Animals
- Of Ducks And Garlic
I have avoided talking about our baby duck situation...because we lost our entire batch of 17 ducklings.Unfortunately, Mrs. Waddlington was not a good mother.She was frequently off galavanting around the farm, leaving her babies to fend for themselves....
- 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...
- Maddie And The Ducklings
About two weeks ago, while we were on vacation,nine little ducklings hatched at our pond.This is the second generation of ducks that have come from my originalgroup of Swedish Runners, Cayugas, and Pekins. Maddie and I visited the pond yesterday afternoon...
- Tiny Miracles
Early this weekend during AM chores, I headed to the pond to put feed out for the ducks. Upon entering the duck hut, I saw Mrs. Duckles on her nest.She was hissing at me. I looked a bit closer.... she wasn't alone,no, there were several just hatched...
- Feeling Just Ducky
Is this a face that only a mother could love? Did my ducks mingle with a turkey?? Actually this duck is a Muscovy duck. He is one of three that were given to us by a friend. I should say he is one of three remaining Muscovies....a few perished at the...
Animals
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 Tyler checks the duck hut to see if any eggs hatched into baby ducks.
How happy he was yesterday to see that his wish had come true...
times sixteen!
He was curious about the state of the nest in the duck hut,
and wanted to see if all the eggs had hatched.
Two had not.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Waddlington was giving swimming lessons in the pond.
I am so happy to say that this is our third generation of ducklings raised here on the pond
from a group of ducklings that I started four years ago.
Last year we had enough ducks, so we did not allow any to remain in the nest.
This year we let nature take its course.
It seems that all of the females laid their eggs in one nest this year
and Mrs. Waddlington chose to be the surrogate Mom for all.
She is doing a great job of keeping her brood together and teaching them their survival skills.
Amazingly, when ducklings are hatched naturally and fostered by a mother duck,
they are able to go into the water immediately.
This is due to the fact that the mother duck keeps her ducklings under her wing in the beginning.
This behavior helps to coat the ducklings down with the mother's oils...
preventing the ducklings from becoming water logged.
Ducklings raised in captivity without a Mother duck do not get the advantage of this oil,
and thus cannot spend long periods of time in the water until they are much older.
It always amazes me how Mother Nature takes care of all these little details.
Obviously, Sammie is not amazed by much of anything on this particular day!
- Of Ducks And Garlic
I have avoided talking about our baby duck situation...because we lost our entire batch of 17 ducklings.Unfortunately, Mrs. Waddlington was not a good mother.She was frequently off galavanting around the farm, leaving her babies to fend for themselves....
- 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...
- Maddie And The Ducklings
About two weeks ago, while we were on vacation,nine little ducklings hatched at our pond.This is the second generation of ducks that have come from my originalgroup of Swedish Runners, Cayugas, and Pekins. Maddie and I visited the pond yesterday afternoon...
- Tiny Miracles
Early this weekend during AM chores, I headed to the pond to put feed out for the ducks. Upon entering the duck hut, I saw Mrs. Duckles on her nest.She was hissing at me. I looked a bit closer.... she wasn't alone,no, there were several just hatched...
- Feeling Just Ducky
Is this a face that only a mother could love? Did my ducks mingle with a turkey?? Actually this duck is a Muscovy duck. He is one of three that were given to us by a friend. I should say he is one of three remaining Muscovies....a few perished at the...