Today I tried to take pictures of each of the ducks so I could state their names. Plus I gave them some mealworm treats.

Firstly, leafy treat time for the ladies, Sonja, Betty, and Cora:

Raoul and Rémy reaching from the ground, and Betty at the top of the steps:

Sonja loves to swim:

Sonja has opinions, too:

Sven in the back, and of course Betty again:

Cora and Sonja swimming for treats:

Clyde and Sven:

Raoul or Rémy; I can’t tell the two Rouen boys apart yet:

Cora and Sonja again:

Raoul or Rémy making a splash:

Sven, Cora, Clyde:

Raoul or Rémy looking at me:

Raoul or Rémy, Sonja:

Sonja showing her feathers:

This afternoon, I gave them some mealworms; the ladies really enjoyed those:

Shockingly, no modifications to the duckling run today. They’ll only be using it for another week or two, so it’s fine.

I mentioned yesterday that they swam in the afternoon. Here are a few cam shots from then, starting with three pairs of duckling feet on the edge of the pool:

The shade does make the pictures less clear; the cam can’t handle the sunny and shady contrast as well:

This morning, treat time:

Drinking water drained from when I just refilled their water dispenser:

Flapping wings; it’s fascinating watching the feathers growing, as little pins that sprout feathery bits from the end, spreading towards the base:

Touching bills:

Splashes:

Scratching:

An afternoon swim today:

Flapping wings:

I seem to do tweaks every day; today I added a tarp to the roof of the duckling run, to give them some more shade.

But first, morning treat time:

Making a hole in the water again:

Splash:

Wings flapping:

Like water off a duck’s back:

Four in the pool:

I noticed that the ducklings tended to avoid the pool in the heat of the day, sticking to the shade of their house. So I attached a small tarp to the gate across the top of the run, using bungees, to make the run more pleasant for them:

On the cam, I saw them using the run and pool after that, though I haven’t captured images of that yet. So I think they approve.

Today I did another minor tweak to the duckling pool, and they didn’t even wait for it to finish filling before they wanted to go in.

But first, sleepy ducklings just after midnight:

Morning ducklings, keen to get out. I can’t blame them — as they continue to grow, it’s getting rather crowded in there when they’re active:

My tweak was to add another couple concrete blocks, one in the pool as a platform to make it easier to get out or stand, and one outside on the right as an exit step:

They were keen to get to the treats, even though the hose was still filling the pool:

I filled it to the top today, giving them lots of depth for swimming and diving:

A splashy takeoff from the platform:

Making a hole in the water:

Wings flapping:

More flapping:

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.