Ducks and Apples?

[Ahab]

Thanks. You make a convincing case for Saxonies.

 

[katharinad]

In all fairness I cannot compare them to other breeds, since this is the only breed I have. I had ducks when I was a young child, but I cannot remember all the details. 35 years later I've decided to start again. I've hatched my flock from eggs I've purchased through mail order and I did raise them in my kitchen in a large crate until they were 2.5 weeks old. They have been part of the big family since, and that can have a big influence. Plus their large size must have something to do with laid back their behavior. The girls can get loud when excited about something, like being let out in the morning. Otherwise don't hear much at all.

 

[Ahab]

Understood. But you're the first Saxony advocate I've seen on this board, so yours is an opinion to place alongside the others when my pen wavers over the Holderread order form this winter, looking for the elusive "perfect" duck for our particular requirements (quiet(ish), sedate, hardy, good forager, good mothers, good eating). Muscovies, of course, would seem to head such a list, but I know several people locally with muscovies and after a series of meet-and-greets I don't see us being a good fit. They remind me of Labrador retriever puppies with feathers.

 

[katharinad]

I have to say mine are quite independent. They love to come and get treats, but they are not all over you if you don't have anything. They have to actually see the treat or forget about it. They will of course run to see if I really have some if I call "who wants treats?" from behind the building. They are such smart little buggers. They don't like to be touched, but I never worked them to the point that I was holding them on my lap. All we did is train them to take food out of the hand and to get herded around. That came almost natural to them. I cannot grab them when they are outside, but I can do that when I move them into the small pen. They don't like it but do not bite either. They actually calm down quite fast once you hold one. So their disposition is actually quite nice. Right now they are out foraging after taking a bath in the kiddie pool. They are so easy to satisfy.

 

[sianara]

Quote:
OMG! That vision almost made me spit ice coffee all over my computer monitor

Thanks so much for the laugh

 

[sianara]

Quote:
You are just too funny!

Glad you joined up at BYC!!

 

[Ahab]

I believe the citizens of (as we call it) Mass'chusetts are inherently amused by the citizens of Maine. We, on the other hand, think of them chiefly as the people south of New Hampshire who are unable to operate automobile turn signals, and who deprived honest Mainers of Christmas celebrations during the long dark Puritan occupation between King William's War and the Missouri Compromise.

But thanks for the welcome: I'm finding it a knowledgeable and friendly and extraordinarily helpful bunch. Even the folks from Mass'chusetts.

 

[sianara]

Quote:

Well, just so you know, there are MANY people from Mass'chusetts that ALSO think others from Mass'chusetts don't know how to operate motor vehicles whether it be using turn signals or stopping at a yellow light BEFORE the light turns red. Yellow does NOT mean "quick go faster BEFORE it turns red."

I know you said you were old but were you actually around during the long dark Puritan occupation?

Just kidding, I always appreciate another person with a good sense of humor who also doesn't take themselves (or others) too seriously. I mean, heck we're only around here for so long so why take it too seriously, right?

Yesterday, DH & I were on the way home from a day trip to Horse Neck Beach near Buzzards Bay, MA with DD (going off to college in 5 days and counting) and her friend. They were talking about what people from each state were called e.g. North Carolina-ians, Mainers, Californians and so on. When we got to MA I said "Pilgrims!". They thought that was funny but I really don't know what people from MA are called. DH said maybe some people called us MA-ho*es because of the way so many drive

sorry to vear so far off course with this thread, but there goes that driving thing again

 

[Ahab]

Ma*holes is the common term here. "Pilgrims" might have its issues, though, given that the Boston Puritans "incorporated" the Pilgrims pretty much the same way they devoured Maine. The Maine Indians, who mostly spoke French as a second language, called them Bostonnais, but perhaps a more widespread term these days is Baystaters--though you could make a case for Patriots, not just because of the football team but because this whole United States of America thing was pretty much a Massachusetts idea.

Wasn't quite around for the Puritan occupation, though in an ill-advised experimental urban occupation of my own, I managed to survive the late 1960s horrors of the Boss-Town Sound.

Now we're _seriously_ off-topic. But I also remember feeding the ducks in the Public Gardens, and vaguely wondering if taking one home for dinner would give us rural folk a bad name.