need is a place to get warm and dry when they need to.  This is easy to provide we simply put a few heaters under a portable table in the evenings, cover it with a water proof tarp in case of rain and during the day they just deal with it by huddling together, JUST LIKE THEY DO IN NATURE.

Protection from Predators – If we are honest here almost any predator that can kill a young duck or chicken etc. can also kill a sub adult or an adult.  Actually I once lost 13 chicks to a rat that got into a brooder by chewing a hole in hardware cloth.  That rat likely would not have entered a tractor, it attacked in the safety of a barn.  Whatever predator protection you provide for your older birds is likely sufficient for your young ones.

A Dry Environment – This may be the most important thing period.  I have found almost any bird suffering from cold is also wet.  In a brooder box this often happens with drinking water, the wet bird then gets pushed into a corner and can’t get warm and dry.  They then die of “cold” but it is the wet that makes the cold.  In a larger space they can always find room to preen and dry off.  They don’t get pushed into tight spaces and stay wet and cold.

When you have space the birds that need a warm spot can almost always access any heat you provide.  More important the ground absorbs water, a brooder bottom holds water.  It gets soaked, stinking and birds get matted fuzz.  Not that this can’t happen outside, it just happens less and is easier for the birds to deal with.

We also provide a tarp over a simple folding table, that provides both shade when it is too hot and cover if and when it rains.

Clean Food and Water – This is actually far easier to provide in an area contained by a small tractor or cattle panels or what have you.  Again spilled water isn’t a big deal, you can provide multiple feeders and waterers.

This does three things.  First it reduces competition and there by conflicts.  Second it provides a bigger buffer and prevents running out when one determined bird say causes a waterer to drain dry, trust me it happens.  Lastly it prevents big clumps of birds which often results in the smallest birds being crushed to death by the scum.

In the end I am not saying brooding in a traditional brooder is bad or that you should not do it.  Just that it may not be as important as many seem to think.  Birds have been giving birth outside for a long time.  Most birds we use as live stock like ducks, quail, chickens, geese and guineas give birth to active babies that largely see to their own needs from almost day one.

I am also not saying you can just toss young birds outside and let them fend for themselves or that you can do it any and all times of year.  You have to worry about seasonal temperatures.  In the north you have a more narrow window of warm temps to work with, in the south you also have a brutal summer period to avoid.  Some birds are more adapted to early outside living then others.  Rain can make cold dead baby birds anytime of year unless you provide good cover, care and oversight.

Ducks and geese can go out side almost at once, by two days they are fast moving, very capable or making decisions about where they want to be, etc.  Chickens I have found need say 3-5 days before they are smart enough to move and thermoregulate effectively.  I once put 50 red ranger broiler chickens in a tractor at a mere 2 days of age.  They sat in hot sun too stupid to move to the shade.

So into a brooder they went for two more days, then back outside.  From that point at 4 days of age they were fine, IN AUGUST in Texas.  We lost 2 of the 50 and both after three weeks of age when they would normally be out of the brooder anyway.  A loss ratio by the way consistent with most tractored and pastured broilers raised by professional farmers.

I was recently told by a very good farmer who does an amazing job with pastured poultry that he broods turkey polts for 6 weeks, I can’t even imagine this!  I raised 3 turkeys this year for meat birds this year.  We brooded them with some ducks, they were in the “brooder” for about 8 days, then outside and they never stumbled for a second.

Again I am not saying this approach is for everyone, what I am saying is all in all we have lost more birds in brooders than on grass even when we put them on grass at very young ages.

Our last run of 50 ducks we lost 2 in the brooder, and zero once on grass.  They went outside at 12 days of age, stayed outside after that.  This was in February, we even had ice storms when they were only 4 weeks of age.  We just gave them shelter with heat lamps in them and all was well.  Two years ago I brought up 8 geese, we lost zero in the first 12 weeks and guess what, they went into a tractor the day we got them at 2 days of age.

In the end you must make this decision for yourself and judge the timing and methods based on your goals and climate.  There are a lot of really smart people that will say I am wrong about all this but in the end, the birds are the ones I aim to keep happy.

