The Brooding of Allie, Casey and Latte

[Tevyes Dad]

Getting soooo big!! Love Latte's color coming in... and adorable flocking pic, lol... gotta check out the littles...

And big Congrats on your shiny new badge, Tony!!

Oooh, thank you, I didn't even see it until I read your post then scrolled back up.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Getting soooo big!! Love Latte's color coming in... and adorable flocking pic, lol... gotta check out the littles...

And big Congrats on your shiny new badge, Tony!!

X2!! on the shiny new badge, Tony!!

 

[Debs Flock]

Neat! Glad it went well with the lings outside. Love pic of the crane, too.

Congrats on the badge!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Today's weights:

Allie: 3lbs, 12oz
Casey: 1lb, 14oz
Latte: 1lb, 14oz

No individual pics today because they spent the day outside for the first time while we did yard work.



And so had their first meet and greet with the big ducks. They were interested and no one seemed aggressive (except maybe Kaine was a little.)


We also had a sandhill crane stop by in our swamp and say hi.


Off to karaoke...

I think you need to cut back on the grow tone your feeding them. they are getting too big.. lol

Beautiful Crane.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

Neat! Glad it went well with the lings outside. Love pic of the crane, too.

Congrats on the badge!

Thank you. And I see you are sporting one as well

so congrats back at you

 

[Tevyes Dad]

Weights:

Allie: 4 lbs.
Casey: 2 lbs.
Latte: 2 lbs.



I have been waiting for this day... Allie now weighs as much as Casey and Latte combined

, that is "Pekin Power" for you

We let the little ones out in their pen most of the afternoon and this time with a kiddie pool in their pen (we used more sections and made the pen bigger).

I wanted to point out the pen I am using. @DiamondSwan is keeping Flapper in the 4 panel version. She posted it a week and a half ago. She said it was inexpensive and she liked it so I checked it out. I got 2 of the 8 panel versions. I am going to use them to make Kaine's permanent jail (and it will be able to be broken down for isolation cells when required.) On their own, the panels would be fairly floppy when set up in a straight line, but the panels are joined by a large pin (looks like a giant knitting needle), so some of the panels I will join with rebar pounded into the ground (I will have to experiment to figure out how often I need a rebar support. So when I finish the secure area, Kaine will get his permanent jail (along with a snazzy house we bought for him) set up in the secure area and the lings will finish up their intro time in the gazebos that have been Kaine's jail. But for the time being, we are using the panels for the 'lings pen. I agree with @DiamondSwan . This is a very good set for the money. Today in order to surround their pool, we used 11 panels and it was stable enough for 'lings on the inside and adults on the outside with no problems (yesterday's picture shows the 'lings in 8 panels.) The panels are 34 inches high so we will see if Kaine flies out of them. If so, we will just make a net cover for him.

Insects are starting to fly, so the 'lings got to enjoy some fresh kills.

Tevye pecked Allie once in the bill through the pen. He didn't seem that hostile, but it wasn't very nice.

Didn't get any pics today because we were working on the gazebo and the secure area plus watching that the ducklings were safe with the pool. It was a busy but glorious day

 

[Ravynscroft]

And the first time all 3 'lings are solid pounds without ounces attached, lol... to adorable!!

Btw, what are those panel sets called, Tony? Those look ideal for what I need too... constant integrations, ya know, lol...

 

[Wobbles]

You can really see how big they are now in the pics of them with the adults watching them! Wow! They grow so so fast.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

And the first time all 3 'lings are solid pounds without ounces attached, lol... to adorable!!

Btw, what are those panel sets called, Tony? Those look ideal for what I need too... constant integrations, ya know, lol...

here...

 

[Tevyes Dad]

Allie: 4lbs, 3oz - broke that even pound thing)
Latsey: 2lbs, 1oz - if they won't bother to have individual weights, I won't bother to list them individually - 9 days in a row at the same weight!!!

After they got weighed, they took a bath and then preened on the rug before being socialized on the blanket for a couple more hours.

Allie nuzzled up to my arm and looked at me and rubbed her bill back and forth (not side to side) twice on my arm. I interpreted this as she wanted her bill stroked (which is something I have done with all the ducklings, but this was the first time I saw anything that could be interpreted as a request.) I stroked her bill then over her head with my finger and she half shut her eyes. I cupped my fingers over the back of her neck and stroked the top of her head with my thumb and she completely closed her eyes and relaxed. For around 1/2 hour, Allie slept with her foot resting on my hand and her body alongside my arm. Her neck and head were resting on my arm while I rested my head (lightly - not full weight) on her back. Every few minutes, she would open an eye and look at me, then go back to sleep. I could feel her little twitches in REM sleep. None of my other ducks including Casey and Latte wanted to be this intimate once they started their blood feathers. She melted my heart and when she hates me in 2-4 weeks it will break my heart. Hopefully we will get some of that back with Allie the Duck. By the way, she is just as sweet with Yvonne, so it isn't a personal bond, that is just how sweet she is.

Well since I have been slacking a bit, here are some preening pictures from after their bath...

Latte showing off her wings while Allie shows how insanely long her leg is.



Allie: Those aren't wings.... These are wings!


Casey showing off advanced duck balance moves. (She is the only one who can do this on dry land so far.)


General preening and proof that Allie can actually stand up.


Casey shows off blood feathers and preens her belly.


She really does have the most advanced feather growth of the group.


And such a pretty chest.