The new two-week-old ducklings have quickly become enthused at going in the paint tray pool. This is the morning of their second day with the pool, with all of them in it at once. They won’t all fit for long, but in a couple of weeks they’ll have a larger outdoor pool.
Month: August 2020
More ducklings day 13: pool and treats
Today I swapped out the waterer for the full-sized one, removed the duckling feeder, introduced them to the paint tray pool, and to leafy treats. An exciting day for ducklings!
With the previous ducklings, I introduced the pool and treats on day 15, so I’m a couple of days earlier than before, but they seemed ready. I also decided that since the pool is easy to get out of, I could leave it there full-time from the start, instead of only having supervised swims for the first week. I am keeping a close eye on them via the camera, though, just in case. And “swims” is an exaggeration; there’s only about an inch of water in the tray today, so all they can do is wade a little, like they could in the ceramic dish before today, so there is little risk of drowning.
Since they can all reach the feeder tube now, I decided it’d be a good time to remove the duckling feeder too. And as their bills continue to grow, it’s also about time to move them to the full-sized waterer, so they can immerse their full bill to clean it.
The first step was to remove the old waterer and feeder, and the bricks they were sitting on:
Here are the removed ceramic dish, feeder, and waterer, plus the paint tray and ramp I’m about to add, and a kneeling pad so I don’t have to kneel in the muck:
I took the opportunity to muck out the dirty straw, and remove the shelf liners; the ducklings bravely watched from the back, not freaking out as much as the previous ones did:
The full-sized waterer, paint tray pool, wooden ramp, and fresh straw:
I then introduced them to leafy treats, which they checked out fairly quickly:
It didn’t take them long to get excited about the treats; did you see the video?
And they were quick to go into pool, too:
Much more quick than the previous ducklings; I’ve noticed that female ducklings are really into being in water, more so than male ones.
Here are all of them except the Blue Swedish duckling:
Another angle:
Preening and drinking; ducks have a gland near the base of their tail that secretes waterproofing oils, so this Rouen is probably rubbing on that to help spread it (I recently saw a fascinating YouTube video about duck waterproofing):
Ducklings with leafy treats
Today I introduced the latest ducklings to leafy treats, which they immediately loved.
More ducklings day 12
Today, several pictures of ducklings on top of the EcoGlow, and in the water dish. Oh, and we’re thinking about names for these ducklings; read on for details.
The newest ducklings are all female: one Khaki Campbell, a breed developed in England, so we want a “C” name suitable to that area, to join Clyde and Cora. Plus one Blue Swedish, so we want a Swedish “S” name to join Sven and Sonja. And four Rouens, which originated in France, so want four suitable “R” names, to join Rémy. We have some ideas, but I’d welcome other suggestions, if you have any.
Last night, I spotted one of the Rouens sitting on top of the EcoGlow heating panel:
They’re supposed to sit under it, but seem to enjoy the top more than underneath. This morning, a Rouen and the Khaki Campbell were both there:
A duckling in the water dish — which is fine; it’s there as a bathing intro, to literally get their feet wet on the concept:
But it’s also available for drinking, at least until they splash all the water out:
Watching me:
It’s fun to stand in the dish:
Again on the EcoGlow (and you can see her tongue):
Two:
More ducklings day 11
Today the ducklings figured out the feeder tube; hard to believe that they’re already big enough to reach it. Check out a couple of GIFs of them eating from the tube!
Here’s the first GIF, from the cam footage:
A cam shot of that:
It’s fun to step in the dish:
Watching me:
Eating from the tube:
Some more close-ups:
Another GIF of a ducking eating from the tube while I was there:
Cat update for week ending August 22
Lots of pictures of Porcini this week; she’s a bit of a home-body, not necessarily in the cat house, but in the gardens nearby. Pommie is too, in her own way, though she prefers the cabins.
Several days this week I’ve spotted Porcini when doing my afternoon or evening rounds, on the way to or from the pond. Here she is on the steps to the fountain garden:
Porcini waiting for her turn for breakfast:
It’s not all Porcini, though. Here’s Spud emerging from the breezeway cabin:
Spud freezes when he spots a bird at the end of the breezeway:
Oh look, it’s Porcini again:
And again:
And again; so comfy on the deck:
Two cats as the food starts to dispense:
Twins:
Sniffing noses:
Spotted Porcini again; you can just barely see her hiding behind the ceramic pukeko ornaments:
Yep, it’s Porcini again:
Porcini and Poppy inside their house:
Finally, some other cats; here’s Bella:
Pommie and Poppa:
Poppy and Spud:
More ducklings day 10
Ten days, and already so much bigger!
Still super-cute, though:
I managed to snap a pic of a Rouen on top of the EcoGlow:
And a GIF of hopping off:
The three in the back look like they’re whispering secrets:
Flock Friday for August 21
For Flock Friday this week, more sad news, I’m afraid. One of the two Rouen ducks went missing on Sunday night. I don’t know what happened to him — I saw him on Sunday, and haven’t seen him since, not even a body or signs of a struggle. So if a raccoon or something grabbed him, it must have dragged him somewhere else.
Anyway, on with the pictures. Here are the ducks messily eating, with one of the Rouens in the foreground:
Ducks by the duck house, and (not really visible) ducklings inside:
A GIF of one of the Rouens exiting the pond:
Splashing to cool off on a hot day:
It was very hot (mid-90’s) over the weekend, so we gave the chickens a frozen treat of corn and peas to help them cool off:
Ducks eating again:
Camilla snuck into the veggie garden when I opened the gate:
Ducks with treats; the last photo of both Rouens:
On Sunday, the chickens with another frozen treat:
Looking at the pond cam, 8 ducks visible on Sunday evening:
The next morning, only 7 ducks; I couldn’t see any evidence of what happened to the second Rouen:
We had two names for the Rouens, Rémy and Raoul, but hadn’t decided on which was which. But now that we only have one, his name is Rémy. RIP Raoul.
Seven ducks eating:
I went to the feed store for more duckling food. I’m well stocked now; a couple of spare bags of duckling food (the red ones at the back), plus many bags of chicken food, fish food, and mealworms, in the storage area of the new chicken coop (I might need to add another shelf):
Sleepy ducks:
Night ducks:
Ducks on the bank:
This morning, a visit by a blue heron:
More ducklings day 9
Today I added a ceramic cat dish to the duck house, as a baby-sized pool from which they can enjoy drinking and wading. Next week I’ll upgrade that to the red paint tray pool, but this is a good start.
Ducklings can drown if allowed in too much water too soon, as they don’t have the waterproofing oils yet. (If they were raised by a mother duck, she would share her oils with them.) Wading in shallow water helps them develop and spread their own oils.
Hey what’s this?
Looks like it’d be fun to step into:
Yep:
My turn:
Mine too:
This is fun!
More ducklings day 8 (start of week 2)
The newest ducklings are now starting their second week. Other than the introduction of straw (which I did a couple of days ago), and reducing the temperature by 1° each day, the only other change due this week will be to add a ceramic dish of water for bonus drinking and stepping in, as a prelude to the paint tray pool. I’ll probably add that dish tomorrow.
Peeking at the ducklings in a nesting box, through the cupboard:
Some more duckling cuteness:
