A Quacktastic Arrival!

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So, last year I was gifted some ducks. Not a few ducks either, fifteen Khaki Campbell-Indian Runner duck cross ducks suddenly appeared on the farm. Not that I was sad about being flush in ducks, as I have a small orchard and I thought the ducks would feel right at home amongst the cherry trees and strawberry bushes.

A year later things are going great. I was down to nine ducks after finding some really great homes for 6 of them, as I really didn't think I needed that many quackers. They lay the most beautiful light blue eggs, keep the grass mowed, leave the most fantastic fertilizer, and keep the harmful insect population in check.


Yep, the ducks are cool.


And because the ducks were cool, when I saw one of the mamas sitting a clutch of eggs a few weeks ago, I decided to let her brood and hatch them. I had a couple of reasons for this decision. One, a friend of ours has a new homestead and has intimated that they would love some ducks, so I thought I would give them a trio of hens and a drake. That would put me down to five and honestly I like having 9 or so.

Then there is a really not important factor, well, it's important to me. We have relationships with all of our animals. I can go out and whistle and the cows will come wandering up, no matter where they are. Any animals that have been under our care have always been close to us and it is modeled in their behavior (they are always trying to break out and get in the house with us lol!). So, it's a little weird that the gifted ducks don't run up and interact with us like all our other animals do. Hence, letting mama hatch them.

Because my plan was to remove the ducklings as soon as they were hatched. Some might think that is mean, but these ducks have terrible maternal instincts. Last year during this time one of the hens hatched out a batch of ducklings and before the first day was over they were all eaten. I wasn't going to let that happen again.

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So, this morning when I walked out to the orchard to feed the quacks, I started when I heard the tell-tale peeping of ducklings. And as my eyes lit on the six little fuzz balls I knew my plan for the day was going to evolve a bit.

After my morning coffee, the fam and I went out to collect the little ducklings. Sure enough, mother of the year had left them by the swimming pool and was clear across the orchard from her brood. The little creatures were calling in distress which is a death sentence for small things.

We scooped up the ducklings in a cardboard box and headed back towards the house.

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Most day old poultry get a stay in the Kat-hotel For Wayward Avians. It's usually a Rubbermaid container or a dog crate that chills in my bathroom for a week or so. The problem was I wasn't really expecting the babies yet and didn't have all the supplies. So I put the ducklings in the crate and ran to the feed store for some appropriate protein level chick starter, some electrolytes, and some pine shavings.

Faster than you can say Step on your quack and break your mama's back I had the little creature's new abode in order. Then I whipped up some electrolytes and soaked a bit of the chick starter crumble with it.

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Let me say right here that ducks are the biggest mess makers EVER! Years ago when I worked at my friend's feed store I used to be in awe at the mess ducklings could make in twenty minutes time. All baby chicks that show up round here get the dunkening when they arrive. I dunk their little beaks in the water and then the food. It's a thing. I am a good faux mama bird.

And sure enough, no less than twenty minutes after I left the newly ensconced little creatures alone and went back to check them, they had demolished the cleanliness of their pen. Their water looked like a Jackson Pollock painting and they had smashed their crumbles into something that resembled a crushed cow pie. Sigh.

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Even so, they are so dang cute and I am not sorry they exist. In fact, I will be even less sorry when I move them out to the nursery in the barn in the next few days after I am sure that they will thrive.

Because as all homesteaders know, little baby creatures are both simultaneously tough and fragile.


And super cute😊



And as most of the time, all of the images in this post were taken on the author's far cleaner than the duck water bowl iPhone.




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37 comments
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That is wonderful and just quackers.

Hahahahaha

You are something else, and that is meant in a endearing way 😀

!BBH

!ALIVE

!CTP

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Oof, sorry I am slow, hiked five miles up a mountain today and then spent the rest of the afternoon apply composted (sorta) bovine fecal matter on the garden. I smelled AWESOME!

Anyway lol, I am glad you find me a something else in an endearing way, that makes my day! You're beyond pretty quacktastic yourself!

!CTP

!PIZZA

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img_0.4735794094722147

This was burnt down low. I smelled very nice today also. Lol

My god you must be related to the energizer 🐰. Lol.

Awaiting your next fantastic post 😀

!BBH

!ALIVE

!CTP

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Ooh! Eau de Campfire! A fine scent!

After working out in the humid heat for the last few hours I am feeling the opposite of energized, more like a sloth on lithium. Couch here I come!

That fire looks excellent, as does your yard, glad to see you are having an industrious weekend lol!

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sloth on lithium

Hahahahaha

Thank you.

