Birthday Party in the Garden

The ducks are two weeks old today. To celebrate that event and today's 60-degree temperature, I took them for their first outing, down to the garden. It took Eggatha about two seconds to find a withered cilantro leaf and gobble it down. Eggatha and Daisy scrambled up the 6-inch side of the raised bed with ease. It took Maisy a few tries, but she made it. While they foraged, I walked around the garden to see if any more green stuff was growing. When I looked back, they were following me, just like a line of . . . ducks! I guess all that hand feeding, singing, and enforced cuddling worked. We're bonded. When they turned a corner, they stopped, as if they couldn't figure out where I'd gone. I realized that they were only seeing my legs, and they never see my legs. When I called to them, they made the connection and came running.

It was a lovely day in the garden.

More to come--please stop by again.

FAQ

Probably Eggatha

Q. Can you tell them apart?
 A. Nope. I think I know that Eggatha is always first at everything, and Maisy is always last, but they have all grown to be the same size, with no distinguishing characteristics that I can detect.

Q. When can they swim in the pond?
A. They won't have their waterproof feathers for several weeks.

Q. How can you tell if they're boys or girls?
A. Right now, only an expert could tell. When they get older, boys get a curly feather at the base of their tails, and girls begin to quack. Males don't quack, they just kind of mutter.

Q. When will they start laying eggs?
A. In about 5 months. That's another good way to tell.

Q. Will they live in the pond?
A. No, they'll live in a coop with a fenced-in pen to keep them safe from predators. But I'll take them for field trips to the pond and the garden.

Q. How will you get them to come out of the pond?
A. Good question.

Can YOU tell them apart?

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Hi!

The ducklings have been getting visitors. Thanks, Carol, Alan, Susan, and Jerry for stopping by, and for your help. Thanks, Beverly, for teaching me how to whistle the ducklings to sleep!

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Treats

The ducks have outgrown their water dispenser, so I've been experimenting with something they can wade in. This is a paint tray, which has a shallow end with safety treads and a deep end where they can duck their heads under water and let it roll down their backs. They instinctively began to dabble for food in the water as soon as they stepped in, but of course, all they found was each other's feet. Then I dropped in some greens as a treat. Oh, my! What joy! What excitement! What a game of Bumper Ducks!
Treats are the sunshine of their lives. Floating greens are their favorite, but they like scrambled eggs and hard boiled egg yolk (I know), and baked sweet potato.They also get a sprinkle of brewers yeast and a sprinkle of garlic powder in their dry food.
Maybe it's all the treats that are helping them grow so fast. Note the beginning of tail feathers beginning to appear!

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Note to Self

There's a lot to remember when you're taking care of 3 ducks. One is, keep an eye on the cat. Peanut has been acting a bit needy since he's not the center of attention. I didn't want him to feel left out, so I crossed my fingers and let him follow me into the Duck Room. He checked out all the new smells, and then put his paws up on the edge of the tub and checked out the ducks. He heard them peep, but it didn't seem to trigger any predatory urges. Still, I keep the door locked when I'm not around. What I forgot was to check whether the cat was in or out of the room before I locked it. Thank goodness I didn't leave him in there long enough to get really hungry.

Another thing I forgot was not to fool around adjusting the heat lamp when the ducklings are standing right under it. They have very quick reflexes! As soon as it came hurtling toward them, they dashed for their water dish and huddled there until their clumsy human got the sun back up into the sky.

I am amazed by all the survival skills these little girls are born with. (Apparently I'm going to test them all.) One afternoon they were splashing around in their water bowl when suddenly they squatted, became silent, and exchanged glances I interpreted as worried. Then I also heard the sound--the very faint cry of a large bird--maybe a crow or a jay. How could they know what that meant? Getting to know these wise little creatures is a humbling experience.

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Greens!

Life was getting a little same old-same old for these three day olds, so I decided to give them a treat, slivers of salad greens. That was a hit! They knew immediately that this was something ducklings like to eat. If they pick up something they don't like, like poop, they sling it away. They snatched the greens from my fingers, they played tug of war with them, they gobbled them up from their dish. They raced back and forth from the waterer to the feeder. Happy ducks!
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Daisy, Maisy, and Eggatha

These are my brand-new ducks, and I am their brand-new human. They were born February 10, 2020, at the Fifth Day Farm hatchery in Narvon, PA--in the beautiful Lehigh Valley. My friend Nancy and I drove down to pick them up, to spare them a plane or Fed-Ex ride to my house. Instead they got a three-hour ride in a very warm car. But, fun fact, new-born birds absorb their yolk sac into their bodies and can live on it for three days.
I had prepared their new home in a large Rubbermaid tub in a room off the kitchen. A lamp with a 100-watt bulb hung where it would give them 95 degrees of warmth. A feeder (see photo) held their water. They need room to dunk their bills when they eat, to keep their nares (nose holes) clear. I am becoming a font of duck trivia. But they should not be able to dunk their whole selves until they get a little older. A little bowl held their chick starter/grower food. Newspapers covered the floor of the tub, to keep it dry and clean. Ha!
My first job, when they moved in, was to show them where the water was. You do this by holding them and ducking their bills into the water, like one of those plastic novelty birds from my childhood. Then it was just a matter of their figuring out which was the hole and which was the plastic part in between. They learned this by persistence, trial and error, and copying each other.
Watered, fed, and warm, they settled down, using each other as feather pillows, and began an adorable process of nodding off. First, their eyes would close, then their heavy little heads would nod forward until their bill hit the floor. Then their heads would roll to the side.

                                                                        ZZZZZ

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