2019 Spring Ducklings are here!

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Oh yes blue bonnet season! I remember driving north on the 45, leaving one exit before Conroe and then driving on the small roads west through Egypt and Magnolia to Hempstead, just to see the blue bonnets. I've ordered some seeds, but it is still too early up here…
When there is no sun, it looks like a gray, blackish smudge, like if you put graphite from a pencil on your fingers and smear it on a piece of paper. But in full sun it shimmers - lavender, i can't describe it otherwise. I like it though it should not be on a Buff Orpington, but i don't care! We have very unique ducks!

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Oh yes blue bonnet season! I remember driving north on the 45, leaving one exit before Conroe and then driving on the small roads west through Egypt and Magnolia to Hempstead, just to see the blue bonnets. I've ordered some seeds, but it is still too early up here…
When there is no sun, it looks like a gray, blackish smudge, like if you put graphite from a pencil on your fingers and smear it on a piece of paper. But in full sun it shimmers - lavender, i can't describe it otherwise. I like it though it should not be on a Buff Orpington, but i don't care! We have very unique ducks!

you practically drove by my place on that drive.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

you practically drove by my place on that drive.

But i didn't know about you or ducks at that time, unfortunately.
It was back in 2010…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

More forced Labor!

I finally cleaned out the duck-house yesterday and deposited all the duck-magic on top of the potatoes i just planted. As i did not want the ducks to dig for »nuggets« in their own dirt, i pressed them to work on a fresh piece of grass yesterday.
Finally having a temporary fence is good!

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Mine have some smudges too. Not quite as much as yours but in bright sunlight I can see them.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Almost lost another Buff Orpington duck today!

Herded the duckies back into their house, set down the bowl with their supper (Kale and vegetable cuttings), closed the door, said "Good Night Duckies" turned around to go back inside… wait a moment!

One of the Buff Orpingtons somehow caught her bill in the hanging feeder, slipped and was dangling by her bill, frantically trying to get back on her feet. Rushed back in and freed that poor duck, she was not injured but very shaken up, trembling, peeping and tried to hide her head in my armpits.
I don't know why the floor in the duck house's dining room was so slippery today - i almost fell too - i cleaned it up thoroughly with a hose and lots of water yesterday but they seem to have pooped out some extra slippery stuff overnight, combined with some horizontal rain in the afternoon created that hazardous situation…
No idea what to do about it, so far the wooden floor had not caused any issues.

@Magnolia Ducks you had Buff Orpingtons in the past too, is it just me seeing things or are they a bit clumsier than other duck breeds?
I have a shallow drainage ditch across the grass where the ducks are running, all other ducks, even the white tanks hop over that ditch in a more or less elegant way. - The Buffies always stumble and fall in.
The ducks have bored lots and lots of holes into the ground, some are ½ foot deep. Only the Buffies step right into those holes and fall. I'm not far from having a heart attack everytime i see that, literally hearing a leg bone snapping.
But they dig out the holes faster than i can stuff them up…
Ducks!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Mine have some smudges too. Not quite as much as yours but in bright sunlight I can see them.

We have unique ducks!

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Almost lost another Buff Orpington duck today!

Herded the duckies back into their house, set down the bowl with their supper (Kale and vegetable cuttings), closed the door, said "Good Night Duckies" turned around to go back inside… wait a moment!

One of the Buff Orpingtons somehow caught her bill in the hanging feeder, slipped and was dangling by her bill, frantically trying to get back on her feet. Rushed back in and freed that poor duck, she was not injured but very shaken up, trembling, peeping and tried to hide her head in my armpits.
I don't know why the floor in the duck house's dining room was so slippery today - i almost fell too - i cleaned it up thoroughly with a hose and lots of water yesterday but they seem to have pooped out some extra slippery stuff overnight, combined with some horizontal rain in the afternoon created that hazardous situation…
No idea what to do about it, so far the wooden floor had not caused any issues.

@Magnolia Ducks you had Buff Orpingtons in the past too, is it just me seeing things or are they a bit clumsier than other duck breeds?
I have a shallow drainage ditch across the grass where the ducks are running, all other ducks, even the white tanks hop over that ditch in a more or less elegant way. - The Buffies always stumble and fall in.
The ducks have bored lots and lots of holes into the ground, some are ½ foot deep. Only the Buffies step right into those holes and fall. I'm not far from having a heart attack everytime i see that, literally hearing a leg bone snapping.
But they dig out the holes faster than i can stuff them up…
Ducks!

all my guys are clumsy. The buffs are more adventurous and tend to get in trouble first.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Also my crested Buff is deaf. She has a creast where her ear hole should be. Not happy about that.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Also my crested Buff is deaf. She has a creast where her ear hole should be. Not happy about that.

That's bad! I never wanted crested ducks, thank you Ideal…
I took a closer look at the whole flock today, while they were running around in the rain. Can ducks be far-sighted? It seems the Buffies cannot see clear what's right in front of them. There were three ducks walking in a row: A White Layer, followed by a Magpie., followed by a Buffie - only the last duck stepped into the bill-hole in the ground and belly-flopped. And when i feed them meal-worms, the buffs run to a worm and then peek with their bills over the ground to search for the worm, all other ducks just snatch it with one move.