DUCK DRIVE
As I had extra help yesterday I decided to move the ducks to their permanent area. There is no house for them yet but they had been too long in their out of the way holding pen. Time to get them into the action – right into the corridor paddock where there is lots if foot traffic both animal and human. We set up the craziest race track in the world with pallets, and timber and buckets and the tractor and umbrellas and piece of string.
Positioning people at each turn I let the ducks out and little by little squawking and carrying on and bunched so tight it looked like a mob three legged race with 34 legs they crept around the wall of the garage and through the gate into the little field.
(the recovering walnut)
We had a few break outs when the pigs suddenly rushed over for a look but in the end all the ducks were corralled in the tin chicken tractor.
They will stay in here with lots of visitors until the know where their new home is and settle down. Already they have had more visitors than before and because thus is a small house they will get used to us being close to them.
In a week or so – depending on their behavior – they will be let out into the enclosed field and I will herd them back in here at night. Sometime this summer I hope to find a better house for the winter.
(Please excuse the doubling up of images but the new download needs to settle in and I don’t have the time to muddle with it this morning).
The bad news is there is more rain coming. I don’t mind if we miss it as I have a lot of hay to cut later this week – if all goes well. The good news is that I saw Tia is in heat, yesterday, so this gives me a date for her and Del to visit the bull. I know Del is fertile but was not sure about Tia.
I hope you have a lovely day!
celi
Monday 0% Precip. / 0 in
Partly cloudy. High 82F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph.
Monday Night 50% Precip. / 0.09 in
Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low near 65F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
47 Comments on “DUCK DRIVE”
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thekitchensgarden 
What a perfectly cherubic child. She is beautiful…like a little Alice in Wonderland gazing at the piglets. And the ducks are quite handsome in their new quarters!
She is enchanted by the pigs and completely unafraid.
My kinda girl
OMG this really made me laugh! “Positioning people at each turn I let the ducks out and little by little squawking and carrying on and bunched so tight it looked like a mob three legged race with 34 legs they crept around the wall of the garage and through the gate into the little field.”
It worked though – everyone moved where they should
It was really ingenious, your plan…I could just visualize those ducks all bunched up as they walked. Duck behavior is interesting and entertaining…
Duck wrangling!
I know!!
Ducks with adult plumage and all, will they start laying soon, after they settle in their new home? Rather you than me trying to collect those eggs 😆 Laura
Not for a few months yet!
Whoa! It seems they grew so quickly! Yes, hopefully they will settle now and become comfortable with human beings close by! We received our 10 Muscovy ducklings and they are in the brooder, and will stay there for a week, or maybe two weeks more. They are more expensive ducks, I found out, after My John had already ordered them! We will carefully baby them. Those we had last year were great layers, and really good mamas too, so fingers crossed all with go well with both our our lots! 🙂
I am sure they will be easier to manage … while will be a good thing
Imagine driving those ducks through Islington in 1850!
Yes! Just imagine the noise!!
I always thought herding cats or middle-aged motorcyclists (yes, I *do* have experience of that one…) was the hardest, but clearly ducks present hitherto unsuspected challenges! They are very handsome ducks, I like the smooth line of their beaks and foreheads.
Yes. They are lovely to look at.
So you were a duck master leading them to their new home. Have you been to any of the Peabody hotels? (http://peabodymemphis.com/ducks-en.html) It is a sight to see them come off or get on the elevators for sure.
Sweet little girl photos!
What a fun video and facts, thanks Pat
Laura
Thank you, Pat, for such a delightful link.
my oh my…never a dull day at the farmy!
I just wish my six dogs were like your ducks..they had no problem going to new home. We have spent two weeks making nice individual kennels for dog, who at the moment have to be crated when we go out. Open air, good shelter, plenty of room for rough and tumble yet when we tried it out they all ran to the crates and would not move. I am convinced dogs are as thick as two planks….. But its good to know that ducks move was successful and that they are all happy Your life is never dull !!!
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Your dogs! You will have to put the crates in their run!
Beautiful child, beautiful ducks!
Beautiful little girl. I hope the ducks settle down soon!
Adorable little girl and the ducks are cute too. They look so sleek and healthy.
Sleek – yes they are that.
you are aware that that breed of duck can fly?
Oh that would make things interesting. I had Pekins and Runners , it was hard enough to corral them and they can’t fly. I did look that up and sure enough Khaki Campbells can fly.
Yup!
I can not see much detail in the walnut tree. How is it coming along?
I cut all its branches off so as to take the weight off the big split and it is growing them all back as fast as it can. But it is vigorous! I think it thinks it is two trees now
That is often how they respond. There will of course be no nuts this year, and probably none next year, but it will probably make a few (proportionate to the size of the canopy) the following years. It should be worth the effort.
Handsome ducks. Lots of farmy photographic material possible there.
I hope so- unless they go feral and fly for the creek which is really a ditch.
Mmm… In that case, you’d better get those flight feathers clipped soon – or, with the way they’ve been so far – they might never come back! ):
It is a conundrum- if I clip them and they do go for a walk they will be coyote food. If I don’t clip them who knows. We will see how they do with the electric fence- in a week or so
Yes, too right; it is a (terrible!) conundrum… Good luck!
Your walnut reminds me of my Lisbon lemon that split in half during the late spring and has recently started growing back another main branch.
Your duckies have grown so much! They look gorgeous! Yeah if they have creek access and are not fenced they will most likely end up there. BTW, you have a suspicious looking yellow bill in that lot…that means a drake! If so, he will be in heaven with all those girls 😊
We had Mallards when I was little and this breed remind me of them so very much – oh those drakes with their dark green head, orange feet and brighter bill: ) Fairly certain I can see at least two pair of orange feet in the larger photo? A lot of good general information and descriptors for sexing here:
All my duck’s feet were orange until they got older, so that wasn’t an early tell for me. I found the bills to be a much better indicator of sex and I see a couple of yellow/greens in that photo.
We had Muscovy on our farm and as a kid I always gave them a wide berth because they would hiss at me and were scary!! Haha…now I know they are actually very sweet…and not nearly so skittish as khakis. Although I do love my khakis, they have strong personalities and are very entertaining. Plus the eggs are amazing.
A friend swears by the Muscovy’s tick-catching abilities… But I totally get what you’re saying about the “scary” bit though; even without making a sound they always looked “angry”‘to me… ):
I also thought I saw the two Celi and why I included that link – cause (one of the things the author mentioned was them ganging up when there are multiple drakes ):
My system can only support so many links so sometimes I have to edit them out or your comment is dropped / I prefer links to be sent privately
My apologies:/
I think their bumpy red heads freaked me out, too, lol. Muscovy are nice in many ways from what I read but each breed has issues like Muscovy go feral more easily. I would think two drakes among so many girls would be manageable but I’ll check out that link too. It seems like different ducks can exhibit different issues even if they are the same breed.
Hmm – ah well – as long as there is only
One!
Actually, I looked back at the photo and you may have another contender.