Home from work, settling in, finished off three dozen eggs so far for the school project. Really hope everyone else will be able to fill in the rest that I need for it.
In the meantime I've taken a step backwards with it, AND got a big surprise in the way of a BROODY SUMATRA!!! McMurray Hatchery listed them as "not at all likely"
to sit on eggs, and other sources have said the same. But sure enough this one is ready to attack the moment I reach my hand in, and she's spent two consecutive nights on the nest!
Only problem is, I don't want more Sumatra babies right now. And I'm gathering eggs for the school project, too. But hopefully soon after that is done, I'll shove some eggs under her - probably a combination of silkies, frizzles, and easter eggers.
And we also lost a duck today, thanks to... unsupervision. Yeah I made that word up, but it fits.
My sister had all of the ducklings and goslings out in the pool for a swim. She ran inside to the bathroom, during which time they all decided to climb the board to get out of the pool and jump off the chair onto the ground (the board is held up in a ramp fashion by an iron patio chair). But two of them got injured on the way down - one gosling and one duckling. I'm not sure how. I was on my way home when she called me about it, but it sounded like they both got neck injuries. She brought the two inside, because they would not/could not hold their heads up. After a few minutes of rubbing their necks, the goose suddenly popped a ligament or something and held her own head up after that. She was wobbly for a few minutes, but eventually started to act like a goose again. The duckling didn't make it. It died while she was holding him.
I still have no idea what happened. And the duckling that did pass away was probably a female, because it was slightly smaller. But whatever it was, we lost a duck, and almost lost a sebastopol goose.