I frankly see a brooder as a box of death in many ways.  Now at times you need to use it anyway, my goal is to use it as little as possible and get birds out into fresh air and sun shine as quickly as possible.

 

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Do You Know About The Duck Chronicles – Season Two Starts Next Week

Check out DuckChronicles.com

Check out DuckChronicles.com

Early this year we decided to increase our duck flock with 50 dedicated layers to our flock.  We ordered them form our favorite supplier Metzer Farms.  Metzer then took them on hatch day, packed them in a box and yes mailed them to our via the post office.

We hear from a lot of people who are afraid to order birds by mail, but it is done every day.  So that morning I took out my phone and recorded picking htem out, just to show that it was okay, then I recorded gettting them home, into the brooder and out of this was born a YouTube series called, “The Duck Chronicles“.

This is a 48 episode series all shot on an iPhone that shows the journey of 50 little ducks along with the rest of our flock though the snow and ice of 2015s harsh winter and ends in early summer with the birth of more babies and seeing the new girls just about all grown up.

And guess what!  We are about to do it all again, on Sept. 9th season two will begin, right where we started last time, the Lake Worth Post Office where this time 60 new little girls will start their journey at Nine Mile Farm.  This is actual reality TV folks, the real way we love and care for our animals, there little victories and their struggle and occasionally their losses.

It is a good thing too that we ordered more, right now our waiting list on eggs is a mile long.  More girls are starting to lay every day, we are doing the best we can.  Next week the new wave of Duck Chronicles begins, until then catch up on all of season one.  The entire playlist is below or can be viewed at DuckChronicles.com

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Muscovy Ducks Have Arrived

Last night Jack picked up 9 new Muscovy ducks, 7 hens and 2 drakes. Here is a first look at them. They were picked up in the dark last night and had a long for them we are sure 15 mile ride in a dog crate in the back of our tuck.

Then they had to deal with getting their wings clipped and spent the night alone in the duck house separated from the main flock to reduce stress. They seem to be adjusting well. They will be allowed to range freely tomorrow or the next day.

The reason we had to clip there wings is unlike most domestic ducks Muscovy Ducks can fly quite well. There will be more coming on them soon.

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Shrimp, Jalapeno and Cheese Eggs

When you produce 30 plus dozen eggs a week like we do at NineMile.Farm you end up with plenty of eggs for your own use beyond what you sell. Now I love bacon and eggs a great deal but you can’t just eat the same thing every day. I decided to try shrimp and eggs though I had never done so before, I can tell you it will not be the last time.

The shrimp were “cilantro and lime” shrimp left from a big tub of them I bought for our holiday party with family. They are getting to the expire date so this seemed a great way to use them.

Here is the ingredients I used

  • Three eggs, really two eggs and one was a double yolk
  • A big handful of shrimp, I would say about 18ish but I didn’t count
  • Pace Restaurant Style Salsa, it is what we had any will work fine
  • Three jalapenos, big ones, seeded and diced
  • Enough shredded cheese to cover the top of the eggs at the end

Here is how it all went down, with pictures

First I broke my eggs into a bowl, this is the best thing to do with farm eggs as you occasionally get a bloody yolk (like one in two hundred but it sucks when you drop it into a pan with 5 other eggs. Note the size of the double yolk and the white egg is a BIG egg.

In the bowl I whisked up the eggs and added a little cream, you don’t have to but I find eggs get fluffier if you do.

I then diced up the peppers and began sauteing them in a bit of lard. You can use that or bacon fat, if you decide to use oil I recommend peanut oil or coconut oil, olive oil gets bitter if heated over 285.

Next I added the shrimp and salsa to the pan after the peppers were about half cooked (bright green and still firm). It helps to keep the water down by getting out the salsa with a fork and draining it well. I used about 5 fork fulls of salsa but this is not a calibrated recipe, add as much or little as you like.

