One of these things...

When my daughter was little I became intimately familiar with the TV show Sesame Street. There was a little thing they used to do where a puppet would sing, "One of these things is not like the others, one of these things is not the same." They would show, for example, a picture of 5 dogs and a kitten. The children watching were to pick out the one thing that was not the same as the others.

That bit came to mind tonight when I looked out and saw a mama duck with 9 ducklings. No. Wait. 8 ducklings. And a sleepy turkey poult.

Sometimes I think it is silly that I keep my camera on the table by the door. Other times I am so glad!

Learning not to interfere...

I am 51 years old and still learning.

Mama duck hatched 10 ducklings. They are, I must say, probably the cutest of all baby animals.
Mama hatched them inside the chicken coop. During the day she takes the ducklings out in the yard where they nibble on grass seeds, splash in the water bowls and nap in the shade. At night she tries to take them back to the safety of the coop... away from owls and other predators. The ducklings have trouble with this concept.

Mama says something to them in duck lingo. The fuzzy babies all fall into line and follow her, until she reaches the ramp to the coop. There, mama duck goes up, and the babies stand beneath and holler.

Mama comes back down. She leads the babies around for a while, then heads back up the ramp. One or two follow, the rest? They stay on the ground and holler. Loudly.

Mama leaves the coop. The ducklings that are with her follow. It is maddening to watch.

I want to scoop the ducklings up in a net and toss them into the coop. I want to "HELP."

But the duck, with her thimble sized brain, has it all figured out. Over and over, patiently, she descends the ramp. She leads a few babies up. Repeat. I quit watching after a while. When I went out after dark mama duck was in the coop, hovering over her babies. They were all safely in the coop. No thanks to me.

I take this as a life lesson. Interfere less. Let life happen more.

Duck egg!

On May 1st I brought home Elvis and Belle, two young adult Muscovy ducks. They are delightful... friendly, bug eating, quiet and colorful additions to the mini farm. Every morning Belle waits for me to come open the door to the chicken coop. She climbs the ramp and hides behind the feed bin, looking for all the world like a bird laying an egg. But there have been no eggs.

Until this morning! Belle laid a large, slightly green tinted egg. I am hoping she will lay more and brood them, and that I will have DUCKLINGS. That would be such a treat. (The larger egg towards the right is the duck egg. The other two eggs are from my chickens.)

P.S. Today I added another female duck. Her name is Beauty. Stay tuned for photos of the happy trio.

Dedication...

When I got the wild idea to add two Muscovy ducks to our mini farm a couple of weeks ago, my patient husband was on board. The day we were to get the ducks he went to the hardware store and got supplies needed to build a little duck house. Then he spent a good part of his day planning, designing, measuring and cutting a nice shelter for the new additions. The project really needed an extra pair of hands, and I was at work. He picked me up from work and we drove to get the ducks, not arriving home until late. And mean while, the flu from h*ll moved into my body.
For the following two weeks I have remained sick and fundamentally useless, and Chris has worked 20+ hours of overtime both weeks, late evenings and all day on some weekends, so the duck house remained in pieces. The ducks didn't seem to mind. They could bunk in the lamb lodge or in the spacious chicken coop if they wanted, but they seemed perfectly happy to nap under the picnic table or just in the middle of the lawn. I've been worried that a night-time predator would scale the fence and have some tasty duck snacks, but so far, so good.

Meanwhile I've been watching the ducks when I have a chance. They are quite dedicated to one another. Belle, the hen, wanders about, looking for bugs or succulent sprounts to eat, and Elvis, the drake, follows her. He never lets her out of his sight. If he finds a treat to eat he huffs at her and shares the morsel. They sleep side by side, sometimes resting their heads on each others backs, looking for all the world like they are cuddling.

I woke up this morning just certain that I would be all over my virus. My virus laughed. So after sitting up for a bit I took a hot shower, waved my white flag of surrender and climbed back between the sheets. The dogs thought this was a fine idea on a rainy day and joined me. Five hours later I woke and heard hammering.
I looked outside and there, in the cold rain, was Chris- building me a duck house.
He was drenched, his clothes sodden. His tools were wet, the wood was wet,his hands and cheeks were red with cold- but he had this determined look on his face. He knew I've been worried about the ducks at night, and he was finishing this project no matter what!

Finish he did. I guess he didn't want Elvis to be the only dedicated husband on the place! I cleared a spot next to the chicken coop and we set up cinder blocks to elevate the new duck house a bit. Muscovies like to be up a little off the ground, we have learned. I found an old blueberry box in the garage and stuffed it full of clean, sweet hay for a nest box. I sprinkled fresh shavings on the floor and put a pan of duck food in the house. The ducks were watching, and within moments Belle had jumped up to have a snack and investigate.

When the weather clears I'll paint the house so it matches the coop. Meanwhile, I hope the ducks find this a fine place to start a little family. I know I will sleep better at night knowing they are safe and snug in their cozy new digs. And I will revel in the knowledge that my kind, talented, dedicated man went the extra mile to build this little place so another loving couple would be safe and cozy.

Spring marching on...

I have not blogged for a bit because I have been held fast in the grips of a particularly nasty virus that has laid me low. But spring has marched on despite my illness and plans I had put into place have come to fruition. I went to purchase 4 lambs last Sunday, and the woman threw in "runt triplet" for free. So I have a real flock (5!) of them now, and they are beyond adorable.



The daffodils, jonquils and tulips I planted last fall, and the fall before that, etc. have burst into riotous bloom. They encircle a crab apple tree and normally they all flower at once. This year either they are early or the tree is late, but it is still a pretty show!



I decided our mini farm might just need a pair of ducks! So here they are, Elvis (he ruffles his head feathers into a funky Elvis-like hair style and is very good at wiggling his rear!) and Belle. They are Muscovy ducks; known for being excellent bug eaters, producers of fine eggs, and excellent parents. I am hoping they'll get down to the business of nesting soon so we can have a bunch of cute babies waddling about! Meanwhile, they are interesting characters. They don't quack, but rather make an odd, breathy sound. They also don't swim, but will hop in a pool for a vigorous splash!

I have not been able to enjoy my new additions as much as usual since I have been feeling so rotten, but I felt well enough today to take pictures and I even caught myself smiling once when the lambs went rollicking past me, bucking and leaping with the joy of spring.