My Golden Cascade Ducks

[Krazyquilts]

They really climb into your heart with those webbed little feet of theirs, don't they?

 

[Krazyquilts]

Yesterday, Henry got to hang out with the girls unsupervised all day. I peeked in on them quite often and everything went so well that we decided to let Henry sleep in the big duck house with the girls! Everyone seemed perfectly happy when I let them out this morning and Henry hasn't had any trouble going up and down the ramp, though he hasn't learned the "sliding down the ramp" trick from them yet.

He ate a tiny bit of lettuce this morning but he didn't think that the minced red peppers were food. The girls didn't care - more for them! He has even been eating a bit of his new feed, though not with vigorous enthusiasm that the girls eat their feed with; maybe the girls just need more energy than he does since 4 out of 5 of them are laying an egg a day while Henry just has to take baths and look pretty?

And speaking of baths, here's a video of Henry taking his morning bath:

[VIDEO]

And right after I hit the end button, one of the Buffs was nosing around the top of the "duck cave" (aka a wicker coffee table) and pulled down the tin foil that had been on their treats bowl, and Henry just EXPLODED out of the water like he'd been shot! And course since I was only about three feet away from the pool, I got a duck-water shower. Poor Henry! I hope living with all these girly troublemakers won't be too much for him.

 

[LeiaLayers5]

They really climb into your heart with those webbed little feet of theirs, don't they?

Yeah, crazy how you do not realize how much until you lose them.

 

[Krazyquilts]

That's why I didn't name of my girls. They were called Big Welshie and Little Welshie, etc. And even knowing that Little Welshie had too many problems to make it through the winter didn't make it any easier when she did die.

I wasn't really planning on naming Henry, either. He was just going to be "Drake," especially since he's our only drake at the moment. But then "Henry" just popped into my mind. It felt right.

My girls do have names because the neighbor named them. I can't really tell the ones of the same breed apart, but she can! The ducks call her "Treat Lady." I swear she must buy lettuce specially for the ducks because there is no way any household can eat that much salad! She will even put the ducks to bed if we aren't going to get home in time.

 

[MagpieDucks]

That's why I didn't name of my girls. They were called Big Welshie and Little Welshie, etc. And even knowing that Little Welshie had too many problems to make it through the winter didn't make it any easier when she did die.

I wasn't really planning on naming Henry, either. He was just going to be "Drake," especially since he's our only drake at the moment. But then "Henry" just popped into my mind. It felt right.

My girls do have names because the neighbor named them. I can't really tell the ones of the same breed apart, but she can! The ducks call her "Treat Lady." I swear she must buy lettuce specially for the ducks because there is no way any household can eat that much salad! She will even put the ducks to bed if we aren't going to get home in time.

Wow! Nice neighbors!

 

[Krazyquilts]

They really are! They are the only thing I'm going to miss when when we move to our farm.

 

[Krazyquilts]

Henry is now fully integrated into the flock! He sleeps with the girls in the "big" duck house, spends all day with them, and has even switched over to eating their feed all by himself!

[VIDEO]

Whatever the girls do, Henry does too. Right down to their favorite activity - eating mud.

 

[MagpieDucks]

Did you mention once that you were getting a couple GC females?

 

[Krazyquilts]

Henry was shipped with a female but unfortunately she died. Just to be on the safe side, I had her autopsied and the results were inconclusive - sometimes it's just too stressful for adult ducks to be shipped, you know? Especially since she was also laying. So, the Holderread's are going to sending a replacement female, but the Holderread's and I have decided to wait until fall to ship her because now that their ducks have started laying, we are all concerned about it being too much stress on their systems. I keep hoping really hard that maybe we'll be on our farm by then and I could order additional adults.

And technically, Henry was the only duck I really needed because without him, there won't be any ducklings.

 

[Krazyquilts]

I've been so busy lately that I haven't really gotten any new photos or videos of Henry specifically - lots of the whole flock though, since like most of us, I am a little bit duck obsesses.

Henry is just such a good boy. A perfect fit for my girls!

But here is a video of the flock enjoying their new pool. Right before I took the video, Welshie and the Buffs were having a "threesome" with Henry preening off by himself. Preening!!! For the sake of increasing the flock, I do hope he figures out that joining the girls might be more fun than making himself pretty ...



[VIDEO]