My Love Affair With Ducks...

[Mimi13]

This video is so funny to watch. As the ducklings have A Little Preening Time, poor Hershey tries so hard to stand on one foot and scratch high up on her neck with the other, but it isn’t quite that easy for her. She’s not bothered a bit though and takes over with that long neck to scratch the itch she wanted to get!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I hope she can’t be stung inside.

Nope, that bee died instantaneously when the bill closed. Crunch!
My ducks eat all kinds of nasty insects, the nastier the better the taste it seems. They love those mahogany wasps and those have a nasty sting.

 

[Mimi13]

This one is of a bunch of starving ducks. All of them Know There’s A Chip In There!

 

[Mimi13]

Nope, that bee died instantaneously when the bill closed. Crunch!
My ducks eat all kinds of nasty insects, the nastier the better the taste it seems. They love those mahogany wasps and those have a nasty sting.

I love the way that sounds, because I hate those old red wasps too. I don’t want them eating honey bees though. Maybe I need to rethink getting the bees, huh? I’d hate to tell DH that I believe our hive is dwindling down because of the ducks!

 

[Mimi13]

All day today I noticed the voice change in one of the ducklings. But tonight in the bathtub the strange sound was coming from two. Somebody’s Quacking and I believe it’s Latte and Peaches. Petey still peeps like a girl!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

This video started out at the drinking hole and ended up with a Little Duckie Chase with Hershey chasing Peaches and I have no clue why. Could have just been a moment of energy for both.

Their feathers are busting through the skin. I have observed that behavior with all my ducklings: Everybody is lying around, relaxed and sleepy - suddenly one squeaks, jumps up and runs around like being stung by a fire-ant. I was actually really concerned when my first ducklings did that in 2018, thought they'd be attacked by those large black ants we have here in WV, but nope: A short while later their yellow bellies turned into brown. At first i thought they're dirty. No dirt, lot's of fawn feathers.
It seems that the feathers sting a bit when they break through the skin. Your Duckies are entering puberty!

 

[Mimi13]

Their feathers are busting through the skin. I have observed that behavior with all my ducklings: Everybody is lying around, relaxed and sleepy - suddenly one squeaks, jumps up and runs around like being stung by a fire-ant. I was actually really concerned when my first ducklings did that in 2018, thought they'd be attacked by those large black ants we have here in WV, but nope: A short while later their yellow bellies turned into brown. At first i thought they're dirty. No dirt, lot's of fawn feathers.
It seems that the feathers sting a bit when they break through the skin. Your Duckies are entering puberty!

I know, their little emerging feathers remind me of what goose bumps look like on me.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I love the way that sounds, because I hate those old red wasps too. I don’t want them eating honey bees though. Maybe I need to rethink getting the bees, huh? I’d hate to tell DH that I believe our hive is dwindling down because of the ducks!

If i get bees, i must make sure the flight hole is too high for Blanca Duck to reach.
Otherwise she would push her bill in and turn on her internal vacuum-cleaner…
She, the third heaviest duck of my flock, jumps ½ foot in the air to snatch whatever is flying there. Earthquack jumps too and she is a really big girl. For all what the White Layers eat, they should be fat blobs, just lying in front of the feeder-TV, but motivated by the others they run around here all over the place and their legs are pure muscle. They can really kick!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I know, their little emerging feathers remind me of what goose bumps look like on me.

Exactly! I called them feather pimples…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

All day today I noticed the voice change in one of the ducklings. But tonight in the bathtub the strange sound was coming from two. Somebody’s Quacking and I believe it’s Latte and Peaches. Petey still peeps like a girl!

I bet a meal-worm that is Petey! - The White Layers here were the first to quax!
Peep Peep Peep Quax! Quax! ??
The look on their faces when instead if a "peep" a "quax" left the bill is priceless.
But wait when they discover that "Quax" sounds much louder and more demanding to you…