The ducklings are all doing fine today, so enjoy the happy cuteness.
The Blue Swedish duckling under the EcoGlow, and others gathered near the waterer:
In the corner:
Drinking and eating:
The Blue Swedish and a Rouen look like they’re hugging while watching me:
Eating and watching me:
I caught a Live Photo of a Rouen jumping off the EcoGlow; here is a GIF that:
Droplets of water on ducklings; they can’t help getting water everywhere:
In a nesting box:
As with the previous batch, I will post separately about the newest ducklings. These Flock Friday posts will include the older ducks and chickens.
Before I closed up the duck house for the new ducklings, the older ducks had only been going in their house to eat:
Down the ramp:
They are now being fed in this temporary food dish; they’ll have access to the house feeder again once the new ducklings are grown:
Ducks on the pond:
Chickens heading to bed:
Ducks on the pond again:
And on the pond bank:
GIF of a Rouen flapping his wings:
Sleeping on the pond:
And sleeping on the pond bank:
Chickens with treats:
Stealing lettuce I’m holding for the ducks, while I’m crouched to take pictures:
Duck treats:
Under the shade:
Ducks eating from the temporary food dish:
And some food scattered on the ground:
GIF of ducks eating:
Submarine duck:
Welcome to the first Flock Friday with the new ducks. Plus chicken pictures, of course.
As you probably saw in the previous post, we have ordered seven more ducklings, all female this time, to address the gender imbalance of the ducks. They will probably arrive around Thursday next week, so I will resume the daily duckling posts with them at that time, and will feature the older ducks in the Flock Friday posts going forward.
Again, you can read all of the previous duckling posts from the beginning via the “ducklings 2020” tag on this blog. And the second batch of ducklings will be tagged “ducklings 2020 again”.
On with the show; here are the chickens waiting for treats:
Chickens with rice treats:
An animated GIF of Sven and Betty on the ramp from the duck house, Bert flying into the pond to chase Sven, then Betty emulating and distracting him:
Some still images from that:
Duck treats:
Bert, Betty, Raoul, Rémy, and Sven:
Sonja, Sven, and Clyde:
Ducks eating in the duck house:
The non-Buffs hanging out on the pond edge:
A GIF of Sven hesitantly sliding down the rock slide:
On morning rounds today, Flo snuck through the gate from the chicken run into the veggie garden; she quickly realized the error of her ways, and I got her back through the gate after a minute:
Ducks eating in the duck house again:
Enjoy that while you can, ducks — I’ll be closing up the duck house this weekend, in preparation for new ducklings. I’ll feed the older ducks from a dish next to the pond. More on that another day. Stay tuned for the exciting bonus season of duck TV!
Did you see the video of Cora sliding into the pond? That was taken by Jenn, and was rather amusing. Based on the track down the rock, they seem to use that route a lot, which isn’t surprising, since it’s near one of their favorite hangout spots.
From this morning, some ducks in the pond:
A Rouen rising up out of the water:
Here’s a GIF of that; also rather funny, like riding a unicycle:
Over in the deep end, with poor Sven hiding amongst the grasses on the edge:
He doesn’t get to hang out with the others when Bert is on the case:
Bert chasing Sven back to the edge:
Sven separated again:
Lonely Sven:
As mentioned yesterday, Bert really doesn’t like Sven. I don’t know what his problem is, but he keeps chasing Sven.
First, some glowy Rouens:
Looking at them from across the pond:
Resting in the duck house; that’s Sven on the left at the back, and Betty next to him:
Sven with a Rouen:
Then along comes Bert:
And Sven quickly retreated:
A GIF of Bert chasing Sven across the pond:
A somewhat more clear picture:
They’re just going to have to sort that out themselves.
Today I mucked out the duck house.
But first, sleepy ducks:
Approaching for treats:
Eating treats; check out those tongues!
Mucking out the duck house; it had many layers of compacted straw:
I took several loads of dirty straw to the compost on my cart:
The straw added a lot of volume to the compost bin:
Empty duck house:
Fresh straw:
I probably won’t need to muck it out again for a while, now that they aren’t living in there anymore.
I also refilled their food, in the inverted jug at the top of the feeder tube:
Swimming:
The ducks visited the duck house to eat; here Bert and Betty seem to be comparing notes:
Bert with a dirty bill, while others eat:
An animated GIF of ducks eating:
I still haven’t decided what to do about my duck posts; as mentioned in today’s Flock Friday, I will probably roll them into the Friday post, but am tempted to continue daily posts, perhaps with just one picture, though that doesn’t really fit the format of this blog. But hey, why decide now when I can put it off another day!
So, on with today’s pictures… starting with some night cam shots from last night; looking alert about some noise or something:
Some in the water:
Everyone swimming:
Morning ducks:
Below the pond deck:
On the bank:
A GIF of wing-assisted jumping from the pond to the bank:
Next to the lawn, with Bert shaking his head:
This afternoon, ducks on the bank enjoying mealworm treats, with Bert in the water heading for the koi food:
Some on the bank, some in the water:
Now that the new ducks are in the pond, I don’t consider them ducklings anymore, but I’ll continue with the “ducklings day” title for now, as long as I’m doing daily posts on them. Which I really should phase out, but I’m so enjoying sharing the fun of seeing them in the pond.
An animated GIF of Betty treading water:
Betty and Bert:
Afternoon ducks:
Flapping wings to go faster, pretty much running on the water:
Actually, that’s best experienced as a GIF, too:
Flapping wings:
GIF of Betty diving underwater:
Dragonfly and ducks:
Flapping wings:
Today is the last day before the new ducks can go free-range; I plan to open the pop door and let them go into the pond tomorrow morning.
I don’t expect them all to take that opportunity the first day, though having access to the run and pool might make them more comfortable with going into the pond than the ducklings last year, who didn’t have that advantage. I’m very glad I hacked together the run this year:
Betty on the steps:
Cora shaking off water:
I wanted to compare Clive and Cora; Clive has darker wing feathers, and Cora is more uniform, but their bills and feet are very similar. As mentioned yesterday, Clive will put on a bit more of a show in spring, and I think in the fall too:
An animated slow-mo GIF of Cora dunking and the water flowing off her back:
And a slow-mo GIF of flapping her wings; look at all those feathers:
This week for Caturday, a couple of GIFs with Poppa and Bella, and the usual assortment of cat pics.
Paladout is watched from the cat house:
Poppy and Pommie:
The mushroom girls, Bella and Porcini:
Poppa, with Porcini in the background:
An animated GIF of Poppa drinking, with Porcini approaching from the back, then Bella rushes up, chasing Poppa:
Another GIF from a few minutes later; Bella was having a bath, Poppa started to get comfortable, and Bella didn’t allow that:
She seems to have a bit of a problem with him; they don’t fight, she just appears to want to put him in his place.
Porcini relaxing on their deck:
Pommie in front of the cabins:
Pommie watching me from behind the cabins:
Costco deliveries:
Three cats:
Poppa and Pommie sniffing noses:
Pepper in her nest on the shelves in the front of the shop:
Three cats:
Snuggles:
