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Thread: Duckcicles

  1. #1
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    Duckcicles

    Monday we went and picked up 50 new training birds. Today was a cold rainy miserable day so we decided it was a good one to clean one of the bird freezers. There were some real skankers in there that had be put away wet. My husband helped and once we had sorted out the really bad ones I took them to the back of the property for disposal. The coyotes will be having duckcicles tonight and by tomorrow there won't be a sign of any that I threw out.
    The other freezer will get done tomorrow and we will be all set for the season. The farmer that raises our birds does a wonderful job. They are very clean birds and he bags them individually and freezes them. With the cost of feed however, the price has gone up to $13.00 a bird. We get the 22 week birds that are fully feathered and if you look after them they last a long time.

  2. #2
    Senior Dog TuMicks's Avatar
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    Anna... did that avian/chicken/turkey virus that was going around bite into the duck farms in Canada? There was a real slash and burn (literally) approach by our Fed. Ag Dept. that caused literally millions of birds to be killed off in large sections of the US. Some FT/HT groups had a devil of a time coming up with birds for trials/tests. Our rules require live fliers unless the regulations/laws of the area of the grounds forbid them. So for some clubs it was really tough. Our supplier was spared. I think it had to do with where he got his ducklings. He was careful not to import them from anywhere near any outbreak.

  3. #3
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    We missed that out break in our province, thank heavens. The supplier we use is a Mennonite and his operation is immaculate. The first time we got birds from him was about 10 years ago. He is really funny. He took us all through the operation and showed us the area for the maturing birds, the incubator rooms, ducks in all stages of development and the laying area. He keeps the barns extremely clean. Everyday the "school boys " (his sons and nephews ) shared the chores of looking after the ducks. One of them would herd them all down to the pond while the other two would clean the barn area and lay down clean shavings. His other sideline at the time was turning the legs for chairs for the furniture business shared with his other brothers. Each one did a different part of the process. The boys also changed all the water for the ducks. He has the drinking apparatus suspended from the ceiling so the ducks can't climb into it. Ducks have to be the dirtiest things on earth.
    It is really a fascinating culture. This time when we picked up the birds he told us that one of the boys is now twenty-one and working away from home. Time passes very quickly but I told him he hasn't aged a bit.
    We some times we pick up a few live birds if the dogs need a real pick me up. Last summer I kept two of them in the one dog run. My husband rigged a fence so they could come out on the lawn to graze and we put in a galvanized tub with a ramp so they had some where to swim. We called them Daisy and Donalda, big mistake. They ended up going to a friend that has a farm. Live birds are not allowed in our tests.

  4. #4
    Senior Dog TuMicks's Avatar
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    I'm not a hunter and don't enjoy that aspect of the HT game. I hate having to dispatch the ducks. But neither do I want them to suffer. So, yes... if I actually got to KNOW the ducks, I couldn't do it. In the long run... the purpose of a well-trained retriever is to see that game is not wasted, and wounded cripples are brought to hand.

    Well... here's hoping your weather starts to turn steadily warmer so you can get your dogs in some serious training water.

  5. #5
    Senior Dog Maxx&Emma's Avatar
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    Another reason I am so very thankful I do not participate in this training/sport...
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  6. #6
    Senior Dog Scoutpout's Avatar
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    I wonder if you folks get yours from the same mennonite we get our birds from. They are really nice birds! Our training group had a bunch of ducks we've used sparingly over the winter. However, while I was at the Chatham show, got a panic'ed email, the "bird freezer" had died, and the frozen birds were in danger... Same as you, sort thru the birds, keep the best ones, put out the Ducksicles for the wildlife to enjoy for the ones not as good. Next training day - everybody gets a duck to take home... I currently have the 4 i was sent home with thawing on the "duck box" in the garage in anticipation of tomorrow's training day. Then they;'ll come home, get aired, wrapped in newspaper, bagged, and put back in the freezer till next weekend. The one comment about Amo's farm birds were they don't seem to have quite the same amount of "oil" in their feathers as ducks that do a lot of water time. It seems to make them break down a bit faster when we're using them for water work (and they do get hung and fan dried before being put back in the freezer)

    (just to note for those that may think otherwise- i'm talking about farm raised and killed ducks....we don't use live birds in the tests here)
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  7. #7
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    We do get our birds from the same farmer. If you get the 22 week old birds they are well oiled and feathered. However , one mistake some of the clubs make is they dry them off with a chamois cloth thinking this will preserve them longer but it strips the oil from the feathers. We give them a shake to take off the excess water and then hang them on a bird rack at the line. Todays birds are in the run drying now and I will put them away in a couple of hours. Once you start to use them in the water they can only be used for 5 or 6 more trainings, so we usually wait until they are well used on land before putting them in the water. We also throw them up on shore so that they don't sit in the water waiting for the dog to retrieve them. This way they only get wet on the swim back. We have a lot of Dokkens which we use on the water as well. We know our dogs will pick up birds so why waste them.

  8. #8
    Senior Dog TuMicks's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Maxx&Emma View Post
    Another reason I am so very thankful I do not participate in this training/sport...
    It's not for everyone.

  9. #9
    Senior Dog Scoutpout's Avatar
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    Ah, I wondered. there can't be that many Mennonites farm-raising ducks! I'm not sure what gets ordered as I just say how many I think i should contribute. I'll have to ask the lady who usually does the ordering and purchasing what she's asking for. These are "adult-looking" birds, gorgeous feathers, and we normally seem to have an almost 50/50 split drakes and hens/ducks. As i haven't seen any other ducks up that close (unless you count live "pet" ducks!) i have no idea if they are less oily- thats just the comment, and it tied into the water use. But it makes sense that no matter what they'd break down faster being exposed to water. The dogs don't seem to mind so much the dokkens and bumpers in the water, i think the swimming/water is a bit of a "bonus" for them so they are almost as happy to get the "fake" things. Although Scout did swim a circle or two after marking the dokkens making sure there wasn't a real bird out there...

    I fashioned a duck drying rack in my garage, i have a ladder thats propped up against a "storage shelf/loft" in the back of the garage, i made 4 little hangman's nooses dangling from the ladder, hung the ducks in them, and placed an oscillating stand fan to blow on them for the remainder of the day and evening. If they seemed dry that night, they got wrapped in newspaper and frozen till the next week. if still damp, i left them with the fan on overnight.

    I had no idea when i started with this retrieving thing last spring what all was involved and what i would soon consider "normal". I now own camo clothing, have dead birds in my freezer, and high on my list for the new pup this year is retrieving desire/background. I do still wear my pink gloves tho...I just can't bring myself to be taking the birds in my bare hands. Fine when they're fresh from the farm, but not when they've been thrown and retrieved a few times.
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  10. #10
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    You are right about there not being many farmers raising ducks. When we first met Amos he told us that in the community, each family member had to have a source of farm income different from his brothers. If one brother raised beef cattle then the others could not and so on and so forth. I guess the younger you are the less choice you have. Anyway he was raising ducks for market and selling their eggs as well. His side line was the turning of the chair legs. We met him through another club and once we saw the quality of the birds and his operation we passed his name on to as many clubs as we could. Two of his biggest customers have been the UKC when the Grand was held in Ontario and of course the Nationals when they are here in Ontario. So I always feel that we are contributing to a farmers income when we purchase out few birds each season. This last batch we got are all hens because as we get older the drakes seem to get bigger and heavier to throw. Amos was glad to accommodate us as he like to keep as many drakes as possible for meat birds.

 



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