Andrew Mayflower

If this was next year I'd totally take them.  But I'm not really ready for ducks yet though.  Needing to finish work on the turkey area, and get fencing up for sheep.  I've got a small divot I discovered (a little larger than a typical kid pool from the hardware store, possibly from an uprooted tree) that regularly holds water that would be a perfect place to set them up.

I took a class on LGDs about a year ago.  One thing I remember being stated, in no uncertain terms, was that crossing LGDs with non-LGDs is almost always a BAD idea.  It was anecdotal (and the plural of anecdote is not data), but they lady running the class recounted the story of an accidental breeding of an LGD with I think an aussie shepherd.   Every single puppy from that litter was put down within 2 years because of how dangerous they were.  

LGDs have been bred to be independent, self-sufficient, and absolutely tenacious when confronting a threat.  Mix that with a hound breed that is meant to chase prey animals rather than protect them and you could easily find yourself with a time bomb with a very erratic and unpredictable fuse.  At best you will fight constantly against tendencies to roam and investigate every squirrel trail possible rather than properly guard your livestock.  At worst, the dog will chase and kill yours or your neighbors livestock, and then turn to attack if someone tries to intervene.  

Possibly interested in American Chestnut, walnut, apple and pear.  Let me know what you have available that would grow well in my location and pricing for those species.

I live in Skagit county, so north end of the Puget sound.  About 150’ elevation.  Most soil drains decently, some areas less so.  Mix of clay and loamy areas.  Lots of ex-timber land, so fairly acidic soils but not averse to adding lime to reduce acidity if necessary.

I want to grow nut trees among many other things.  But not all grow well here, and some that grow well won’t ripen the nuts.  So what will grow well, and produce a ripe nut crop, at least most years?  I’m pretty sure hazelnut/filberts will grow well.  Beyond that I’m really not sure.  And some cultivars will work much better than others.  So what do you all recommend?

Peter Griffith wrote:No signs of infection? That is gross necrosis.

There’s no smell and it is healing.  Bad as it looks.  She’s eating and drinking normally, poo is normal and she is quite active.  The color is mostly dye from the blue-kote spray.  

Jay Angler wrote:Any chance she'd cooperate for a photo op? It would be good to post a picture of what her healing looks like for others to see what a healing wound in poultry looks like.
If she does cooperate, give her a treat from me. I'm not sure what a treat is for a turkey, but my chickens *adore* a kale leaf!

No kale handy, but here a picture.  Been 15 days as of this morning since the attack.  I haven’t put any blue-kote on it for about 10 days.  Still looks pretty ugly, but she’s not showing any signs of infection, and hopefully the others won’t pick on her when I let out of the rabbit tractor.  I figure 2 days separated by the tractor and hopefully, along with a move to the new spot, and they’ll get along ok.

She definitely seems happy to have grass under her.  The tom and 1 immediately came over to see her.  The other hen was a bit more circumspect.

She is very antsy to get out of the rabbit tractor in the garage.  Later this morning I'll move her out of the garage, but still in the tractor, to a spot next to where the other 3 turkeys are.  We got the coop moved into position, but still need to add roost bars, and get wood shavings for bedding.  Plus some detail work on the fence in the area I'm going to keep them, including installing a gate, so that the turkeys can't get out (or coyotes in).  Figure a day or two out of the garage but in the tractor, and then move them all up to the new area probably Wednesday, at which point I'll let her out of the tractor.  At that point she'll be 17 days or so out from the attack.  

She's still kicking!

With her level of healing I'm getting close to wanting to reintroduce her to the tom (and the 2 new hens).  I think I'm going to wait until the coop I picked up from friends is off my trailer and in place in the back yard.  Weather has been quite mild, but we've got some freezing weather coming, and with the loss of feathers and fat layer on her back I'm worried she'll be vulnerable to exposure overnight.  With that coop she'll be sheltered from the wind and will at least have the body heat of the other 3 turkeys to ward off the cold.  I'll be locking them all in the coop overnight for coyote protection.

I need that same friend to come up with his 4x4 pickup so we can drive the coop close to its permanent home as it's too heavy to move otherwise.  Hopefully that will be able to happen this weekend.

Agree with the comments on plucking being the biggest difference.  IF you can time your slaughter to when they have minimal pin feathers it helps a ton.  But the week based method mentioned by others is no terribly reliable.  The variation based on climate (and time of year), diet, particular line of the breed, and so on will cause that to vary by easily 1-2 weeks.  If you have a large enough number of ducks you can start by processing one at the early end of the time frame you want and seeing how bad the pin feathers are.  If bad, wait a few days and process one more.  Repeat until the pin feathers are minimal and then process the rest.

So far she's still alive.  Wound looks pretty ugly, but I think it's starting to heal.  Keeping her confined in the garage still.  I don't imagine I'll be able to let her back into the flock with the tom and the 2 new hens for at least another week to 10 days.  I feel bad for her as she must be bored and confused, never mind in some degree of pain.  But, she's eating (and pooping), and runs around the rabbit tractor when I try to get ahold of her to treat the wound.