We had Flock Friday this morning; now it’s time to check on the newest additions, the ducklings.
It’s hard to find a non-blurry picture from the morning, so let’s lean into the motion with a GIF:
Here are a couple decent shots:
Spotted on the cam around lunchtime:
Less movement after lunch, when I went out to open the vent:
It’s duckling time!
Two Rouens on the EcoGlow:
Ducklings with leafy treats:
Standing back a bit, you can see ducklings in the duck house, and ducks diving in the pond:
Bonus shot of duck butts:
Sunday duckling day… who am I kidding, every day is duckling day.
Or night; here are sleeping ducklings:
Two Rouens on the EcoGlow; they really like that spot. I was amused by one having a leg stretched out behind her:
Ducklings waiting for treats:
Yay treat time:
It’s nice to see their waterproofing efforts paying off, with water droplets on their backs (though the duckling fluff isn’t as waterproof as their eventual feathers):
Some duckling closeups today.
I plan to reassemble the duckling run and let them out into it in the next day or two. It’s going to be hot later in the week, so that’ll be good timing.
Everyone arrayed watching me:
Look at my cute little wings!
Waiting for their treats:
The Blue Swedish sitting in the corner:
Rouen closeup:
When visiting after lunch to open the vent, I found a Rouen in her favorite spot:
Peeking from the cupboard into the nesting box:
Today I reassembled the fenced run for the latest ducklings. I got a bunch of pictures that will be in today’s ducklings blog post. Here are two clips: playing in the mud, while Betty quacks at them, plus using the paint tray pool.
An exciting day for the ducklings: this morning I reassembled the duckling run, and let them out of the duck house for the first time. It was also the first time they and the older ducks have seen each other.
The day started like every other, with fresh straw and (after this) treats:
They’re tall enough to peek over the edge of the doors now, so may have spotted the older ducks from a distance:
Here’s what the gate panels looked like before I rearranged them; they were basically just acting as a morning shade for the ducks (but there are plenty of other shade options):
From the other side:
And rearranged into a fenced duckling run:
Last time I had the roof panel resting across the whole space, which was annoying, since I had to slide it off to access the duck house. So this time I attached it at an angle, so I can access it more easily:
This makes it a bit less secure from wildlife, but the ducklings will be secure in the house at night, so the main risk during the day are birds of prey, and hopefully that won’t be too much of a risk. I am thinking about adding T-posts to the panels (for more height) and attaching bird netting, to make it more secure, though I’m not sure if that’s worthwhile.
Ducklings leaving their house for the first time:
They had fun drinking the muddy water in the drain channel:
The ducks came over to investigate, and they saw each other for the first time:
Getting a bit muddy:
Having fun splashing in the paint tray pool, while Betty watches and quacks at them (did you see the video?):
When giving the ducklings their kale treats this morning, instead of ripping it into small pieces and tossing it to them as I usually do, I just held some and let them pull off bits.
It’s a hot day today, so I went out to the duck house a few times to refresh their pool water… so I ended up with 40 photos. And just for fun, I’m going to share all of them! But don’t worry, I picked out the better ones as usual, and put a GIF of all of them at the end. So you can look through the better ones and skip the GIF, or jump to the GIF and skip the rest, or enjoy both. Or skip the whole post if you like. You do you.
Leafy treats:
As I showed in a video this morning, today I held the kale and let them pull off bits, which worked out well:
Crouching like that for quite a while wasn’t super comfortable, so on my next visit I added a concrete block with a kneeling pad to sit on, while I refilled their pool and spent time with them (the kneeling pad is mainly to protect my clothing from duckling poop; I don’t leave that in the run):
Ducklings in the pool:
A moth on the duck house:
Lots of splashing:
Later, when the temperature was over 90° F, I used the misting setting on the hose nozzle to help cool off the ducklings, especially the Blue Swedish, who doesn’t go in the pool:
Here’s that GIF of all of today’s duckling pics:
Another hot day, though not as hot as yesterday. I restrained myself on the duckling pictures, though.
Tasty mud:
Pool time:
Pool splashing:
Treat:
The Blue Swedish duckling sitting in the duck house, ready to doze off:
More pool time:
Again I used the misting setting on the hose nozzle to cool them off, which they quite enjoy:
Hey duckling fans! Some different angles today, plus a GIF of snuggly ducklings.
Looking down into the duckling run:
Treats:
In the house:
The “little brown duckling” (Khaki Campbell); really should decide on names soon:
The Blue Swedish duckling:
Pool time:
The Khaki Campbell again:
Both of the non-Rouens:
More pool time:
A cute GIF of a Rouen joining her sister on the end of the concrete block:
