Meredith Casto

Perhaps this is a silly question: what kind of call do you use to call your ducks in for the night?  Or does it even matter what kind of call you use?  For the night, our ducks will be in a fenced area with our chickens.  The chickens are closed up in a moveable chicken tractor at night, but think we will have boxes for the ducks for sleeping and laying.  Thoughts?

Does breed-type influence whether or not they are likely to stay near?

We have 13 chickens with a moveable 6x6 chicken tractor using the paddock system, moving our fencing every 7 days or so.  We’re adding khaki ducks (and a guard goose) in the spring.  Question: we have a natural pond next to where we keep our chickens.  Our chickens don’t have access to it.  They have to stay in fencing all the time due to predators and a road near us.  Can we allow our ducks to free range on the pond during the day and close them in the fencing at night?  Would they fly away if allowed to free range?  If i can free range them during the day, how hard would it be to corral them for nighttime?  At night would they just sleep in the fenced in area, or would I place them in the moveable chicken tractor, too?

I live in Maryland and want to begin raising chicks towards the end of August/first of September.  Has anyone had success raising chicks in the fall?

I think my question here should have been titled "Hatching Eggs in the Fall."  I posted pre-coffee.  The thought is to hatch chicks in September (I have a garage and will have no problem keeping them warm) so that they are ready to lay in December -- making them more prolific layers in the spring.  Have you heard of this or have any thoughts on it?

I met with a woman who owns a fowl farm.  She suggested hatching chicks at a time when they would be ready to lay during the darker (i.e. winter) months.  Doing so, she suggested, would result in them being more prolific layers once they do start laying (i.e. spring when you have 14+ hours of sunlight).  Has anyone tried this or have any thoughts on it?