Finally - Eleven Grown-up Ducks (Runners)

[Amiga]

With the primary infrastructure finally in place (I earned the Slowest Carpenter award for 2010), we actually made time to produce a couple of videos.

For those of you on the go, the short version:

For those who, like me, either love ducks or like watching paint dry, there is:

 

[katharinad]

Wow, they are hyper and noisy. My Saxonies are totally quiet and laid back in comparison.

 

[Amiga]

Hmmm, I think of them as chipper and chatty. They are nowhere near as noisy as the neighbors' weed whackers, hound dog, howling Rottweiller, kids, minibike . . . Their volume doesn't seem that high - just a steady chatter.

 

[love_a_duck]

I watched the long version, I loved how they all stopped and quieted down for the water.
Thank you for sharing this Amiga.
It was much more entertaining that paint drying.

 

[duckluv]

Cute!

 

[Hattiegun]

ohhhh AMIGA....I also watched the long version TWICE... with a B I G smile on my face the whole time.... awwwww yes ducks are always sooo busy... I luv your place.. looks way awesome for your ducks.. thanks for sharing... I luv reading all the input u give this forum and now its great to see all your babies we know and luv....

 

[Amiga]

Glad you enjoyed it! Several people have asked me to videotape them, so I finally have something to offer. I could watch them all day. While they are out in the temporary fence area (which is where the video was made), I do watch them constantly. They generally let themselves back in after about an hour of foraging. My plan is to make some other garden areas available to them. Ideally, I will remove things that may harm them before they go in (avoiding hardware disease). I know it is difficult to impossible to protect them from everything, but I am going to try to minimize risk to their well-being.

I have found that a cow magnet in a small plastic bag, dragged by a long string helps pick up many ferrous objects. The plastic and aluminum stuff is much more difficult to find and cull out.

 

[Sweetfolly]

Multiply the number of ducks and the amount of chatter by FOUR, and that could practically be MY yard!

Cute video Amiga! It made me smile.

 

[katharinad]

We are also very careful when we remove nails, screws or staples. We make sure they call get put into a trash bucket so they don't fall on the ground. They sell a magnetic sweeper bar at home depot. That one works really well. We use it when we drop something and cannot find it. The bar gets it every time. We also used it when we had a construction worker on site. He was careful, but the pneumatic machines sometimes fire out a nail or staple and you cannot find it. We have used that bar so often that I think everyone should have on. My husband one dropped a box of nails onto the shop floor. It was a breeze to pick them up with out getting the dirt off the floor. Don't get me wrong we do sweep the shop, but it just builds up fast. We leave the door open all the time and the daily afternoon wind just brings in the dirt in no time.

 

[LizGled628]

I loved the videos, both of them! I'm thinking of getting runners next spring, they seem like a terrific duck

Where in Southern New England are you? I'm in RI and I would love to connect with someone who keeps ducks, as no one I know around here has any!