Back again

[Palustris]

I have just read Oz's posting about his attack. I can sympathise with his pain. On Saturday I was attacked by another bout of Shingles (adult chicken pox to non-sufferers). It is very painful and very frustrating. There are a lot of jobs which need doing at this time of year and I have to watch while my wife and daughter do them. Snarl.
But there is a lovely Sunset, now the rain has stopped and the Cox's type apples are just beginning to ripen so at least there is something to look forward to.
Anyone ever kept call ducks? We were offered some and though we have always kept hens, never ducks.

[Palustris]

[Colin_Bellamy-Wood]

Hi Eric, very sorry to read about your shingles;  a friend of mine had it once and it was very debilitating to him.

What are call ducks?   On our lottie my neighbour has ducks which he bred from eggs brooded by chickens.   The previous 12 (which were taken by foxes) were a mixture of "ordinary" ducks, Indian Runners and a couple whose breed name I can't recall.   He has a fibreglass pre-formed pond liner duck into the earth into which he trains a water hose.    I think he feeds them the same food as his various types of chickens and turkeys.

Another couple have recently taken on a plot on which they have put both ducks and chickens together.   The ducks are Indian Runners.

I don't know whether this is any good to you, but I do hope it helps.   PS ducks love slugs and snails- but I always crack the snail's shell for them first.   BTW - do you like duck eggs, and/or do you have a market for them.

[teresa]

Hi Eric,
Sorry to hear about your shingles not a nice thing to have take it easy.
 www.callducks.net
Try the above I never heard of call ducks they sound lovely and egg custard made from duck eggs heavenly.
you will be out at night colecting slugs for them to turn in to all those lovely eggs.
Teresa

[Palustris]

Call ducks are a breed of bantam ducks, used originally as decoys to bring down the mallards for shooting. They come in a range of colours from white to khaki. Thanks for answering. Eating the eggs will be no problem, believe me. Mind if they lay as well as our hens this year, we will be buying eggs, again!

[teresa]

Oh Eric they did look lovely on that site all different colours so that was what they were used for hey you learn something every day.
How about this mums neighbrough years ago had hens in a barn and swore that playing music all day  helped them lay she would switch off at night and switch on in the morning. Music while you work ha ha.
Teresa

[Hugh_Jones]

Hooray!  After hours of wondering which of the ex-Beeb regulars had become Palustris I see that it`s only Eric after all. So why are so many of the Beeb refugees hiding under assumed names? Nothing to do with that Gilligan fellow I hope.

PS Since I logged on to this site tonight my firewall has reported 3 `pinging` attacks from somewhere in Dortmund so I hope all your security precautions are in place

[LynneA]

Ozzy - last seen walking down the road, followed by dozens of cats...... ;D

[Palustris]

To quote a song, You're gonna need an ocean of Calamine lotion.
Sorry to disappoint you Hugh, but the pen name was just in case. Like a lot of posters I use a single shot throw away Email address for new sites, just in case. Good pun though, if you know any Latin.
We had a ton of logs delivered this morning. Had to watch daughter and wife move them from the front of the house to the wood shed. Very frustrating!. Hopefully I will be able to saw them up before we need them.
Still haven't done anything about the ducks. Reading the blurb on the net makes it seem  a bit more difficult than hens, so still thinking.
The nicest thing about having a large garden in the middle of nowhere is the lack of extraneous muzak. (Except when neighbours son is home). The hens can sing if they want noise to lay by. BUT What suitable tunes would you suggest, just supposing I tried.  "Up a LAYzee river"? Definitely not "Come fly with me" though.

[teresa]

Hi Eric,

How about pop music? 8)

Makes the eggs pop out quicker :o  

Hee Hee but that what the woman played worked a treat.

Or a bit of rock and roll no love songs you will end up having to get a rooster.

Teresa catch me if you can [/color]

[Colin_Bellamy-Wood]

Eric, please satisfy my curiosity - did you ever take on the call ducks?   If so, how are you and they getting on?

Also, how are the shingles?  Any sign of recovery yet?

Sorry to be so nosey?   No I'm not - we all want to know !!! ;D ;D ;D

[Palustris]

;D ;D ;D Thank you one and all. The shingles is (are?) better thanks to the prompt application of the correct anti-viral treatment. So hopefully this time no dead nerves and no back ache as a result of it. Fingers crossed. Itch still, despite the Eurax.
Collected the call ducks today. Had to wait until I could a: drive and b: build a run for them with a little pond. There are two males (Fred and Barney) and a female (Wilma), so called khaki coloured (not white, more like a mallard).
Also got 2 Exchequer Lehorn Bantams, they are very pretty. So now we have 14 hens and three ducks, what next? Pygmy goats? I wish.

[Palustris]

By the way best pop (ish) song we came up with was Lay Lady Lay by Bob Dylan.

[teresa]

Hi Eric

That song may be the right one for Wilma with two drakes ( Fred and Barney) chasing her  :o
she wont have time to lay eggs :-[. They do sound lovely.
Teresa

[Colin_Bellamy-Wood]

Eric, you will recall that way back I said that one chap on our lottie has got ducks and chickens on the same plot.   Have found out today that he had one or two chickens drown in the ducks pond, which is an old bath duck into the ground.   Although it's got bricks and things in it to allow the ducks a method of egress, obviously the chickens have drowned before finding them.

Thought I'd mention it so that you can avoid the same problem occurring to you.  

Glad the shingles has/have been zapped.