duck pool drains & LOTS of duckie pictures

The pool drains are working ... sort of ... They do drain, but being the size of a garden hose and full of dirt and other messy things they drain slowly. Which means a new morning and evening routine, but they are definitely helping reduce the amount of water and soggy mud around the pools and saving our backs.

close up of the drain valve & hose for our above ground pool (open)

We have for several years used a double layer of "kiddie" pools for our duckies.  Using two pools nested together helps prevent holes and cracks.  We replace the kiddie pools maybe once every year to two years.  We used "WaterWeld" a specialized epoxy putty to seal the drain holes inside and outside of the pools.  (In the picture above it is the white stuff around the joint).  This allows us to move the pools to dump out dirt etc with the drain hoses still attached and not have to worry about the integrity of a water tight seal around the joint.

You can see the ground still gets wet when washing the pool
and duckies splashing but this is far less water than before.

The hose filling the pool is in front
The drain hose is toward the back and left.

"sunken" duckie pool - the drain is low and at the very back
the hose you see in front is the drain hose from the above
ground pool.  Both hose drains are buried and run between
skirted hardware fabric to keep predators and snakes out

close up of the sunken pool's drain valve

both pools - here we are filling the sunken pool and you
can see the drain hose from the above ground pool
we have dividing fences with a internal gate for those times
when we need to separate such as when boy duckies
are being seasonally aggressive or if/when a certain
duckie needs R&R time due to injury illness
but is still well enough to be outside.

Due to all the rain and storms we have had this summer our sunken pool fills with dirt and mud much quicker than the above ground pool and it much harder to do the "deep" clean.  We may raise this pool at some later date.

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And now for lots of pictures of our adorable duckies!

Missy complaining that she doesn't get to forage
(her arthritis/tendonitis has flared up and she is on R&R)

beautiful white ladies

Darrick, drake extraordinaire, loved by the little ladies 

Beau's head feathers are always in varying shades

This little lady says, "you are an okay food and water human,
but I don't know if I trust you all the way yet."

"More pictures?  Sure we will pose for you"

The prettiest boy, needs to work hard to stay pretty.
Preen Preen Preen

Missy chillin out in one of her favorite nap spots under the chair.

It's nap time for the little girls too.

Our Missy's feathers are looking so shiny and white now
that she has 8 more girl friends to share the attention of the boys.

Fluffy bottom (Missy)

10 pet duckies and one human "duckie" bond servant

Darrick and his harem

Darrick is so sweet with our new girls! He is very taken with them and his smaller size and mostly gentle ways have gained him acceptance with the quacky girly crew.

Queenie

Queenie is in the background
(that is Darrick in the front)

Queenie our female (hen) Cayuga is hard to get a good picture of.

She is by far our smartest duck. She is very calm and sweet but does NOT put up with being picked on. She deals with this by out smarting her temporary bully.

She is a great forager and her absolute favorite snack is a bug she has caught herself.


~GrMaDuck~
sent from my iPhone

Darrick

striking a pose

love his iridescent coloring

Darrick is our Cayuga drake.

He is a beautiful regal looking sweet boy.

As a hatchling and tiny duckling he had the hardest time but now is a strong healthy drake.

Darrick is a bit of an awkward dork when it comes to mating rituals. 

One of his favorite thing to do is run and chase Beau.  Darrick is our little duckie track star!



~GrMaDuck~
sent from my iPhone

Darrick, Cayuga drake

This is Darrick our Cayuga drake. 
Duke Darrick #2 in the pecking order.

GrMaDuck thinks he is the most

handsome regal looking of our duckies.
He is a love but also a bit of a goof.
He loves to run (and apparently thinks
that running makes you attractive to girlie
duckies ... so far the girlie duckies are
not impressed by the running).  His favorite
pass-time is to pick on and chase Beau. 
He has a tiny crush on our Welsh Harlequin hen,
Keelyn.  He has beautiful shiny iridescent feathers.

Pictures from last weekend... Nov 2011

A Saturday morning video of our six pet duckies. A whole week in "general population" made Keelyn's leg sore so we set aside "girlie duckies" time is the "deep" pool. Keelyn's recovery from her broken legs, includes lifetime rehab and extra care. She is doing very well though and we love all of our feathered family/flock members.

... now for lots of pictures ...

Missy

Beau and Kouta sleeping outside the aviary fence

Queenie preening after a girlie duckie time in the pool.

Keelyn some non-weight bearing time
She has joined the flock all day and after
a full week with them 24/7 her legs are
sore and worn out.

Our sweet Keelyn
Welsh Harlequin

Darrick, naptime outside the aviary.

Kouta ... getting sleepy
#1 in our flock

Missy and her beautiful freckles
Pekin

It is hard for us to get a close picture
of Queenie because she is always busy
doing something.  Here she was:
dig, drink, preen, drink, dig, ...

Beau

Queenie, look back at us over her wing
female Cayuga

Sleepy sleepy duckie
Kouta

Darrick always likes to rest near the leafy stuff.

Missy

Beau

"Hey! what are you doing??  Can I come in there too?!?!

Keelyn, sleeping in the pool (ssshhhhh)

Isn't Missy's face beautiful.

Keelyn still sleeping.

Missy all clean and preening after her very long girlie duckie bath.

Silly Queenie after her long girlie duckie bath
she got to digging in the mud then walked around
with mud on her nose.

Mama Duck (human) came over and they
all started walking toward her.

We love saturday mornings when we can spend time with the duckies.

All of girls seem to have developed bumble foot.  About a week ago, GrMaDuck noticed that they were eating a lot more mud than usual indicating a nutritional need.  We increased their vitamins and minerals, but the combo of nutritional needs and the fact that their pen is mostly dirt created just the right situation to develop this.  They are not limping or complaining, we just noticed it during cuddles.  All three girls are have a vet appointment this Tuesday.  We will keep their feet clean washing them with betadine in the meantime.  Each of the girls will likely be put on antibiotics.  We caught it early and don't expect any complications, only the inconvenience of having to give all three girls a pill everyday for a week.  We are hoping this does not upset the balance of the flock too much.

Our life with pet ducks continues to bring joy into our lives.  The duckie world in our backyard is full of silly, fun, drama, and peaceful moments.  Having pet ducks ...
(GrMaDuck never expected this years ago) ... but having pet ducks pours so much goodness into your life  (okay lots and lots of work too... not to mention the worry and money) but MUCH goodness.  (We love our cat Pepper very much too.)

Our six duckies: Kouta male/drake Pekin, Darrick male/drake Cayuga, Missy female/hen Pekin, Keelyn female/hen Welsh Halequin, Queenie female/hen Cayuga, & Beau male/drake Welsh Harlequin