In my previous video, the water level in the kiddie pool was fairly low, so the ducklings were more wading than swimming. Today, I rearranged the steps, and made the water more deep, so they could actually swim for the first time.
Watch their feet zipping along as they get used to this new experience!
A couple of days ago we did a beehive inspection. Jenn was rewarded with a couple of stings through her glove, though fortunately she appears to have only got a little of the venom before dislodging the stingers, since they didn’t swell up too badly.
Cedar hive: we checked on the Flow super; it is fairly empty, so we didn’t harvest it. We’ll do one harvest when we remove it next month:
Cedar honey and brood frame:
Cedar honey and brood frame:
Cedar brood frame; adequate capacity:
Cedar brood frame:
Hot pink hive: a very nice honey frame:
Hot pink brood frame; look closely towards the top in the middle, you can see a baby bee emerging from a cell:
Hot pink brood frame:
Orange frame:
Purple honey frame:
Turquoise hive: a nice honey frame:
Turquoise brood frame:
Yellow honey and brood frame; the yellow Flow super also didn’t have much honey, so again we’ll harvest when removing it later:
Here are all hives; the pink and turquoise hives were looking a little near capacity, so we added a Ross round super to the pink one, and regular honey super to the turquoise one; they probably won’t have time to do much with those, but that should relieve any pressure to swarm:
The left three hives; the orange hive is still looking weak, so we’re continuing to feed it. They better get a move on if they want to survive the winter:
The right three hives, all with honey supers. We still need to add a proper base on the turquoise hive; we got one, but they sent the wrong size (10 instead of 8 frame), so we’ll have to get another one sometime. The temporary base is fine for now, though:
The grass was getting rather long around the hives, so after the inspection I mowed while wearing my bee suit, and used shears to cut the grass under the hive stands:
Some swim time today, as you will have seen in the video posted earlier today.
Filling the pool:
Hey ducklings:
Clyde and Cora:
Reaching for treats:
Bert by my feet:
Betty leads the way:
In the pool:
Splashes:
GIF of splashing:
The run from further back:
From across the pond:
Flapping:
Three ducklings swimming and eating leafy treats in the kiddie pool in their temporary run.
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.
For this week’s Caturday, we start with a not-cat, then a GIF of a day in the cat house, plus pictures of multiple cats in multiple places, a second GIF of Poppa and Pommie, checking on the shop cats, and finish with some nice shots of sunrise in the breezeway.
A raccoon visited the cabins; nobody was home at the time:
An animated GIF of a day in the cat house, with snuggles and other cats visiting; you may have seen the YouTube video of this timelapse:
Three cats waiting for food at the cat house:
A rare picture of four cats inside the cat house (probably just Spud missing; no boys allowed):
A cat walks down the breezeway, while another relaxes in the cabin:
Poppa spent some time hanging out with Pommie:
A GIF:
A late departure from the breezeway cabin; sometimes it’s nice to sleep in a bit:
Checking on Pepper in the front of the shop:
And Pansy in the back of the shop:
Classic Poppy face:
Need more lens flare! Sunrise this morning with Spud in the breezeway:
A second day out in the run for the ducklings, plus I added a larger pool for them.
Firstly, a few pictures from after yesterday’s post. Here are the ducklings and Bert sitting around in the evening:
And rushing inside as I approached to close up the duck house:
The doors closed for the night:
This morning, everybody outside:
I moved the mobile camera to inside the run, attached to the fence, so the view wouldn’t be obscured by the wire:
This afternoon I added a portable kiddie pool, to increase their swimming capacity, with some bricks inside and out as steps:
Bert and Betty having a conversation again:
They haven’t figured out how to get into the new pool yet. Maybe I need to make the steps shallower? I know they can handle those size steps, but I guess it’s a bit intimidating:
The closest I saw any of them to attempting it:
For this week’s Flock Friday, a few pictures of Bert, and a bunch of chicken pictures.
Here’s Bert by the edge of the pond:
Spending time with the ducklings earlier in the week:
On the ramp, with undercoat fluffs on his bill:
A few pictures of the new chicken coop. Sometimes I just go in there and marvel that I designed and built it. The fun chandelier, looking rather cobwebby:
The inner door and recent addition of a straw loft above the outer door:
The open vents and pop door:
The nesting boxes:
Chickens sitting around in the run:
Fascinated by my boot:
Some raspberries growing through the fence, too high for them to reach; I picked some and gave them to the chickens:
A chicken with a raspberry:
Today at the duck house is a bit different: to give the ducklings more space, I assembled a little run for them using some spare gates.
They’re getting bigger, and are old enough to go outside now, though about three weeks from being ready to go free-range in the pond.
My initial idea was to use some posts and spare fencing wire to make a run, then I remembered these metal gates. The two poles even have concrete still on them, making them more stable.
These gates used to be on a fence between the field and the rest of the garden, that we removed years ago.
Here’s what I assembled. It’s just held together with bungee cords, but is secure enough — and is only temporary; I’ll remove it all once they’re allowed in the pond:
The gate on the top probably isn’t necessary; it’s mainly to keep other animals out. The ducklings can’t fly that high (or at all yet).
I can slide the top gate off if desired, and can swing open the left gate to access the run.
I’ll get them to go back inside at night, and close up the duck house. This run is just for daytime use.
Here’s a shot from the duck house cam, with the doors open:
The first duckling to step slightly outside:
Starting to explore:
Bert was very curious:
I moved the mobile camera from the beehives to watch the duckling run:
Bert:
Peeking at the ducklings from above:
From the other side:
Some pictures from the mobile cam (before I changed the cam label):
Look at those wings!
Back inside for a nap:
Afternoon run time:
Sitting around:
Zoom zoom… today I zoom in on some of the ducklings, and remind you (and me!) of their names.
1x ducklings:
2x ducklings:
4x ducklings; this Betty the Buff:
One of the two Khaki Campbells, named Clyde or Cora (I’m not sure which this one is; the gender will be more apparent once a bit older). Check out those growing wing feathers:
The other Khaki Campbell; if I had to guess, I’d say this is Clyde, and the previous picture is Cora, but could be the other way around:
This is Sven, the male Blue Swedish:
The female Blue Swedish, Sonja:
One of the two Rouen boys, Raoul or Rémy (the other was hiding):
Betty and Bert having a conversation, perhaps about how both of their bills are so dirty (ducks aren’t the cleanest when out of the water):
