Ducklings day 56: the great outdoors

Last night the ducks all spent the night outside for the first time.

A cam shot from the previous night; maybe the last night they will spend inside their house:

Yesterday morning, eager to be let out:

A swim yesterday evening:

Evening mealworm treats (did you see the video posted earlier?):

When I went out just before sunset to close up the duck house for the night, they chose to stay outside. I closed the maintenance doors, but left the pop door open, so they could go inside from the pond if they wanted. Here they are just after sunset, maybe regretting their choices, but I’m sure Bert was reassuring them that it’ll be fine — he’s slept outside since he first went into the pond a year ago:

They spent most of the night on the bank in or near the run:

Nobody home:

Morning ducks:

I decided it was time to remove the pool in the temporary run, since they haven’t used it other than for drinking since going in the pond:

I replaced it with the paint tray as a water dish, though they can also drink from the waterer in the house during the day, or the pond anytime:

Swimming this morning:

We had lunch on the pond deck, and watched them slowly moving further amongst the grasses on the pond edge as the sun moved:

Later, they took advantage of the shade in the run: