Today on the S2 – Duck Chronicles Episode Nine – A New Fodder System, Just In Time, we go over the new sprouting/fodder system I built for the ducks. While there is nothing wrong with my low tech bucket system with the growing in population we need to produce a LOT MORE sprouts so it was time for an upgrade.
These are the mixing trays I used for the system and as a baby duck pool. Mixing Tubs
This is the shelf system I used, very easy to assemble Steel Shelving
We also visit with the little girls who are learning to hone their hunting skills and developing pack hunting techniques. We note the loss of one more baby that didn’t make it and get an update on the container gardens.
Buddy and Joe show up for Goose Cam but they just don’t have any mean really left in them so it is more look at the camera then attack it. We take a stroll over to the other side of the property and see the damage the Two Assclowns (Charlie and Max) did to the baby duck enclosure last night in a full on run. No ducks or dog were harmed, just one more thing to fix as always.
The baby girls are doing great and likely only three weeks away from full flock integration. The quail are at least half way grown now, doing well and loving the extras after micro green harvest. Going to have to find a way to allow Dorothy to move the quail tractor when I am gone though.
Lastly we check in on Broody Mama Muscovy (AKA Sweet Girl) who is now no longer sweet and defending her babies with the care only a mom can. After a bumpy start with her first brood she has it down now. It appears all the eggs she hatched and kept babies from are from “Little Browns” clutch we found hidden in the bushes. So we have three new baby mallards.
The end got cut off here due to too much video on the phone and needing to delete some. What got left off is basically that we are doing our work on a very difficult property to show what can be done and we are doing it at a large scale.
One Note – the actual cubic yards to cover 3 acres in 4 inches is about 1500, don’t know what I was thinking when I said that crazy large number. Still 1500 yards at 10 dollars a yard is 15,000 dollars. Think about that.
Many of the “all you need to do” suggestions are given with good intention but don’t address the reality of where we are, the scale we operate at and the time and money constraints everyone has.
I actually feel there is a big danger in Permaculture with what I call “over simplified all you need to do is thinking”.
I will have a video out soon (not part of the chronicles) to address that. Because I think this does a lot of harm to permaculture’s credibility. This is from well-intentioned individuals, who simply do not know, what they do not know.
Sometimes in the micro and often even in the macro view of the complex design considerations of permaculture, specifically at broader scales then the quarter acre suburban gardens most permies are working in.
Today on Season Two – Duck Chronicles Episode Seven – Freedom is Heaven we see that in the last week the young girls have gotten big enough to begin training them to free range and return to a holding area and they are out and about.
We also cover our new microgreens set up and show you the quail.
Sadly in the episode the broody muscovy has hatched two babies but one didn’t make it. This is one of the true realities of keeping animals.
Today on Season Two – Duck Chronicles Episode Six – The Ducks Get Their Playtime Fix we start out with a mishap where Farmer Jack left the water running for hours and filled up the bottom swale. The mistake is mine but the ducks are very excited about it.
I also discuss quite a few questions from you guys. I tell you how we manage the ducks at night for egg collection in the AM. How we find the stray eggs the ducks lay when left out and best practices for that.
I explain the way we handle predators specifically hawks. It is a combination of our dogs and the geese along with keeping our very small birds close to the house until they are flock integrated.
I also answer a question about saving a tree with blight, sometimes you can and sometimes you can’t. We discuss cross breeding and what it does and when it produces sterile offspring (Muscovy x with any other duck). I finish up with how we handle dirty eggs.
Today in Season Two – Duck Chronicles Episode Five – Fall is Finally About to Arrive we start out with the “Brothers Green” who are just beginning to really get all their colors back after the summer molt. Buddy and Joe are trying to timber sorghum during morning bath time.
Little Brown and the Mini Brothers Green make an appearance as we take a look at some of the growth in the food forest. The “dwarf” mulberry is now about 8 feet tall, really.
We discuss the harsh summer we just came out of, 4 rain events in if you can even call them that in over 4 months. By rain event I mean, say 1/10th of an inch if that per event. Basically less than an inch total in the last 90 days, this after 27 straight days of rain in May!
I cover the new container/wicking gardens that we are putting in for the fall workshops. We also take a look at the baby quail and ducks who are doing quite well with my new philosophy of SDB (short duration brooding). I also discuss the discovery that Goji Berries seem to just go dormant in the heat of summer, look like they are dead, then come back and do a second crop.
They are eating about 50% LESS feed then they did last winter in the brooder. Today I also discuss more about SDB (short duration brooding) and why it works but why it isn’t for everyone or for every season.
I finish up discussing our plans for a large quail aviary made with cattle panels and how it will let us basically produce pastured quail and quail eggs and leak bit more about the quail product I am working on for suburban environments.
Today on Season Two – 
Today in Season Two – 
Today on