Flock Friday for January 1

Happy New Year! 🍾🥳🎊🎉

Today, a surprise revelation about the ducks… but first, some chicken pictures:

Chickens

Chickens

Chickens

Chickens

The ducks in the back corner of the pond:

Ducks

Ducks

Our pond partially froze for the first time this season on Tuesday. Here’s a time-lapse GIF of about an hour of the ducks swimming around in the non-frozen portion:

Ducks

A still shot:

Ducks

Another time-lapse GIF:

Ducks

When I went out there on my morning rounds, the ice had already somewhat melted, but there was some left:

Ducks

Ducks

Ducks

So what’s the surprise? Well, we noticed that we had misgendered one of our new ducks. In the second batch of ducklings in 2020, we expected to have all females, including a Khaki Campbell, who we named Clara. When ducklings are young, it can be hard to tell their sex, and apparently the hatchery made a mistake. Ducklings initially develop feathers like females when young, but as they get older, males start to show distinctive plumage. So apparently Clara is actually male; we now have two male Khaki Campbells, and one female. So Clara’s true name is now Cam.

Looking back at my photo archive, I can now see the first signs of a change as far back as October, but I didn’t notice until Jenn pointed out the change on one of the rare times she accompanied me on my evening rounds. I’m so observant!

Here are the ducks on the back lawn. The front rightmost two are the two Khaki Campbell males, Clyde and Cam:

Ducks

Ducks

In the pond, from the pond deck:

Ducks

Collision while going after mealworms:

Ducks

A closer view; Clyde and Cam, the two Khaki Campbell males, are the lighter ones with dark heads on the left; Cora, the female, is in the center, with a Rouen behind her:

Ducks

Peeking through the duck house:

Duck

The bank by the duck house:

Ducks

Another couple of pics from the pond deck:

Ducks

Ducks

Flock Friday for December 25

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! It’s also a Friday, which means it’s time to peek at the flock.

Literally — peeking through the nesting box at a duck in their house:

Duck

Some ducks eating from the feeder tube:

Ducks

Ducks

Rainy night ducks:

Rainy night ducks

Ducks on the lawn:

Ducks on the lawn

Several are sleeping, with their heads tucked against their bodies, while others are on watch:

Ducks on the lawn

Bert flapping his wings:

Ducks on the lawn

The chickens waiting to greet me in the corner of the veggie garden:

Chickens

Looking through the fence separating the new and old runs (there’s a chicken-sized doorway connecting them):

Chickens

Coming through that doorway to receive treats:

Chickens

Some closeups:

Chickens

Chicken

Chickens

Pictures of hummingbirds, some of which were previously posted on my personal blog, some new ones:

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

Scattering when the dog approaches:

Hummingbirds

On a rainy day, the chickens tend to hang out in the coops; here some are on the new roosts:

Chickens

A few hours later, the hummingbird feeder level is looking much lower; I had to refill it an hour or so after this:

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

Another day, the sugar water was partially frozen, due to subfreezing overnight temperatures; I haven’t put the heating pad on it yet, since it is warming up during the day, but probably will soon:

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

Stay tuned for a video from the pond, to be posted shortly.

Flock Friday for December 18

Who wants to enjoy some pictures of ducks, chickens, and hummingbirds? You’ve come to the right place!

Earlier this week on my personal blog I posted a couple of pictures of our ducks on the duck house path, heading over the “temporary” bridge; here are a few more pictures from then:

Ducks on the path to the duck house

Ducks on the path to the duck house

Ducks on the path to the duck house

Their destination was the lawn:

Ducks on the lawn

Ducks on the lawn

A shot from a chicken coop cam of them settling down for the night:

Chickens

More pictures from that cam of them exploring the new roosts:

Chickens exploring new roosts

Chickens exploring new roosts

Chickens exploring new roosts

Ducks on the pond:

Ducks on the pond

Ducks on the pond

Rainy night ducks:

Night ducks

A bunch of pictures of the chickens; some quite nice closeups this week:

Chickens

Chickens

Chickens

Chicken

Chicken

Chicken

Chickens

Chickens

Finally, I posted some pictures of 11 hummingbirds yesterday; here are some more pictures of them:

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

Chicken coop extra roosts

In the new chicken coop, the chickens all roost above the nesting boxes at night, preferring crowding together on the higher roost over the more spacious main roosts — chickens prefer to sleep as high as they can at night, for safety, even though they’re safe in the closed coop:

Chickens roosting

(A rather old picture; I don’t have a more recent one, but they’re much the same every night.)

They get there either by flying directly from the floor, or from the main roosts; about the limit of chickens flying abilities:

Chicken coop

A GIF of flying from the main roosts, and knocking the camera off:

Chickens GIF

Here’s a wide-angle shot of the coop:

Chicken coop

To give them more options, and make it easier to get to their preferred roost, I decided to add more roosting bars to the coop, which I did yesterday.

