Duckies in a row

Written April 27, 2015
iPhoto pictures of our pet duckies
Our little flock currently has 6 "little girlies, mixed pekin white layer mix breed (only two of these girlies have officially been named, one is Little Miss because she acts and sounds just like her older duck hen Missy, and the other one is Sweet Pea she's the smallest and sweetest of the six).  The other four are older and were hand hand raised - they are; disabled female Pekin (Missy), extra large Pekin drake (Kouta), one Cayuga drake (Darrick), and one Welsh Harlequin drake (Beau). Ten little duckies all in a row (well sorta in a row) 😉

MamaDuck: Winter weather

MamaDuck: Winter weather

Winter weather

We are in the middle of a winter storm. While our little flock is mostly climatetized and have an open door house with 2 thermostated heat lamps, when the temps drop to 20 and below we close them up inside the house to keep them warm and safe.  

Our 4 hand raised feathered loves go in with very little encouragement, but the 6 adopted girls require much more.  

Overnight everyone is happy to be warm but after a few days of staying inside the 4'x8' duck house because of bitter cold and winter precipitation, they are getting tired of it and in desperate need of baths.  

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They are given small "buckets" of water to wash faces and drink, several times a day.  (yes we recycle coffee tubs as small buckets). The small buckets prevent them from trying to climb inside the buckets, which happens with the larger buckets and results in big splashes and tip overs.  In these temps and in the small enclosed space this is a big mess we try very hard to avoid. 

You can see here the 6 girls unhappily wondering why in the world I am inside the duck house with them. (I'm too big for them to be happy to share their smallish space with me). You can also see that they are starting to get a little mucky, inspite of our efforts to keep things clean and dry inside the duck house by repeatedly adding pine flakes.

To make matters a little more complicated, the boys seasoned in early, so they are separated from the girls because drakes are very aggressive with hens/girls when they are "in season", especially so with first couple of "seasoning in" of each year.  So to protect the girls and keep everyone mostly happy there is a "boys room" and a "girls room".   

You can see a few bald spots on the girls necks (back of their heads) and a few ragged places on their wings from heavy breeding activity that had begun. This is normal. We like to make sure the girls have plenty of safe run away space when they boys are in full season.  

You can see here that the fence between the boys and girls creates a peaceful happy little flock inside the duck house. 

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We think tho', that the duckies are ready for warm weather and clean warm pools. Those days are still 1-2 months aways, but maybe in a few days the temps will stay over freezing most of the day and we can open up the door of the house again and let them try to forage. 

Yes indeed, winter weather is hard on pet duckies. 

Happy Quacky Duckie Faces

GrMaDuck is so happy to be back from her trip and see and hear these happy quacky faces.
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A delightful moment

Such joy and delight when the little girls sweetly squeak an excited "oh can we have treats please?"

And how can use humans who love them so much not give them peas after that❤️❤️

Sunrise quacks

The sun comes up.  QUACK QUACK

Good Morning the duckies say.  Come down here and give us food and clean water. 

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Duckies have a new friend

This little kitten has made friends.

Happy to see this face ...

We couldn't find her this morning ... 

They were out foraging and it was time to go in I rounded them all up and not quite in a row the waddled back into the duck pen and as they did I counted cute little white heads 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, ... Wait who is missing? I counted them again and in doing so noticed it was Missy that was missing.  Her arthritis will make her slow and lazy sometimes so I circled back around the duck pen, but no Missy.  

I looked in all the known hiding places inside the pen and still didn't find her.  Now I was worried.  What happen where is she? I didn't hear any alarm quacking just normal morning quacking.  I search the woods behind the pen, the front yard, the garden, then the surrounding woods. No Missy to be found.  How can a big slow fussy duckie like Missy just disappear? I searched the inside the pen again.  Nope not under the duck house not even the forth time I checked, not in the duck house. 

Now I was in a fitful sad panic - where was she? 

I thought she must be gone - taken from me while I wasn't looking, by what I didn't know.  

Running late for my meeting I locked up the other duckies and left with my heart very very heavy.

I only told a couple of people, but one dear friend said she would pray for a miracle that Missy would come home safe and sound.

When I got home I immediately looked out the back and counted duckies through my window, - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, little girlies and Kouta, Beau, and Darrick - no Missy - then I went and changed clothes to go look for Missy again. 

I first went into the pen to give treats and guess who was there!??!?  YEP! Missy! 

Right there in plain sight!  I got so excited I freaked out a bit.  Missy stood there like, " yeah, I am here, duh, what is wrong with you?"

I am so so so happy to see this funny freckled face this evening!

So very very very happy!  I have no idea where she was hiding earlier. I am just so very thankful she is here and with us!! 

Timeout for Beau

Beau was being a bully so we gave him a little timeout.

GrMaDuck loved it but Beau wasn't too excited about it however neither was he too upset. 

Doesn't he have beautiful feet!

Washing off the human cooties - hehehehehe 

duckie pictures - May 6, 2014

We took pictures with the "real" camera this morning but the duckies were all in motion so most of them turned out very blurry.  Below are the few shots we could salvage.

peekaboo I see you

beautiful although sometimes grumpy Beau
Welsh Harlequin drake

looking for yummy bugs

Hello girlie duckies!

King Kouta #1 in peking order around here
Large Pekin drake

girlie duckies gather at the pool

Ducks in a row? Sort of

Just another beautiful spring morning here with the duckies.

I love the way they still sort of walk in a row.

Except when they turn around to talk to me :-)

helpful duck & duckling care links and information

Here are some helpful duck & duckling care links and information, because it's that time of year.

FYI: Our ducks are PETS, but we are sort of middle of the ground when it comes to protecting animals. As humans and as owners we feel a strong responsibility to do everything in our power to give them the best care and protection. Our ducks are also domestic breeds so we take into consideration their bred in weaknesses. Our love for our ducks as PETS, makes our heart more vulnerable to heartache when it comes to injury and death, than if they were livestock. However, we are not vegans, nor do we feel that animals have more rights than their humans.

As the loving caring humans, and as the people who choose to have pet ducks we want you to be well informed. Ducks are fragile creatures, and the more you know about caring for them the better.  These links are for those who have ALREADY chosen to have ducks either as live stock or pets.

Articles About Waterfowl: Responsible Waterfowl Ownership
http://www.majesticwaterfowl.org/articles.htm#artresp

Duck Care
http://duckrescuenetwork.org/duck_care.html

Duckling and Duck Care
http://katihoza.home.comcast.net/~katihoza/

Frequently Asked Questions
http://katihoza.home.comcast.net/~katihoza/faq/index.html

Metzer Farms Daily Feed and Water Consumption and Manure Output of Ducklings
http://www.metzerfarms.com/DailyFeedWaterDucklings.cfm?CustID=2469099

Metzer Farms FAQ
http://www.metzerfarms.com/FAQ.cfm?CustID=2469099

Live Ducks
http://www.liveducks.com/(click on topics in the menu on the left)

Ducking Care Document
http://www.liveducks.com/quickquack.html

Duckling Diary
http://www.liveducks.com/diary/diary1.html 

Poultry Help - Toxic Plants
http://www.poultryhelp.com/toxicplants.html

We just want to add that we do have ducky friends who we admire and respect that are vegans who bestow on their feather loved ones equal rights (same as they give humans) and even greater accommodations and privileges because our feathered friends are in many ways a fragile species than humans.