French Black Copper Moran

@Beekissed them are interesting looking ducks! i hope they do well for you and you enjoy having them around.

OK, so, @Beekissed, are you going to keep them in the garden enclosure, and what kind of house are you going to have? This sounds pretty interesting to me. Do ducks not destroy seedlings in the garden?
I would think that the smelly aspect is because they splash water around and poop in it? I wonder how often a water change will be needed for your two ducks and smallish pool.
My son had ducks for a while; just housed them with the chickens. Probably not ideal, but it worked for him.

Duck eggs, for the uninitiated, are richer than chicken eggs, IMO. I don't care for them as regular fried eggs, but for scrambled or in baked goods, no problem.

Oh, and I think the most fail-proof way to get blue eggs is to buy an Ameraucana layer. Or an Araucana, which is a tail-less blue egger. But many sellers call Easter Eggers by that name, or they call them "Americanas" which is misleading.
The two Easter Eggers I had sported ear tufts and a tail. One laid a beautiful blue egg, the other one a paler blue-green. The tufts were so big I had to give them hair cuts to enable them to see.
Oh, man, I'm really itching to get more chickens. And maybe a pair of ducks?

so lucky said:

OK, so, @Beekissed, are you going to keep them in the garden enclosure, and what kind of house are you going to have? This sounds pretty interesting to me. Do ducks not destroy seedlings in the garden?
I would think that the smelly aspect is because they splash water around and poop in it? I wonder how often a water change will be needed for your two ducks and smallish pool.
My son had ducks for a while; just housed them with the chickens. Probably not ideal, but it worked for him.

Duck eggs, for the uninitiated, are richer than chicken eggs, IMO. I don't care for them as regular fried eggs, but for scrambled or in baked goods, no problem.

Oh, and I think the most fail-proof way to get blue eggs is to buy an Ameraucana layer. Or an Araucana, which is a tail-less blue egger. But many sellers call Easter Eggers by that name, or they call them "Americanas" which is misleading.
The two Easter Eggers I had sported ear tufts and a tail. One laid a beautiful blue egg, the other one a paler blue-green. The tufts were so big I had to give them hair cuts to enable them to see.
Oh, man, I'm really itching to get more chickens. And maybe a pair of ducks?

Click to expand...

Get some chickens So Lucky!

I thought of getting an ameracauna to ensure I got the blue egg. But she had moved them to her mother's place close by. She offered to bring them over but it was raining and my husband was waiting for me in the car so I decided it was too much trouble and selected an easter egger in stead. I also didn't mind the surprise element.

Mary

Since I own EE mutts, I am pretty sure that the blue egg is a dominant trait, much like 1/2 gaited horses will gait very nicely for you. I just get a kick out of the variety of color eggs you can get from your hens. Certainly egg coloring is more interesting with them.

ducks4you said:

Since I own EE mutts, I am pretty sure that the blue egg is a dominant trait, much like 1/2 gaited horses will gait very nicely for you. I just get a kick out of the variety of color eggs you can get from your hens. Certainly egg coloring is more interesting with them.

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You are right, it is dominant. If just one gene a that gene pair is the blue egg shell gene then the hen will lay blue or green eggs. The other option at that gene pair is white, though technically speaking it is not-blue and the default is white due to other genetics.

A brown egg is from brown color added to a base white egg. Green is from brown added to a base blue egg. There are a lot of different genes that can affect brown, how those genes come together will determine what shade of brown or green on that egg. That's why you can get so many different shades of brown or green eggs.

Interesting!

I just think it is amazing that there are so many different colors of chickens. Especially EE mutts. One of the ones I had was colored like a partridge Wyandotte, I think. But they can be white, black, laced, brown, yellow, greyish, speckled, lace, you name it.
I don't think I would want to try to breed for color. My little brain would explode.

I don't think I would want to try to breed for color. My little brain would explode.

I did try to breed for color and some parts of it are not that easy. Once something you don't want gets in it can be really challenging to get it out. I won't say I had a lot of failures, let's just say I ate what didn't turn out and called it supper instead of a failure. I did get a lot that did not turn out as expected or wanted.

This group I considered a success. They all laid a lot of blue or green eggs and every one of them went broody at least one a year. Those were goals I was trying for.

Well, you sure got some pretty ones. The one in the foreground looks like my Speckled Sussex.

ninnymary said:

Bee, the gal I got them from said they lay a deep hunter green egg. I also googled sapphire gems and it confirmed what she said. I guess I'll find out in about 2-3 months.

Mary

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The Sapphire Gem is a sex-linked hybrid created by a breeder in the Czech Republic. It is a hybrid that contains the Dominate Blue gene and is known for being a good layer of large brown eggs.
...
Sapphire Gem

• chicken breeds.
• rare breeds.
• sapphire gem.

Mar 10, 2018
Sapphire Gem | BackYard Chickens

https://www.backyardchickens.com/reviews/sapphire-gem.11837/












Our Sapphire Gem will amaze you with its gray to light gray plumage. This Czech breed is an excellent egg layer and a great forager. It does well in hot and cold climates and is a breed very close to the Old Andalusians. Please note that gray to light gray plumage is referred to as blue or lavender feathering in the chicken industry.

• 
  
  
  • Bird Purpose: Prolific egg laying breed that does well confined or free ranged
  • Egg Production Rate: Females ONLY; 290 eggs/year
  • Egg Color: Brown
  • Egg Size: Large
  • Bird Characteristics: Calm, Docile breed, Hardy in all climates, Bears confinement well
  • Mature Weight: Male 7 lbs. Female 6lbs

https://thechickhatchery.com/home/sapphire-blue-plymouth-rock/

ducks4you said:

@Beekissed , interested in MAYBE, MAYBE keeping ducks in the future. I have an extra enclosure, 12' x 12', and I could certainly use a smallish stock tank for them, BUT, I can smell when it's time to dig out, till and replace dirt for my chickens. I hear that ducks are really smelly. Thoughts?

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I think that depends on how you keep them, really. Most people I see who have wet, stinky duck places keep them in pens and don't do deep litter for them. Mine will free range and will have deep litter both in the garden and also in the winter quarters, but they will still free range all winter, so a lot of their poop will be out on the land.

We had ducks when I was growing up and they weren't a bit stinky...they went and got their water fix in the holler and ranged all over the place, but I noted no excess stink from them.

I'll provide a small black rubber pool/drinking/rinsing spot for them all the warm months in the garden and it can be emptied each evening onto heavy feeder beds that require a lot of moisture....and refilled fresh each morning. By keeping it small, it won't be labor intensive.

A good deep litter will help you not have to dig out soil for your chickens too...just add more litter~leaves, twigs, weeds, garden clean out, pine needles, etc. and build it deep(10-12 in at all times)...this will help keep your soils underneath from becoming compacted and unable to filter out rains and excess manure.