Heya all -
Well, Duck Free Ranging day 1 - so far so good.
I let the ducks out this morning - well, the little girl went out happily on her own, little boy had to be put out. I think she is a little smarter than he is
I let them out after I let the chickens out - so the chickens were all out in the front yard, and saw them out and came running back to make acquaintances.
I was worried the chickens might see them as intruders, but nope, they were fascinated, and all of them stood around chatting, the chickens checked out the duck house, drank some duck water, ate some duck food, and then went off on their own. The ducks acted like the chickens were just part of the duck world, and they all blended pretty well.
Toby gave them a little start, but he was just happy to have another critter with wings, so he was behaving himself. I called him back by me, then took him over to introduce him to the ducks with ME there. He was very good about it. I'll still have to keep an eye on him for a few days to make sure he knows those are more of Mama's Chickens, and he can't "play" with them.
I put their house, water and food right outside the chicken run, so they know that is where to hang out. So far they haven't gotten too ambitious about exploring. Of course, with the nasty dead grass and frozen ground, there isn't much to explore.
I let Mr. Speckles and crew out into the run, so they can stretch their legs - they were getting nasty this morning, giving me major dirty looks when I went in to turn on their coop lights. They all seem to be more concerned with their stomachs than anything, and are trying to figure out how to get out to the duck water and duck food
Well, gonna go run and peek out at them again, make sure I can still see them. I doubt they'll go far - they stick pretty close to the water, it seems like.
meri