I added two extra 2×4 roosting bars above the existing main ones, plus a third bar connecting the uppermost one with the nesting boxes (the other board on the right-hand side was only resting there temporarily):

Chicken coop extra roosts

That will let them hop from the floor to the two lower roosts, then up to the new front upper one, and either to the nesting roost, or to the uppermost one, where they’ll be able to look out that window, or the vent on the right-hand side when that is open in warm weather.

Here’s a closer look at the left side; you can see the existing lower roosts (with the poop tray below), the two new upper roosts, and the “bridge” bar from the upper one to the nesting box roost on the left, all assembled out of 2×4 boards and deck screws:

Chicken coop extra roosts

(Back when I built the coop, I used pneumatic nails for everything, but nowadays I’m a big fan of screws, and deck screws are great for working with 2x4s, as they are self-drilling and a more secure square drive.)

The right side:

Chicken coop extra roosts

Time will tell if they use those new roosts, but hopefully they’ll enjoy those additional options for high roosting and easier access.

Flock Friday for December 11

Lots of nice duck and chicken pictures this week.

Starting with a cam shot of both — some chickens in their run, and ducks on the lawn in the background:

Chickens and ducks

A bunch of pictures of the ducks on the lawn:

Ducks

Ducks

Ducks

Ducks

And on the pond, with some leafy treats:

Ducks

Ducks

On the lawn again, another day; unusual for them to be left of the path (on the edge of the flowerbeds area) — they headed to the back lawn when they saw me coming:

Ducks

Ducks

Ducks

Ducks

Several pictures of the chickens:

Chickens

It’s easy to get them to hold still and give me their undivided attention; I just hold a container of treats above the camera:

Chickens

Chickens

Chickens

Chickens

Chickens

Chickens

They hadn’t touched the pumpkin I gave them a few days ago, so I cracked it open for them:

Chickens

Chickens

Chickens

Several pictures of hummingbirds; I shared some of these yesterday on my personal blog, but there are a few more here:

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

Finally, the ducks near their house early this morning:

Ducks

Flock Friday for November 20

Hey there. It’s Friday… Flock Friday. This week, ducks, chickens, and hummingbirds… and a rodent.

Here are some ducks on upturned-pot islands in the pond:

Ducks

In and around the duck house:

Ducks

On the pond:

Ducks

Hey there Betty:

Ducks

A rodent (rat, I think) has been visiting the duck house this week. Not welcome, due to possible disease concerns, though it doesn’t seem to be doing any harm, and I don’t know what I can do to stop it — it comes in via the pond pop door, and during the day too. Here you can see it under the ramp, with the ducks nearby:

Rodent and ducks

The ducks were very curious about it:

Rodent and ducks

Some pictures of the chickens in the veggie garden:

Chickens

Chickens

Chickens

Chickens

Chickens

In their run, coming to greet me on rounds:

Chickens

Leafy treats:

Chickens

More of the ducks:

Ducks

Going up the bank to the lawn:

Ducks

On the lawn:

Ducks

Ducks

A GIF of the rodent in the duck house:

Rodent GIF

I shared this GIF of dancing hummingbirds on my personal blog:

Hummingbirds GIF

And some pictures of hummingbirds, taken with me standing outside a few feet away:

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

The ducks on the lawn again:

Ducks

Ducks

Ducks

Ducks

Some chicken eggs in a nesting box; we’ve been averaging about two or three per day of late, but occasionally have more:

Eggs

Finally, a couple more duck pictures:

Ducks

Ducks

Flock Friday for November 6

I can’t believe it’s Friday already; it’s been quite a week, eh? What is time, anyway?

Since I’ve been posting hourly photos on my personal blog over the last few days, to help distract me and others from election coverage, you may have seen some of these pictures… but there are some new ones, too.

On Halloween I gave the chickens a pumpkin:

Chickens with pumpkin

Chickens with pumpkin

This is what a pumpkin looks like after they’re through with it; just the barest of shells:

Pumpkin

Some pictures of the ducks on the pond:

Ducks

Ducks

Ducks

This week I let the chickens into the veggie garden (video):

Chickens in veggie garden

Lots of tomatoes:

Chickens in veggie garden

Those recently planted lettuces never had a chance:

Chickens in veggie garden

Digging in the potato planters is fun:

Chickens in veggie garden

Tasty kale:

Chickens in veggie garden

A wide shot of the whole veggie garden:

Chickens in veggie garden

I went to the feed store, as I was out of duck food. The new coop storage area is rather full at present:

Coop storage

More pictures of ducks:

Ducks

Ducks

Ducks

Ducks

Ducks

Ducks

Chickens in the veggie garden again, a few days later; not much left of the green pumpkins:

Chickens in veggie garden

Chickens in veggie garden

Buffy jumping for high kale leaves:

Chickens in veggie garden

Chickens in veggie garden

Chickens in veggie garden

Ducks:

Ducks

The old chicken coop:

Old chicken coop

And new chicken coop:

New chicken coop

The chickens waiting for me:

Chickens

I discovered a soft egg, just the inner membrane, without a hard shell. Unusual, but happens occasionally:

Soft egg

Ducks on the lawn:

Ducks

Ducks

Finally, a GIF edition of the time-lapse video I posted yesterday:

Ducks GIF