We’ve decided to wait on getting Ducks.

       To those of you who have been following along with my previous blog posts first off I wanna say THANK YOU! Thank you for joining in and sharing this part of my life with me I truly enjoy being able to share my passion with you. Secondly, if you have been following along then you know that I have recently been doing a few small changes in and around the coop/run. I’ve been putting more thought and purpose into what I have currently and into my future plans to be more efficient with the little amount of space we have for this urban homestead. I enjoy learning and I know that I still have a lot to learn, I mean no one person knows it all (though some people act like they do.)  I get most of my information from reading books, online sources and hearing other peoples experiences but what works for someone else may not work for me so it’s perfectly fine to change things up until you find what really works for you, this is where trail and error becomes your best friend. 

       With that being said, one of my most recent changes was to take out the small “pond” that i had put in the run last year. So a little backstory, last year we got some ducks and I had the ducks sharing the coop/run with our chickens. We only had the ducks for around 4-5 months, we got them in spring of 2022 and that August we went on a 2 week vacation to Florida. While on Vacation we had a friend come check on the garden and the coop daily, and halfway into our first week gone she called and said that I had a group of chickens and ducks missing and then for a couple random days after that I had more and more of my flock go missing, until i had only a few Chickens left, that’s a hole story of its own that I’ll share another time. 

       So its been around 6 months since I’ve last owned ducks, I had plans to get more ducks this spring but after doing some thinking I’ve decided that I don’t want the ducks to stay in the coop with the chickens, instead I’ve been debating on setting up space specifically for ducks next to our chickens. Since putting the pond in I’ve had a handful of chickens drown in the pond which of course is very upsetting, the pond is not very big at all and though it is only 2ft deep I believe the problem is there is no grade that slopes down like a beach if that makes sense. It’s a direct drop off all around the perimeter into the 2ft deep water and while many of the chickens caught on quick to stay away from the water I didn’t wanna risk loosing any more when i could easily just remove the pond liner. Another benefit of removing the pond now I don’t have to spend so much time cleaning out and keeping up with a pond that isn’t even being used for the intended purpose of having ducks swim and play in it. 

        We have just enough space to the right of our chicken coop to set up something else but we can’t decide if we want to get ducks or rabbits next. My husband has been leaning toward rabbits mostly because we know our toddler would absolutely love them but I need to compare the pro’s and con’s of both and see what we would benefit the most with because again I am putting so much more thought and purpose into the small amount of space we have to work with. Last year I would’ve definitely bought some ducks impulsively and don’t get me wrong every time I go pick up feed or supplies I have been SO tempted seeing the little ducklings but I’ve been focused on the future and to build a solid home it all starts with the foundation. Red Dirt Ranchette is not a temporary thing for me, we’ve owned chickens and have had plans to expand for years I don’t plan on stopping or giving up any time soon. And sharing our journey, life and struggles with everyone has only motivated me more! I’m so excited about our future. 

         Once we decide on either ducks or rabbits y’all will be the first to know! But until then I still have TONS of small projects that need to get done around this little homestead to help us run as smoothly and efficiently as possible, from chickens to gardening, organization, crafts and more! We’ve already got some plans in the works that I will share once they are set and stone mostly because I believe heavily in working in silence since there are people out there who really hope you fail. We are not like that over here, we want everyone to be successful at what they do as long as it gives you happiness and is not harmful. Again I’d like to say thank you to everyone for your continued support, and for keeping all positive vibes. Also, sorry y’all haven’t heard from me these past few week we’ve had a lot going on and I don’t want to get into the mindset of feeling like I have to create content or that this is a job for me, this is all for fun and to share/ document our journey. If you haven’t already don’t forget to follow us on social media, I don’t post much but I’ll work on posting more consistently.

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                                                                               -Shelby Ray

                                                                              Let Her Roam

                                                                           Red Dirt Ranchette