You cook the salsa, shrimp and peppers for only about 1 minute on medium low heat as the shrimp were already precooked. If using raw shrimp, cook until just turning pink as to not over cook them. Now you add the whisked eggs and turn the heat up to medium and add the eggs, scramble them gently until they are firm and dry to your preference.

Then I push them to one side of the pan in a pile and add cheese, kill the heat (remove from burner if you are stuck with an electric stove), cover and let the cheese melt.

Notice how NOTHING sticks to my old Griswold Cast Iron pan that is about 100 years old and was picked up at an antique mall for 20 bucks. Old pans are the best, back in our grandparents day they were milled after casting. If you want to know more about awesome cast iron cooking, what to look for and why to buy an old pan, read this great article by my good friend Paul Wheaton in Montana. How to: Cast Iron Skillet Non Stick and Lasts a Lifetime.

Once cheese is melted cut into portions. This makes about two portions for normal people or one big portion for those of us that eat only on average two meals a day.

A Few Notes About the Above Dish

First, while this was a great way to use up the left over shrimp, I would advise unless you have a need to do the same, use raw fresh shrimp. This was good no doubt and the shrimp were not tough or really over done but from the pictures alone you can see they are past that nice bright pink color when they are perfect.

Second, I am sold on seafood and eggs! I think canned red salmon would be good done much the same way, as would nova locks added on top and just warmed though at the end. A mix of crab and shrimp would be amazing, doing that and adding sliced green onions would be wonderful.

Third, note that I don’t make omelets like restaurants do and I never will, and I advise you not to as well. Why? When you make a conventional omelet you end up with a “cooked egg tortilla” (for lack of a better word) wrapped around the goodies. By making a scramble the egg clings to the goodies and everything is enjoyed well incorporated. I can make a pretty omelet but it is a pain in the ass for no culinary gain, frankly I consider it a loss.

Fourth, finely diced and fried potatoes or jerusalem artichokes would be a nice addition to this. Also while I strive to keep my carb intake low this recipe screams out to be served on top of a lightly pan toasted and buttered piece of sourdough.

Fifth I have to make this with duck eggs! Sadly right now we are back ordered with customers on our duck eggs and until we can up production I won’t have many for my own use, the customer comes first of course.

The good news is we are adding 7 adult ducks to the flock this week and 5 are hens of laying age. These will all be Muscovy Ducks and that should give us an additional 25-30 eggs a week. We will also rear some of them as future layers and meat birds.

On top of that I have 50 dedicated layers on order from Metzer Farms, they will be here about January 14th, BUT sadly they won’t be of laying age for about 20 weeks after that.

To learn more about our farm and how you can get our awesome Farm Fresh Eggs visit NineMile.Farm

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Duck Egg, Potato and Bacon Tacos

Wondering what to do with all those awesome eggs. Try this one, works great with chicken eggs too but duck eggs make it extra yummy.

Ingredients

  • 2 duck eggs
  • half a medium potato
  • half a sweet pepper or one large jalapeno (or both)
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 8 pieces of bacon
  • salsa of your choice
  • 4 tortillas (flour, corn or any of your choice)
  • Shredded cheese (optional and your choice, white cheddar is great though)
  • Organic peanut oil, organic coconut oil or organic lard

Instructions

  1. Fry your 8 pieces of to the crispiness of your liking
  2. Remove bacon from pan if you have enough geese to work with omit the other fat or add other fat as needed for next step
  3. Cube up potato, peppers and garlic into small pieces. Leave the skin on the potato. Then saute potato, garlic and peppers until the potatoes are lightly browned.
  4. Cut up four of your bacon slices into bite sized pieces and add back to pan
  5. In a bowl mix your eggs up well and add them to the pan
  6. Use a fork to put about 5 – 6 portions of salsa into the pan, by using a fork you will remove some of the excess liquid
  7. Scramble and cook until eggs are done to your liking, we like them slightly browned
  8. Remove everything from the pan turn to low, use warm pan to warm up tortillas and rewarm the 4 whole pieces of bacon
  9. On each tortilla place a portion of shredded cheese and one whole piece of bacon and about a fourth of the egg mixture.
  10. Enjoy!

 

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