Duck island thoughts, design, starting

Our ducks spend a lot of time on the banks of our pond, or swimming around the pond. Being in the pond is safer for them at night, being less accessible to predators.

I have added several upturned pots in the pond as mini islands for them to rest on, as additional options, but there aren’t enough for everyone.

So I recently had the idea of using an old dinghy (that we inherited with the property) as an island.

Here’s the old boat:

Old boat

I dragged it to the pond:

Boat on pond

Then waded in the pond, flipped it over, and pushed out most of the air (the boat has a big hole in the bow), to make a larger island, wedged on top of one of the pots:

Boat island

However, that isn’t ideal either, as (a) the ducks seem to be freaked out by it, not wanting to go near it, (b) it’s kinda ugly, and (c) it doesn’t seem great for roosting or nesting.

So I decided to build a wooden island, with a thin layer of dirt and grasses, contained by some spare pond liner. And to make it a bit more island-like, I thought I’d make it an octagonal shape.

The first step was to sketch various sizes to determine a good size; big enough to be useful, but not too big, and considering materials (cutting 8 foot boards into various lengths efficiently). I sketched it in the excellent Linea Sketch iPad app:

Drawing

I decided that an octagon 6 feet across would be ideal, with some platforms around water level to make it easier to get on and off. Here is the design I came up with:

Drawing

Here is a GIF time-lapse of my drawing (a fun new feature of Linea Sketch):

Drawing

I surveyed the wood I had on hand, and started to construct it:

Wood and table saw

The edges are 6×1 boards, screwed into blocks; here I’m laying out the pieces:

Laying out edges

Below the edges are 8’ 2×4 boards to help hold the shape and support it, with bits sticking out beyond the edges for the water-level platforms (this is upside-down):

Base

That’s where I’m at currently. On Sunday I’ll add the platforms.

My original concept was to add legs, so this would sit on the pond floor to support the weight of the wood and dirt. But I’m now planning to make it a floating island. Floating would have the advantages of rising and falling with the pond water level (which can vary about 10 inches throughout the year), and perhaps be movable for maintenance. But it also has some complexity of getting it to float at the right level, and anchoring it in position.

So I need to figure out how to add sufficient buoyancy. There are complex formulas for that, but that’s beyond me, so I’ll probably just add a bunch of foam pool noodles, and/or closed pipes, and hope for the best. If anyone has any advice on this, I’d welcome it!

Flock Friday for January 8

How about some pictures of chickens and ducks to distract from the chaos of the world? Oh, and some bonus cats.

Only three chicken pictures this week. Here are a couple roosting on top of the metal food storage bin in the old coop:

Chickens

Enjoying some treats in their run:

Chickens

Chickens

The ducks over by the edge of the flowerbeds, with the white gazebo in the background:

Ducks

Heading over to the back lawn, past the pond deck:

Ducks

Night ducks:

Night ducks

On the back lawn, with the brown gazebo and new chicken coop in the background:

Ducks

As mentioned on my personal blog, I noticed that Sassa, the gimpy duck, is actually a boy:

Sassa

So we need to come up with a male Swedish name starting with “S”. Got a bunch of suggestions via Micro.blog already, but if you have any ideas, let me know.

Along with a similar discovery last week, that means that of the six ducklings from the second batch last year, which were supposed to be all female, two were male, and four female. Which brings our totals to five males and seven females… not an ideal ratio at all. I hope that won’t be a problem in Spring when they start mating. Male ducks can be, shall we say, rather enthusiastic in their endeavors.

A couple more pictures of the ducks on the back lawn:

Ducks

Ducks

Yesterday when I went to the pond, I noticed the ducks on the back corner, and two cats off to the right:

Ducks and cats

Here’s a closer look at the two cats; a black one (hard to see) and the gray Paladout:

Two cats

Closer:

Two cats

The ducks sleeping on the bank:

Ducks

I went around that side for a closer look; here several of the ducks are tilting their heads to look at me (but Betty is sleeping by the seedling):

Ducks

I went behind the pond, and the black cat scampered through the fence (I’m pretty sure both living on that neighboring property):

Cat

Paladout is more used to me, and just watched from the top of the bank:

Cat

I wasn’t too worried that the cats would attack the ducks; ducks are too big for cats to want to tackle, unless desperate.

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

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 27

This week’s Flock Friday is more of a Duck Friday. No chicken pictures this week; I’ll try to capture some in the coming week for next time. In the meantime, enjoy pictures of the quackers.

The ducks on the pond:

Ducks

On the bank:

Ducks

One semi-chicken-related picture: a pumpkin that I cracked for the chickens to enjoy, but they pecked a neat hole in the side:

Pumpkin

Back to the ducks, sleeping on the bank:

Ducks

Ducks

Ducks

On the lawn:

Ducks

Ducks with the brown gazebo and new chicken coop in the background:

Ducks

Flapping:

Ducks

Ducks

The new and old coops in the background:

Ducks

The old coop, veggie garden, and shop in the background:

Ducks

Flapping:

Ducks

Ducks