My Love Affair With Ducks...

[duluthralphie]

yep that's a Ralphie dux alright. He thinks he owns the place.

Ralphie dux do own the place!

 

[Mimi13]

yep that's a Ralphie dux alright. He thinks he owns the place.

I’ll be dang if you aren’t right. He runs (as in controls) everything, and I mean everything! He has my poor chickens running for their lives. And he doesn’t stop once they are a good distance from where he started the chase. He runs them just for the heck of it. They don’t have to be bothering the ducks or even in their way. He runs them just because he can. Luckily he hasn’t started running the poor dogs yet. Although I did see him do a ‘head lunge with open bill’ once as my 13 year old, deaf Catahoula walked by him. It was quite comical. It was like an after-the-fact sort of move.

Ralphie Dux saying for today:

“Dux Rule, Chickens Drool!”​

 

[Mimi13]

Ralphie dux do own the place!

He certainly thinks that way. You’ve sent him some bad mojo this way Ralphie! Shame on you...and your namesake!

 

[Mimi13]

yep that's a Ralphie dux alright. He thinks he owns the place.

I went back and looked at the picture and he does look like an evil ruler standing over his subjects!

 

[HalfWayUpAMountain]

I’ll be dang if you aren’t right. He runs (as in controls) everything, and I mean everything! He has my poor chickens running for their lives. And he doesn’t stop once they are a good distance from where he started the chase. He runs them just for the heck of it. They don’t have to be bothering the ducks or even in their way. He runs them just because he can. Luckily he hasn’t started running the poor dogs yet. Although I did see him do a ‘head lunge with open bill’ once as my 13 year old, deaf Catahoula walked by him. It was quite comical. It was like an after-the-fact sort of move.

Ralphie Dux saying for today:

“Dux Rule, Chickens Drool!”​

Preach !

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

@WannaBeHillBilly, you said Nona Duck is the smartest duck in your flock. I don’t think I’ve got any duck that is smart. They all just seem so ho-hum and duh-ta-duh! And yesterday, dingbat Ralphie Duck (I feel the need to put “Duck” following Ralphie when I’m talking about how dumb or dingy my duck is. I don’t want @duluthralphie to think I’m speaking of him. ) felt the need to mate while on my deck. All other times, that I’ve seen, he has mated in water. He proceeded with his business and then fell to the side of Quinny and, ker-plunk, hit the deck. It had to have hurt, but he jumped up and ran around shaking things back into place. I don’t see how a drake can keep his little corkscrew from being injured. My deck is old and a splinter could be dangerous.

Sorry for the delayed answer @Mimi13 this week was a single catastrophe: My 16 year old car died from a fatal engine-failure (timing-belt), one of my computers here at home joined in, almost causing a fire and the latest backup of that machine was 14 days old! Spent the whole week looking for a cheap new old car only to find out that there are very few cheap used cars available around here.

If you have a splintered deck paint it in deck-restoration paint! - Not for the safety of Ralphie's genitals, but for the safety of your feet! In 2018 i had a splinter in my left foot from the open deck that needed to be removed surgically! It was almost a mile long, thick as an oil-pipeline and had a hook.

It will take a while before your ducks will show their smartness, or before you will notice it. At the moment they are all busy with exploring duck-burgers and a corkscrew, during the winter they will show a much more mature behavior. - Btw: Don't heat the duck-house in winter! Ducks have built-in down jackets. If the weather permits, let the air circulate freely to reduce moisture inside, just keep the ducks out of the draft. Ducks release a lot of moisture which likes to condense, for example on metal-roof sheets and then drip down. Only a dry duck is a warm duck!

I usually use the last-name "duck" or "drake" for my duckies too, otherwise sentences like »Katharina latched on to my ear and scratched my whole back bloody« would sound really awkward! Not to mention that »Blanca nibbled at my finger«…
Insulting @duluthralphie ?! - Isn't he asking for that??

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

How neat. You need to post some pictures!

X2 !!!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Ralphie was actually perched on the edge of that pool. I guess he was deciding which girl he’d sweet talk! View attachment 2309537

That is the typical drake-watchtower pose! - The girls have fun and he is watching out for any dangers. When my ducks are in the pool, usually a couple of drakes are standing guard around the pool area, securing in all directions. That's why you should have (at least) one drake in your flock.

 

[Mimi13]

Sorry for the delayed answer @Mimi13 this week was a single catastrophe: My 16 year old car died from a fatal engine-failure (timing-belt), one of my computers here at home joined in, almost causing a fire and the latest backup of that machine was 14 days old! Spent the whole week looking for a cheap new old car only to find out that there are very few cheap used cars available around here.

If you have a splintered deck paint it in deck-restoration paint! - Not for the safety of Ralphie's genitals, but for the safety of your feet! In 2018 i had a splinter in my left foot from the open deck that needed to be removed surgically! It was almost a mile long, thick as an oil-pipeline and had a hook.

It will take a while before your ducks will show their smartness, or before you will notice it. At the moment they are all busy with exploring duck-burgers and a corkscrew, during the winter they will show a much more mature behavior. - Btw: Don't heat the duck-house in winter! Ducks have built-in down jackets. If the weather permits, let the air circulate freely to reduce moisture inside, just keep the ducks out of the draft. Ducks release a lot of moisture which likes to condense, for example on metal-roof sheets and then drip down. Only a dry duck is a warm duck!

I usually use the last-name "duck" or "drake" for my duckies too, otherwise sentences like »Katharina latched on to my ear and scratched my whole back bloody« would sound really awkward! Not to mention that »Blanca nibbled at my finger«…
Insulting @duluthralphie ?! - Isn't he asking for that??

I am so sorry for the death of your car. My DH and I will be in that boat soon. I currently drive an old 2001 F150 that is nearing 300K miles and he is driving a 2007 Jeep Commander that is OVER 300K miles. Our time's coming and I don't look forward to it. That part of your post gets a , but the rest of it gets a big old . It's all hilarious!

Unfortunately, paint isn't gonna help my poor old deck. It is so old we are replacing one board at a time. It's too big to fix all of it at once. I mean, I do still want money for my feathered menagerie!

You mention exploring duck burgers which reminds me that Petey and Peaches' neck feathers are thinning and it isn't from Ralphie Dux, it is from each other. If the girls keep on, their necks are gonna be bare!

The chicken coop I split and made a portion of it a duck house I wrap it and my chicken run with plastic in the winter. I do leave adequate space at the top for ventilation on the south and east sides, but I have to wrap it decently on the north and west sides because of the cold winter winds. Even though our winter weather is very mild, all of my poultry houses sit up on the hill, so when it is cold the wind chill can be brutal!

Just make sure your DW knows all the names of your ducks so she doesn't overhear you saying what so and so did and think you're stepping out on her! That could be disastrous!

And YES, @duluthralphie is asking for it!

 

[shawluvsbirds]

My cayuga ducks necks are bare. And it's not all the Drakes fault.
J just this morning I heard a commotion and witnessed a triple duck burger going on while the drake stood on the sidelines.