And The PopPops are still Top of the Pops!
And very aware of any human movement. I just need to walk past their courtyard and all four are up and out. Grunting at me. Steaming about like tiny train engines. They are so small I am feeding them little bits often yet they always act starving.
This cat is the same. Waiting close to the food.
Keeping an eye on the barn at all times.
The turkeys came to visit the house today. They are otherworldly, fey wee things. With their funny noises and long legs and necks. Their wings folded all wonky. Thankfully they make constant peeping sounds so I always know where they are.
Look at the markings on this duck.
My research tells me it is a female mallard (both remaining ducks have the same markings) and we just lost the male in the drowning accident. Hmm. I have a feeling the biggest Pekin is a male, he is often watching while the others are foraging. We will have to wait to see if he gets a curly tail. Not that I intend for them to breed but it might be fun.
Like Mad said I could swap out Quackers infertile eggs for some of the new variety. Then at last she can have a flock. But it is all fantasy at this point. Spring is a long way off.
In the evenings Boo and I sit out on the front porch and play ‘count the fish’. It is a very relaxing game. I counted 22 gold fish, 4 frogs and one blue gill last night before wandering out to do night chores.
Good morning! What’s on your agenda today? I have summer people coming on Friday so I need to get the house back in order. Tidy the barn a bit.
Celi
The Sustainable Sunday Newsletter in case you missed it.
The Kitchen's Garden 
24 responses to “Otherworldly Fey Things”
I can see all the creatures in your barnyard in fairyland clothes! Thank you for using one of my favorite words.
Jude would be a dragon I think!!
Four little black Timas!
I’d be inclined to think that a large bossy duck is probably male. Perhaps he will fertilise Quacker’s eggs, though males can be quite macho with the ladies.
We had one of those macho ducks once- it was a pekin too. He was chasing the chickens! So I had him removed to a big pond with new friends.
Ha ha, poor chickens!
I had a macho Rouen drake who also attacked the chickens. He, along with 2 hens were a 30th birthday gift to my stepson from one of his ‘unique’ friends. Of course the call came: ” Dad, can you take these ducks?” Rouens, also known as giant mallards are a meat breed and actually grow too big to fly. We lost one of the hens to a raccoon but Betty the duck is still going strong at 14 years old.
Huh. So Betty is a Rouen! And 14!!’
Oh my, those funny little marching black pigs, they sound like colourful little characters already. I love the way the farmy animals live with each other, the cat and the ducks today for example. What pleased me the most was reading that you actually had time to sit on the balcony with Boo a while, all be it before going back to your night time chores.
Andy we are thinking the same today! Marching pigs… 🙂
I am trying to institute a break before I start dinner. Just sitting by the pond with a glass of wine and thinking. It is quite lovely!
I do the same right before afternoon feed time only with a glass of Switchel. I find it to be really restorative.
In that photo the little pigs seem to have perfectly rectangular bodies…and then you come across the snout and it throws things off a bit as they march along in parade formation. I’ve come to the conclusion that I would never get anything done on this farm because it would be much more important to simply sit and watch all the animals! Boo and I would have lovely discussions though I think.
I couldn’t agree more Deb.
Absolutely you would. Sitting and observing is a very important job!
Well thank you! I suppose I could say I was taking field notes for some very important research 😉
Oh, the agenda—-this year there always seems to be a never-ending agenda concerned with pulling the yard and garden beds into something resembling “order”. Recently though the weather has been really nice, coolish with very little humidity so I am beginning to discern the light at the end of the tunnel of weeding, mulching, edging etc. But looking forward to an early Fall when I will get a little rest before the leaf raking, shredding, mulching, and storing of said leaves will begin.
I would say that duck is a Rouen. The mallards have one eye stripe. The Rouens have two. Rouens were bred from Mallards. They are larger and end up being brighter in colour. They don’t fly as well as Mallards… which can be a bonus.
Aha! Thank you! And do you think they are females? The one that died had a green beak of that is useful.
I tried to identify our drakes early… but their flipped up tail feathers didn’t arrive any earlier than their green face feathers… which was the spring they turned one year old. I didn’t find their beak colours any different from the hens. The females were actually bossier. The females will also mount each other come the spring! It’s a long game with ducks.
Ok! We will leave it up to the gods then!
My summer people are starting to come to an end. Only one more set of company in late August
Each set of animals seems to have their own community. The pigs are adorable!
❤
She/they may also be part Black Duck? (The females are virtually indistinguishable from Mallard Hens.)