Animals
- Meanwhile, At The Duck Pond...
Part of my every day chores is a stop at the duck pond to feed the ducks and fish. We have kept a stable population for several months now...5 tame ducks and 4 wild mallards that now call our pond home.At one point we were up to 36 ducks,but the local...
- The Surprise
A perfect, blue skied, sunny weekend was made even better by a visit from my favorite buddy. Tyler spent the day with Grammie and Muppy on Sunday.Before his arrival I told him that I had a surprise for him...actually 16 little surprises. Each visit...
- Goodbye Methuselah
Yesterday morning when I stopped by the pond to feed the ducks,I did my usual head count.Twelve ducks were paddling around in their little circular pool of water...kept from freezing by an aerator. For seven or eight years, that head count has included...
- For The Love Of Salt
Every afternoon, a trip to the pond results in this find... four lovely duck eggs. We have come to love our duck eggs...available only in the spring. Our ducks are trying hard to increase their numbers,and daily I am thwarting their efforts. Our...
- A Little Surprise
We are doing a little waddle dance here at the farm. The ducks are excited and so are we!!! Last night while changing the water in the duck hut,my daughter Jenn found something wonderful! Three grey duck eggs!Our first. Raising this...
Animals
Springtime Delicacies
One of the many things that we look forward to in the spring,
is duck eggs.
Every spring we find duck eggs along the bank of the pond on an almost daily basis.
Not this spring, however...
no... this spring there have been no...
and will be no duck eggs.
Why?
Because drakes don't lay eggs!
And it seems that all we have left of our domestic ducks after winter's end are males.
The females disappeared through attrition.
It seems they are much more susceptible to predators.
I know that the ducks on our pond are all males
as they all have a curly feather above their tales...
a sure sign of manliness amongst ducks.
Also, there are no ducks missing neck feathers.
Females end up with patches of feathers missing around their necks during mating season,
as that is where the males hold on to them with their bills.
As you can see... all necks are fully feathered,
and all tails are delicately curled!
We do have one pair of mallards who may reproduce,
however mallards don't tend to lay eggs willy nilly like our domestic ducks do.
Perhaps we'll end up with mallard ducklings,
but....
there'll be no eggs to eat this year.
Sad.
Because duck eggs make the best cakes.
A cake made with duck eggs rises beautifully.
We do, however have morel mushrooms this year.
The old scraggly apple tree in the orchard that I refer to as the witch's tree...
grows a yearly crop of morels around its base.
I worried that Ginger and MaryAnn might eat them as they have access to this area.
Luckily, they were there...intact.
I picked them before MaryAnn decided to flop down for a belly rubbing.
While you are sniffing around there, Ginger....
would you keep an eye out for more mushrooms, please?
One of these Sundays, we will have
morel, leek, and asparagus omelets
for Farm Breakfast.
Yum!
- Meanwhile, At The Duck Pond...
Part of my every day chores is a stop at the duck pond to feed the ducks and fish. We have kept a stable population for several months now...5 tame ducks and 4 wild mallards that now call our pond home.At one point we were up to 36 ducks,but the local...
- The Surprise
A perfect, blue skied, sunny weekend was made even better by a visit from my favorite buddy. Tyler spent the day with Grammie and Muppy on Sunday.Before his arrival I told him that I had a surprise for him...actually 16 little surprises. Each visit...
- Goodbye Methuselah
Yesterday morning when I stopped by the pond to feed the ducks,I did my usual head count.Twelve ducks were paddling around in their little circular pool of water...kept from freezing by an aerator. For seven or eight years, that head count has included...
- For The Love Of Salt
Every afternoon, a trip to the pond results in this find... four lovely duck eggs. We have come to love our duck eggs...available only in the spring. Our ducks are trying hard to increase their numbers,and daily I am thwarting their efforts. Our...
- A Little Surprise
We are doing a little waddle dance here at the farm. The ducks are excited and so are we!!! Last night while changing the water in the duck hut,my daughter Jenn found something wonderful! Three grey duck eggs!Our first. Raising this...