No blog on Thursday it was our busy homeschool co-op and shopping day. Today was busy too and it was a ducky sort of day. First off this morning I found not one but two duck eggs! Winter break is over for the ducks, yay for those great big duck eggs.
It was a warmer and wet day with a bit of rain and some melting snow. The ducks like this sort of day.
Our seven ducks did not know at this point that they have three new sisters coming. Yes me who says no more ducks agreed to take on three more adult ducks! My husband has a co-worker who has been having a very bad time with predators and very much wanted to find the remaining three ducks a new home. They had quite a large flock at one time but various predator based disasters occured and only three female ducks remained. I agreed that we could take in these three ducks so that is what this morning and really most of the day consisted of.
Putting a carrying cage in the car....
Meeting the ducks at their home, they seem very suspicious of us......
Getting the ducks, who did not want to be caught, into the cage in the car.......
They settled down after a bit.....
Stopping at the feed store on the way home for treats and advice. I didn't understand why the ducks kept itching themselves and thought I might need to purchase a remedy of some sort! The fantastic folks at Henniker Farm Store told me that ducks aren't very prone to mites and things like that and they probably would stop itching after a bath. No medicine needed to be bought just treats and a bowl.......
So home and bathtime!.....
The ducks loved the bath, the cats loved watching the ducks love the bath!......
The bathtub went from white to brown.......
Bathtime done, ducks dried off and placed into a warm, dry holding cage....
We prepared the small covered run aka rabbits summer run aka place chickens like to hang out... for the new ducks temporary outdoor space. Before this we had to go BACK to the feed store since I didn't have enough shavings! The new ducks need to learn that this is home and they and our current ducks need to get used to each other by seeing each other without contact......
Old ducks and new ducks enjoyed seeing each other through the fence.....
The new ducks very much want to go to the old ducks, this makes sense since they were part of a larger flock originally....
I forgot to take a bedtime picture but the new ducks are now tucked up safe and sound and dry in the big coop, within their own cage for now. The new ducks are a 2 year old Cayuga (the black) a 2 year old Khaki Campbell (the brown) and a mixed breed who will turn 1 this summer (brown with some white) that is the baby of the Khaki Campbell. The Cayuga has angel wing but she's probably too old to correct it now. The mother Khaki Campbell is very, very protective of her grown baby. She will hiss and fuss at anyone who bothers her baby. It is no wonder, she has had to deal with so many predators I'm sure she thinks we too are after her baby. According to the young man who owned these ducks they've had bears, owls and it sounds like raccoons and more all break into their coop or go after the ducks when they were outside. I can only imagine what this mama duck was thinking when we swooped down and put her baby in a cage. I hope they will gain our trust. For now they are safe, fed, clean, dry and warm for the night. I hope this helps the young couple who were dealing with such a hard situation to rest easy. I should have given in sooner when my husband brought up taking in these ducks but I did finally agree to it and I'm glad I did but from now on...no more ducks! 10 is enough for me!!
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