A slow-motion video with three clips of a duckling dunking their head under the water and shaking the water off.
ducklings 2020
Ducklings day 26
Today I’ve included a few GIFs of the ducklings, along with the usual assortment of cuteness.
Reviewing the cam recordings, I noticed three ducklings tapping the pop door yesterday morning:
I’m not sure why; there wasn’t anything out there at the time that I could see on the pond cam; perhaps they’re getting a bit stir-crazy, wanting to get into the pond (though have never seen that door open), or thought it made an interesting noise.
Here’s a GIF of that:
Betty the Buff duckling flapping her wings; they’ve certainly grown a bit:
A GIF edition:
On to the usual treats and such:
This morning I posted a slow-motion video on YouTube of a duckling dunking their head under the water; it’s a little long, and includes some further and closer clips, so you might want to skip around in the video. Here’s a GIF edition of one dunk and head shake:
Bert drinking water draining from the duck house as the ducklings splash around in the pool:
Bert peeking at the ducklings:
Watching me:
Ducklings day 27
Another day of ducklings.
It was cold overnight, so they huddled under the EcoGlow:
The morning treats:
And wading time:
Ducklings day 28
The ducklings are about four weeks old now, so I’m going to start leaving the paint tray pool in the duck house full-time from today on.
Each day when I go to the duck house on my morning rounds, I swing through the veggie garden to get a handful of lettuce or kale treats for the chickens and ducklings, and a handful of fresh straw from the chicken coop to top up the duck house. I often put them on the duck house roof to have them handy (and so Bert doesn’t help himself):
Good morning ducklings:
As mentioned, I’m going to leave the paint tray pool in the duck house now, so I thought I’d try tucking it in one of the nesting boxes, to give them more floor space. We’ll see if this works:
Treats for everyone:
Head room could be a concern as they grow:
Um, you seem to have something on your face and chest there Betty:
Ducklings day 29
Some closeups of the ducklings today, and rearranging things a bit.
As mentioned yesterday, I left the paint tray pool in the house overnight for the first time:
Though they don’t seem to like that position, as few used it there.
Good morning ducklings:
Treat time:
Some close-ups:
Bert came over to check on the ducklings:
On afternoon rounds, I quickly swapped the position of the waterer and pool:
They definitely seem to prefer this location:
Tomorrow I’ll muck out the house again so I can position things better — the ramp is sitting on top of the straw at present, so is a bit unstable.
Ducklings day 30
This morning I mucked out the duck house, and captured pictures and a GIF of ducklings flapping their wings, with cute little feathers.
But first, three cam shots from overnight, showing sleepy and active ducklings… but also showing a benefit of the new position of the waterer, letting me see how the level drops overnight:
Mucking out the duck house, which freaks out the ducklings:
I gave them a few strawberries; they weren’t sure about that, though ate them:
Plus the usual leafy treats:
And some apple peel:
Hey Bert:
Peeking:
Flapping wings; look at those little proto-feathers:
A GIF of flapping wings, plus preening and drinking:
More flapping:
Ducklings day 31
Happy US Independence Day! I spent the day doing homestead projects (more on that another day), so am posting this via my iPad Pro from our deck after a tasty grilled meal.
Nothing particularly exciting today; ducklings with treats:
Bert peeking:
Ducklings day 32
Last night Betty knocked over the EcoGlow brooder:
A GIF:
The crime scene this morning:
I righted it, and put it back bit, so hopefully it’ll be more stable now.
Treat time:
Hey Bert:
Ducklings day 33
It’s duckling time again!
A peek though a nesting box… I need to clean that out, there’s a bunch of mashed spilled food mixed in the straw:
And the usual pics:
Curious head tilt:
Got a bit of lettuce on your bill, Betty:
I accidentally took a screenshot of the iPhone camera app, but thought I’d post it for the skyward head tilt:
Almost five week old ducklings
A video from this morning of the ducklings eating leafy treats and bathing in the pool, with some peeps and proto-quacks, plus Bert hanging out.