It’s been a bit since I’ve been on. Actually yesterday I posted for the first time in over a year. It’s been busy here at Lilley Landing (our home on the lake!). We originally had 2 Rouen ducks that free range and they started staying out day and night with a wild mallard in the winter if 2022. I worried about them so much but because they can fly, there was no way to catch and bring them in for the night. They made it through the winter and then one of them, Dally, started sitting on a nest of 13 eggs in our neighbor’s wood pile. We set up chicken wire over her and left a light on near her at night to deter any predators. Our other duck, Dilly, disappeared at the same time and we hoped she was also nesting somewhere but unfortunately we never saw her again. Dally sat on her eggs but got off of them for too long during the first couple of weeks. She sat religiously for the last two weeks but in the end, all the eggs were not good. None appeared to be fertile. So at day 31 we had to pick her up and bring her to the duck pen. We didn’t want her to be alone so we got 3 more ducks - khaki Campbell and pekin mixes - Daisy, Ruby, and Maggie. They all free range, staying in the lake all day and then back to their pen for the night. Also - all of our girls fly! And they are big ducks! They fly from their pen all the way to the lake, at least 200 feet, every morning. Then they don’t fly again unless startled by something. They waddle home each evening- and sometimes earlier for a snack and then back out until dusk. But when Fall rolled around, the wild mallard came back and Dally started staying out with him again. They would come to the shore and I would feed them. Then later, Dally just started visiting the pen in the later afternoon to eat and then back out with her boy (we call him Daffy). When spring arrived this year, another mallard showed up and we assumed mating was occurring. Daisy, Ruby, and Maggie have been laying eggs daily since last October. We gather them every morning and either eat them, sell them, or give them away. So I wasn’t sure how to go about letting the girls nest. But one morning when I went to gather eggs, they were completely covered so I started leaving them. After a couple of weeks, Ruby started sitting. Then Daisy started sitting a couple of days later. Maggie hung around the pen but didn’t start sitting until a couple of weeks later. They all sit on the same pile of eggs! Well two days ago, Wednesday, the first two ducklings hatched! All three ducks take care of them but Daisy seems the most protective. Then this morning, we got a third duckling! This one seems to be attached to Maggie. They still have a ton of eggs and are still sitting on them so we’ll see if we get some more! Oh, before these girls started sitting, Dally started a nest in our gazebo. Unfortunately, she is just not a good sitter. She leaves her eggs for too long during the day. So none of her eggs have hatched. They don’t even appear to have developed at all. She’s still hanging out with her mallard but comes up to eat. I’ll probably wait a bit to introduce her to the new babies. I’m worried the mama ducks will be too protective. However if Daffy leaves again, she’ll want to come in at night. I guess I’ll figure that out when the time comes! Our little Jack Russell, Dash, has been a very good duck dog. He runs with them when they fly to the lake each morning, swims with them in the lake, and hangs out with them at their pen eating duck food and trying to be a duck! He’ll be kept out for a while now since we have new babies. And that wraps up all that’s been going on here!