Hahahahaha

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Because this is such an awesome post, here is a BBH Tip for you. . Keep up the fantastic work

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Because this is such an awesome post, here is a BBH Tip for you. . Keep up the fantastic work

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Wow, you got a complete family already. It will be fun to see them together in the water and following each other around.

Thanks for sharing.

Read from LN

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There is a pile of them for sure! And yes, it's super fun to watch them splash around in their swimming pool lol!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

!CTP

!PIZZA

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Oh gosh, these are so darn cute 😍

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lol! That's exactly what I think when I look at them too! Well, when I am not thinking about how they are the world's biggest mess makers lol!

!CTP

!PIZZA

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Bill beelp bill beel billp beelp - talking in duck language here 😁 They're all so cute when little babies.

WhatsApp Image 2022-07-08 at 11.04.45 AM.jpeg

Voted on ListNerds!

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Aww, that's a pile of little mess makers! So cool you are fluent in duck language, and yes, they are beyond cute when they are little quacks😊

!CTP

!PIZZA

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Very cute - Best post on hive of the day!

!ALIVE !LUV !PIZZA

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Aww, thank you so much!😊

!PIZZA

!CTP

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It brings back memories of when my Dad had a few ducks. They can be hilarious when they get bigger.

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They are such goofballs for sure, I am constantly amused by their antics! It sounds like you had duck encounters of the humorous kind aplenty lol!

!PIZZA

!CTP

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Omg! They look so cute. They are so lucky to be in lovely care. I hope to see thrive together in the home you have prepared for them. Now am curious as to what colour their feathers will be😅, white or brown? 🤔.

I enjoyed reading your post. From Listnerds here. Much love ❤️ 😊

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Most of them should be white with patches of different colors, but a couple of the are mostly brown it looks like, don't worry, I will post progress pics lol!

Thank you so much for stopping by and for the kind words😊

!CTP

!PIZZA

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Much beauty is seen, nice beautiful ducks family, duck are so strong and their growth are rapidly.

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This is such a cool story, @generikat. I did not know that ducks were not maternal. In all the cartoons I have seen the ducks are perfect little mothers😀.
Walt never showed them eating their young.
New little beings on the homestead has to be an awesome experience.
Enjoy them while they are young.
!CTP

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You know what's funny, is I just spent some time on a lake with a bunch of wild fowl and the ducks up there were splendid mothers. I think it's just this particular batch of ducks.

Guess Walt censored that bit for us all lol lol!

And you are so right about enjoying them while they are young, soon they'll be screeching, half grown, half feathered heathens😆

!CTP

!PIZZA

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Oh my gosh, these fluffballs are the cutest! I didn't know (how could I? lol) that these creatures are so messy. I did have a nest of pups (Shepards) once that made such a huge mess all freaking day that I remember mostly running behind them with a bucket and mop with some sanitizer for the floor :) lol..

It was a neverending few months of cleaning and exhausting, but the cuddles and cuteness make up for it!

But if I"m 100% honest, I prefer having a few kittens instead haha. Good luck being the mama duck for a bit, I'm 100% sure they turn out fine ducklings later!

<3

!CTP

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Ooh, puppies are right up there in the mess making sphere, but I guess most baby animals are messy now that I think about it lol!

And you have me chuckling, I have one batch of baby kittens right now along with the ducks as well as one cat with a litter on the way. It's going to be cuteness overload around here for a few weeks!

I'm glad you survived the Shepards! That must have been a huge job!

!CTP

!PIZZA

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Oh you have kittens, my goddddd you have to share pictures, as we are missing having one so badly! When we arrived in the area where we're living now, we found a momma cat with litter in a schoolyard. But all schools are closed. Two of these babies we want, as they are the cutest and one, is exactly the little kitten I wanted for years (we had one of these in a litter once that's why I grew so fond of the striped ones). They are so wise!

We went there to check if they were still there and they are, but no way we could ever get them through the gate, and I believe once closed during the summer, nobody will enter that building until September. Tomorrow we will register at this address and I will just be bold and ask the people about this matter that we want to save 2 out of 4 and if there's a way someone could save them there. I mean neighbors are feeding them but obv it's not a healthy (mostly very smelly) environment now especially with a dead dove in there too.

Fingers crossed they will say "oh yeah it's municipal property, we will take them out, come get 2 lol". I have to try :)

Until then, please show your little kittens :) haha

<3

!CTP

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How cute! New ducklings for the flock. And they will be like your other critters, willing to come when you call.

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I'm so looking forward to that😊 Hopefully they won't be as bad as the blue slate turkey that always ran into the house when we opened the door and roosted right next to it, I'm cool with them being slightly independent lol lol!

Hope you are having an awesome weekend!

!PIZZA

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