Duckling Diaries: the Life and Times of a Welshie Trio

BantyChooks · Apr 25, 2016

Hello all,
I picked up three Welsh Harlequin ducklings from a local breeder today. I was able to get them sexed, so I have two females and one male. They're unnamed as of now, but likely not for long.
(Edit: male is now Tucson, and the females are Heather and Chrissy)

They somehow ended up in my lap instead of the box on the ride home. Oops? Hey, I didn't crash, eh. They're very friendly and don't mind being held... so here we go, into the depths of duck-craziness. Please subscribe if you love webs, bills, the overuse of the word burd, sweet fluffy winglets and lots of cute.

Pictures, more coming soon:

Edit:
After a tragic mink attack in December 2016, this has become a support thread for Chrissy, the one remaining welshie. As of today (May 19, 2017) she is still fighting to get through her injuries and return to normal life.

Edit no. 2; 8/8/17:
Unfortunately, Chrissy was euthanized in June after a rapid decline in her health. She was quite the special little bird that touched a few hearts here. Thanks y'all for standing with me through all of this. Still, despite the loss of the original trio, The Diaries live on with the addition of 9 more little webbies.

BantyChooks · Sep 24, 2017

The 2017 beepers are really growing up. They have strong personalities now (shush, human Ralphie) and are nearly in full adult feathering. Where'd my babies go?

Ralphie the Blue Swedish is the skittish alarm clock of the group. Anything and everything could be or is a threat and MUST be warned about in dire quacks that send the whole group and most of the chickens diving for cover. Ralphie, stop hiding under a bush, that's a blue jay, not a hawk... No, Ralphie, that really is the same nice dog that came over yesterday, the day before that, and the day before that too. You can stop wigging out now.

Aspen the Cayuga is the tranquil darling and she knows it. She looks like a midnight princess and acts like one too. You can usually find her floating serenely in the pool or shoving her sibs out of the way to eat all the food first. I never said she was a polite princess!
Oh, and she seems to have a vendetta against Jules. All the other birds have accepted him, even Drake. She's just a twerp, I guess.

Brooke the WH is the active one with a crabby streak meaning that she must bite newcomers on the head once or twice or three times before finally giving up and accepting that he's here for good. She's always trying her wings out and can actually make it off the ground and fly a few feet before going plunk, making her seem like a songbird next to Hailey the blimp. She reminds me a great deal of Heather in her temperament.

Drake the WH is THE man in charge. He'll make sure you know it too. He's a bold, brassy, colourful gentleman that'd be a teenager with green hair and piercings if he were human. He doesn't mind being handled too much and is so huge and poofy you can barely hold him. His favourite activity is biting my earlobes.

Hailey the Silver Appleyard is the sweet-as-sugar girlie that just wants to be your friend. She has a penchant for hogging the food even more than her sister, Aspen, which leads me to believe I should have named her Blimp. Her and Drake are the only ducks to frequently come right up to my feet and bite my ankles in between a stream of never ending commentary.

And now, the one and only Flippy, a Lavender Ancona. She sometimes acts like she got dropped on her head as a baby, but we all love her anyway. She earned her name from the way her webbies slapped down on the dirt when she was chasing flies. She will sulk for ages if I dare interrupt the pecking order---she flomped off in a huff and sat under the scaffolding for the coop (10' away from the flock) when I introduced the ducks to Jules for the first time. I don't think she even looked at him for two days...
By the way, did you think it wasn't possible for a duck to do doughnuts in a pool? Flippy can prove you wrong. She's nuts in there.
(See Aspen being her queenly self and Hailey smiling for the camera?)

Scooter the Black Ancona is the quiet and reserved gentleman that's actually the most handsome of the group. He's always near the rear of the group and rarely comes to say hi. C'mon scoots, we all luvs ya...

Ally the Chocolate Ancona is a sparky and adorable gal that gets along well with everyone. Particularly the drakes, if you know what I mean. Ahem. We won't judge.

Now for Jules, the Snowy Call. They say the best is last and I'm rather inclined to believe it. He's the newest member of the group and makes me crack up laughing when he runs around the pool 20 times trying to get in. He evidently is too cool to use the stairs. Sometimes he flies in using them lovely wings that the other fatties can't use because they're too busy eating.
He argued with Drake a lot at first, but after coming to terms with the fact he really is 1/3 of the size he reluctantly sank back in his attempts to dethrone the king. He's still pretty reserved around people but he complains the least of all of them if I do happen to catch him.