HowToDoThings.com Farm Animals

How To Care for and Feed Baby Ducks

Deborah331 — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 06:22:00 -0500

Whether you have just spent 28 days hatching duck eggs in an incubator, bought ducklings from a store or received them as a gift, knowing how to care for them properly is important. Baby ducks only require a few basic elements to remain healthy and grow into beautiful, mature ducks. These elements are a brooding area, proper bedding, a heat source, the correct feed and water.

The first element is the brooding area.

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How To Hatch Chicken Eggs

Deborah331 — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 19:37:00 -0500

There are many important factors to consider when hatching chicken eggs. These factors can generally be divided into three categories: choosing the right eggs, selecting an incubator, and maintaining proper incubating conditions.

Choosing the right eggs.
- First, you should consider the chickens responsible for fertilizing and laying the eggs. The eggs should come from healthy adult chickens who have a high fertility percentage, were not disturbed during mating season, were fed a good diet, and are not related to each other.
  
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How To Raise a Duck as a Pet

Darcy480 — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 08:21:00 -0500

Preplanning is essential in raising happy, healthy pet ducks. If you want to be able to handle your ducks, you will need to acquire them young and spend lots of hours handling them when they are young. Before purchasing, ensure you are up to the task of raising and maintaining ducks by asking yourself the following questions:

Do I have enough space to keep several ducklings happy? Ducks are social birds and should not be raised alone. You will need at least a minimum space of 10 feet per adult duck.
Is my yard good for ducks? Ducks will need shelter and a place to swim.
Can I keep my pet ducks safe? Ducks have several predators: owls, hawks, foxes, snapping turtles, dogs, etc. Providing your ducks with a large source of water can help protect them during the day. Locking them in a secure shelter at night might also be necessary.

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How To Determine the Sex of Baby Chickens

Deborah331 — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 14:12:00 -0500

The ability to sex day-old baby chickens is important because each gender has its own importance in the poultry industry. Hens, or female chickens, are raised to become egg producers while roosters, or male chickens, are raised to become meat producers. Knowing the sex of the day-old chickens saves the producers of these poultry products from raising chickens until they are old enough to tell apart simply by looking. It takes four to six weeks for secondary sex characteristics such as the size and shape of the comb, to become visible enough to distinguish between the two sexes. However, sexing day-old chickens is not easy due to the location of the sex organs inside the body of the chicken.

How To Care for and Feed Baby Goats

Deborah331 — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 21:20:00 -0500

Baby goats, or kids, require extra care just like any baby, and their owner should provide it if they wish to have a healthy, productive herd. These young goats will need colostrum, milk, water, hay, grain, health care, shelter, vaccinations, hoof trimming and tattooing. Following a schedule is important when goat owners are providing these needs required by the baby goats. Prospective goat owners, new goat owners and even experienced goat owners may find the following schedule helpful when raising baby goats.

How To Care for Pygmy Goats

Deborah331 — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 15:14:00 -0500

Caring for Pygmy goats is not that different from caring for any other species of goat, or any other animal for that matter, just in smaller portions. Pygmy goats need food, water and shelter just like the rest of us.

Food for Pygmy goats includes:

Grains that can be fed such as oats, corn, goat ration and sweet feed. It is important to include goat ration and sweet feed to ensure that the goats get the vitamins and minerals they need. Each Pygmy goat should be fed ¼ cup of grain twice daily. Grain should be fed in a trough off the ground to prevent the grain from being soiled by the goats.
Forage that can be fed includes alfalfa hay and grass hay. Feeding alfalfa hay is important for the roughage and calcium that it provides and grass hay is an excellent source of roughage and vitamin A. It is important to feed hay in a hay trough located off the ground where it cannot be soiled by the goats.

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How To Hatch Duck and Geese Eggs

Deborah331 — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 21:22:00 -0500

Nothing is cuter than a duckling, except maybe a gosling. If you are in the market for one or several of these babies, either you can buy them already hatched or you can hatch them yourself. Following the steps included here will help ensure you a successful hatch in about 28 days for ducks and 30 days for geese.

The first step is to gather the supplies needed. Here's what you'll need.

Gather eggs that are most likely fertile, have no cracks, are regular shape and size and are fresh, meaning they are no older than seven days for ducks and four days for geese.
An incubator or setting hen is needed for incubation of eggs.
A hatching thermometer is needed to regulate the temperature and humidity.

Choosing an incubator usually depends on several factors:

Number of eggs being hatched.

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How To Decide What Pet Is Right For You

JessRan — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 12:32:29 -0600

Selecting a new pet is a big decision for anyone. Remember anything you do will now impact the
life of another creature. Below are some things to think about before you decide to bring home any animal.

How To Milk Cows

Deborah331 — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 20:34:00 -0500

Milking a cow is one of the many chores that families used to face before our society became so modern. Most people today have never had the opportunity to milk a cow, although some of their past relatives surely did. Today, milk is delivered in a truck to a store, and the art of milking a cow is on its way out.

But if you have the opportunity to milk a cow the old-fashioned way, the following steps will help you. First, gather your supplies:

A cow that is nursing a calf.
A pail to catch the milk in.
A short stool to sit on while milking.
Warm water to clean the cow's udder and a clean cloth to dry the cow's udder.
Cow feed.

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How To Give a Pet as a Gift

JessRan — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 11:24:10 -0600

Many people purchase pets as gifts with good intentions only to discover their new pet takes more time and care than anticipated or the recipient isn’t as thrilled as they’d hoped. Caged animals need daily handling to become loving members of the family. Puppies and kittens left in unfamiliar surroundings may get into more trouble or discover possible dangers in the home.