My Love Affair With Ducks...

[WannaBeHillBilly]

True story. I lost two ducks late summer and fall. Next spring a sunflower came out of each of their graves. I guess they ate the seeds before they died.

That made me actually tear up…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Wwwwweeellll! I need to make a video of my ducks demanding their supper. You could call that a protest, at least.…

And here is the video...

 

[Mimi13]

Uuum! - I wouldn't call it a wrench. It looks more like a danglin' corkscrew…
Wait until next summer when all of your girls go broody at the same time and you have a new generation of fluffballs playing around your feet. Your heart will melt like a piece of butter in the hot Alabama summer sun and you will gladly share a cigar with Ralphie!

Well I just don’t know about that now. I want duck eggs, not four broody ducks squabbling over eggs. Are the four breeds I got ones that go broody often? Please, please tell me NO!

 

[Mimi13]

I do hope you have only large xicken breeds that are able to defend themselves against a hormone overloaded young drake! - You may want to keep them separated until Ralphie has used up his initial boost of testosterone and calms down…

Good lord, is he gonna really be that much trouble? If so, I think I’ll head on up the interstate to your neck of the woods and give you yet another drake!

I do have all LF, but I have several new pullets that he probably could hurt. I do have two crazy a$$ Penedesencas that are very small, but are probably the meanest chickens on my property. I’m definite either of them would open up a can of whoop a$$ on poor old Ralphie. They’re pretty girls, but they are some crazy ones.

 

[Mimi13]

My three peepers and one honk had their first real bath today:

Momma Pinball took them out of the duck-house when they were just three days old and all they could do was a quick dip in the pool before the grown-ups evicted them. But today it was so hot here that all the grown-ups were too lazy to get up when i filled up the pool.

Those babies have gorgeous coloring. And a couple look like they have crests. What kind are they?

 

[duluthralphie]

Those babies have gorgeous coloring. And a couple look like they have crests. What kind are they?

Ralphies are never “trouble”. They are challenging to you only because you refuse to see the world the right way, which is their way...

Those duxlings are “ smelly Dux”. At first I thought they were “dam dux” or “dirty dux” but using my excellent dux eye I could see the “smelly dux” signs.

If you should need more help on dux identification just ask or enroll in one of my dux education and identification classes. We now offer a tuition payment plan of three easy payments of $97 a month every other month to make your education easier to afford.

We also offer a friends and family plan of 6 monthly payments of only $82!!

Sign up now before the classes are filled.

 

[Mimi13]

Ralphies are never “trouble”. They are challenging to you only because you refuse to see the world the right way, which is their way...

Those duxlings are “ smelly Dux”. At first I thought they were “dam dux” or “dirty dux” but using my excellent dux eye I could see the “smelly dux” signs.

If you should need more help on dux identification just ask or enroll in one of my dux education and identification classes. We now offer a tuition payment plan of three easy payments of $97 a month every other month to make your education easier to afford.

We also offer a friends and family plan of 6 monthly payments of only $82!!

Sign up now before the classes are filled.

Reading this just reminded me of the song Phoebe sang on “Friends,” Smelly Cat!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Those babies have gorgeous coloring. And a couple look like they have crests. What kind are they?

They are called »Barnyard Surprise Ducks« here, »Muttlings« or »Mutts« elsewhere.
I have no clue what went into them, as my ducks are sharing their nests, stealing eggs from other nests and are definitely not faithful! Possible mothers are:

• White Layer
• Black Swedish
• Buff Orpington (very unlikely)
• F&W Indian Runner (very unlikely)
• F&W Indian Runner and Buff Orpington mix

Possible fathers - that's the interesting part:

• F&W Indian Runner (very unlikely that Limpy did it)
• Buff Orpington
• F&W Indian Runner and Buff Orpington mix (Katharina's thugs)
• Barnyard surprise drakes #1 and 2: I am sure their mothers were the white layers, but i have no clue who fathered them. They are grey/white with some brown mixed in
• Barnyard surprise drake #2, aka Brownie: Again a White Layer most likely is the mother, but the color distribution resembles a wild drake with a dark head and brownish/black body plumage. And yes, we had wild mallard drakes visiting several of times, so it is entirely possible that one of them took the opportunity and …

I need to see their posture and how they run when they are fully grown up. I am not sure, but i believe i see some Runner in them, which would make a combination of White Layer and Thug-drake likely.
Anyways, you are right very interesting birds. One of them has a (now) yellow face with black freckles, if that pattern survives the mature molt he will have an awesome face…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Ralphies are never “trouble”. They are challenging to you only because you refuse to see the world the right way, which is their way...

Those duxlings are “ smelly Dux”. At first I thought they were “dam dux” or “dirty dux” but using my excellent dux eye I could see the “smelly dux” signs.

If you should need more help on dux identification just ask or enroll in one of my dux education and identification classes. We now offer a tuition payment plan of three easy payments of $97 a month every other month to make your education easier to afford.

We also offer a friends and family plan of 6 monthly payments of only $82!!

Sign up now before the classes are filled.

You are so right, @duluthralphie ! - Those ducknagers have a very special smell: They smell like a fresh cut meadow in the evening after a hot sunny summer day.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Reading this just reminded me of the song Phoebe sang on “Friends,” Smelly Cat!

Good grief! - What is that?!? - Is that a commercial for a kitty-shampoo?