Akela loves his baby ducks

[ChickInDelight]

The Easter Bunny put baby ducks in Akela's Easter basket

I served duck and chicken every evening in my dining room.

Then I moved the doghouse and pool into the fenced yard. Why don't ducks sleep where I intend?

Akela is hoping to get 3 wishes from the goddesses:

Never dine alone:

This is what the ducks are intended to do... eat algae and mosquitos. The watcher sees the best of the game:

But swimming is SO much more fun:

The ducks have no intention of sleeping in the igloo doghouse I painted for them and intended to put on an island. The 'duck compound' is only interesting when I am feeding them there. They like to hang out on the stone porch (where everyone walks in and out of the house) or under the van.

The 2 dogs and 4 cats keep the ducks fairly well protected. The dogs race out the doggy door anytime the cats signal or something in the woods seems suspicious. I am hoping the ducks never follow the dogs into the house through the doggy door.

I have a feeling if I build a duck house, the ducks will have no interest in being there. Do ducks ever live where intended?

 

[shaylabailey]

That is just the cutest!

Mine are terrified of dogs since they weren't exposed to them when they were small. Adorable ducks and an adorable dog!

What kind of dog is Akela?

 

[ChickInDelight]

Akela is 3/4 boxer and 1/4 Blue Heeler. He is my obsessive little stalker. He is either going at full steam, or dead asleep. He loves to cuddle.

Funny how we seem to learn about ducks after we get them. I am still not sure how I will winter my ducks. It will be interesting to see what the Mallards do when they begin to fly. They presently follow the Pekins, and the Pekins like to hang with people and pets. When we light the tiki torches on the lawn, we have to watch carefully to make sure we don't get duck flambe. I even start my car when they are 2 feet away, and they don't move an inch.

I live on a farm with a small lake with a spillway in front of my home and a small pond shown in the picture. Canadian Geese live here and even raise a few offspring each year. I am told ducks have never survived. A principal predator are the huge mud turtles in the ponds. I am trying to clear as much algae as possible so the ducks can see what lurks beneath.

 

[aineheartsyou]

some dogs are good with ducks and others are not. I had a sad incident where my dog killed one of my ducklings leaving the second all alone. I have since rehomed that dog (due to more reasons than just killing the duckling) and now have an indoor duck. my mini aussies are very good with my ducks

 

[Going Quackers]

Those pictures are so cute! Our ducks come right over to 'visit' with the dogs but it's all through fencing right now. Should be interesting to see what happens when there fully grown and left to free range..

 

[ChickInDelight]

The nine year old Australian Shepherd (owned by boyfriend of the eldest child) seemed great with the baby ducks. She was raised in a home that could be classified as a petting zoo. The first time I let the ducks out in the yard, the shepherd came out unexpectedly. When I yelled, she spit the mallard out. He was not right until the next day. I shunned the shepherd for an entire evening. I lectured her endlessly. We never had another incident.

My chickens have not yet started free-ranging because I realize I need to condition all the pets to the flapping wings and more bird-like appearance.

I am hoping to have time next weekend to start the acclimation.