My Love Affair With Ducks...

[Mimi13]

Nice job on the funeral.

MK did well. I noticed the SS picked out the good bugs before he filled the grave...

And I have a new post for “you might be a Southie”..

Thank you much.

Yes, dang Gabby is always around if there’s a possibility of food! Always!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I think @duluthralphie wants all of us southies to think we have somekind of plague if from the south. Lets fight back AGAINST that. It's FAKE NEWS, Nothing at tall with being old and southern.

 

[duluthralphie]

I think @duluthralphie wants all of us southies to think we have somekind of plague if from the south. Lets fight back AGAINST that. It's FAKE NEWS, Nothing at tall with being old and southern.

Well, I didn’t ask you to move to a leper’s colony.

How can you fight back against something that just is?

It could be worser, what if you were a VWNer like @BantyChooks ?

 

[Mimi13]

I think @duluthralphie wants all of us southies to think we have somekind of plague if from the south. Lets fight back AGAINST that. It's FAKE NEWS, Nothing at tall with being old and southern.

Oh yeah, I know. I pay him no mind, the old dux and southie hater!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I forgot to tell how sweet your little grandson was having that funeral. I bet he’s is enjoying those babie ❤

 

[Mimi13]

I forgot to tell how sweet your little grandson was having that funeral. I bet he’s is enjoying those babie ❤

Thank you, Miss Lydia! Yes he loves them. He keeps telling me, “Mimi, I’m glad we got ducks. I love them!” Over and over!

He has always helped me with the chickens too. He is my shadow! I’m thankful grandchildren are different than children. I have really mellowed a lot in my later years and have allowed him to do so much more than I ever would have my own two boys. But that’s a good thing!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

You know HillBilly, I’ve always been a person who saw things with her mind instead of her heart and I’ve been given grief over that my whole life, but it didn’t change me. It is who I is!

I was very proud of my sidekick yesterday. I let his mom and dad know what had happened and that I would wait on him before I did anything. It wasn’t long before he and his dad came riding over on the mule. (They live on the next farm over. I can barely see their house in the winter when the leaves are gone and can’t see it at all in the summer. It is a walkable distance though.)

Before he saw her he had a lot of questions. I could tell his serious hat was on too. Even though he has a small speech impediment making him sound younger, he can hang with a grownup conversation pretty well. I mean, he is an only child who does live around four adults. Oh, and his hand gestures while talking are priceless. Here is what some of our initial conversation sounded like:

He came to me sitting in the yard with the ducks.
We call him MK, his initials, a lot.

MK: Where is the duck? Can we go see her now?
Me: Yes, she’s inside. Let’s get the little ones back in first.
MK: Is she okay?
Me: No honey, remember she died.
MK: Yes I know, but is there blood?
Me: No, there’s no blood at all. She just went to sleep.
MK: Okay, good, good. That’s good! (Stern face, nodding his head, and gesturing his hands.) Does she have legs?
Me: Yes she still has legs. She’s just laying there sleeping.
MK: Are her eyes open?
Me: Well, one is closed and the other one is almost closed.
MK: Where is she? (We are walking back inside.)
Me: She is laying in the box that the ducklings were shipped in.
MK: Oh, okay.

We got the babies back in their pool and then I got the box and we went to sit down. I got her out. (For whatever reason she was in an outstretched position. This may just happen in death IDK.)

He touched her body and feet and asked if he could touch her eye and I said yes. We then went to the “Christmas closet” to find a little box and some tissue paper. We got her all ready and he wanted to carry her. He grabbed his little green, TSC shovel and away we went. I dug the hole and he put the box down in it. (Anytime I grab a shovel the chickens are right behind me and in the way.
View attachment 2076096

Here we are telling her goodbye with onlookers making sure we aren’t burying some good food.
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Now here is the part I was most proud of. Generally I do not post anything with me talking in it. I’m old and I’m southern! Need I say more?

His determination to see this through was priceless!

Hi @Mimi13 your sidekick, MK did absolutely great!
And he learned the vital lesson for his life, that all creature's lifes do end sooner or later and that we are all part of the cycle of life. There is a time for grief (there should always be a time for that!) but life continues and so do our duties. We have to say good-bye but we should never give up, even if it is one of the hardest things to leave a sweet little animal baby behind. It always stings me, but the other animals are still there and are your responsibility…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Thank you much.

Yes, dang Gabby is always around if there’s a possibility of food! Always!

I had 20 seed potatoes left over and decided to build a make-shift raised bed out of three pieces of scrap-wood into the hill-site, filled it up with not yet fully rotten compost and top-soil. Dumped the first wheelbarrow of compost in and was surrounded by 28 ducks: »Are you done raking humon? Work faster! We want to drill holes! Just step away…«
Back at the compost pile, loading a second batch into the wheelbarrow when a line of 28 ducks was approaching: »Not done yet? Shovel faster, humon! - That's enough, step aside!«
Another round of compost was hauled, raked and checked out for edibles.
Then i dug some holes and placed the taters in, followed by the duckies who thought we're playing treat hide'n seek…
Finally two bags of top-soil with the intention to create two elevated rows on top of the two rows of potatoes. 28 little bulldozer's later…
I guess i will fill up around the potato plants as they grow taller…

 

[Mimi13]

I had 20 seed potatoes left over and decided to build a make-shift raised bed out of three pieces of scrap-wood into the hill-site, filled it up with not yet fully rotten compost and top-soil. Dumped the first wheelbarrow of compost in and was surrounded by 28 ducks: »Are you done raking humon? Work faster! We want to drill holes! Just step away…«
Back at the compost pile, loading a second batch into the wheelbarrow when a line of 28 ducks was approaching: »Not done yet? Shovel faster, humon! - That's enough, step aside!«
Another round of compost was hauled, raked and checked out for edibles.
Then i dug some holes and placed the taters in, followed by the duckies who thought we're playing treat hide'n seek…
Finally two bags of top-soil with the intention to create two elevated rows on top of the two rows of potatoes. 28 little bulldozer's later…
I guess i will fill up around the potato plants as they grow taller…

I can already tell that ducks are gonna be a little bit ‘pushier’ than chickens, not that the chickens aren’t headstrong, it’s just that the ducks appear to be living and breathing (oh, and pooping) bulldozers.

 

[Mimi13]

Alrighty! I need clarification of duckie word definitions please.

I have noticed several behaviors that ducks do that are specific to them. (I’m just comparing them to chickens since that’s all I know about. Other water fowl may act the same, I’m sure they do, just didn’t want anyone to think I meant ‘ducks only’ in my last statement.)

Dabbler/Dabbling

Noodle/Noodling


There’s another word that I thought about, but my CRS just kicked in!

Why do ducks tend to be like tiny vibrators? What is it exactly that they’re doing? They are constantly making something ‘chatter,’ whether it be the waterer, or the bottom of the pool brooder when they are searching for grit or whatever underneath the shavings. They also like to vibrate their beaks in between my fingers and such. Maybe that is called ‘noodling.’

I’m just curious about their behavior, first and foremost, and also need to learn the correct terminology so I don’t sound like a complete dumba$$ when talking all things “DUCK.”

Any vocabulary help is appreciated, as is everything else I need to know about ducks that might not be printed in a book or online article.

Case in point! I never knew ducks were poop shooters! These turds on the wall are what I woke up to this morning.