Today I made more gentle steps into the new duckling pool, and a couple of them tried it.
I used the remaining bricks that were forming the temporary patio (where the run is now) to make easier steps into the kiddie pool:
I then put a bunch of lettuce treats in the pool to entice them. Several of them stood outside the pool and reached in for the treats:
The old paint tray pool is still preferred; here’s one dunking:
They were curious about the pool, gathering around it and peering in:
A bit later, Betty (of course) was first to enter the pool:
Soon followed by the male Blue Swedish, Sven:
Dunking:
He exited the pool by hopping over the side, proving that the steps wasn’t really the problem:
Tomorrow, I think I’ll make the water a bit deeper, to see if that encourages them to use it more. I might remove the paint tray, too. I really feel they’ll love the kiddie pool once they get used to it. And it’ll be good practice to swim in that before going into the pond.