And we have...

DUCKLINGS! The mama duck has had eggs audibly "pipping" since last night. That means the ducklings inside their eggs are making sounds; communicating with their mama before they even hatch. The mother duck becomes very intense when this happens, cocking her head to listen to the tiny sounds and being extra protective of her nest. The wee ducklings begin to peck out of their shells. This is a long, long process. It takes every bit of my restraint to not "help!" Belle the Muscovy duck, laid 20+ eggs and has been dutifully setting on them for 34 LONG days. She only leaves the nest once a day to eat, drink and eliminate. The chicken in the nest box next to her was also broody, (sitting on eggs.) None of the chicken eggs hatched. Somehow the resourceful chicken managed to hijack 4 duck eggs. I have NO idea how she did that... the duck is a fierce guardian of her nest, and besides, hens lack hands, how did she get eggs from one nest box to another without breaking one? The mysteries of the animal kingdom never cease to amaze me. At any rate, the chicken has duck eggs that are hatching too. She'll have a fit the first time "her" chicks insist on going for a swim!

Meanwhile the goats have learned to get out of the large, roomy pasture and into the back yard. They found a spot where the fence is a little saggy and leap right into the hen yard. There they ate the chicken food, and moved on to eat the blossoms off of all the pansies I planted over the weekend. When Chris got home we shored up the fence. I can see this might be an ongoing effort! On a brighter note I had a much more successful milking session this evening. Luna goat is very patient with my ham-fisted efforts and I came away with about 1/2 of a quart jar full of fresh milk. I can see that when I become more comfortable with the process that the time I spend milking will be very pleasant and relaxing. After I milked I gave Luna a good brushing. She loves this... and stands statue still, with her eyes squinched shut in pleasure. Pleasure is all around me. In hatching ducklings and fresh milk and naughty, happy goats.