The girls are now used to spending their days outdoors. They spent the past week getting used to their run and receiving visitors. Esperanza, grandma and grandpa Shimo, and gung-gung D were introduced to the incredible cuteness of the ducks in their tub. Here's a taste...
We're slowly working towards leaving the girls out full time now. This little swimming tub will hopefully make the transition outdoors a little more palatable. They were pretty awkward at first, but they soon took to it like ducks to... well you know.
We've now had the girls for about a week. They're eating out of my hand comfortably and we're slowly acclimating them to the great outdoors. They've definitely grown since they first arrived and are now preening themselves regularly.
Another big day for the girls. This morning I chopped up a bunch of grubs I found in the compost pile and mixed it in with some of their starter meal. Later in the afternoon we took them for their first foray outdoors. They're not quite eating out of our hands yet, but we're working on it.
After five short days the ducks have already outgrown their original brooder. I doubled the amount of space they have as they continue their rapid growth and development. Any duck or fowl raised commercially would be stuck in a cage with barely a square inch to themselves, but ours are meant for better things.
I've been frequently asked, "Why ducks?".
Raising our own birds will enable us to do three things. First, we'll use the poop from the birds as a nitrogen source to heat up our compost pile. Second, Khaki Campbells are known to be prolific egg layers. Finally, the girls have already shown the killer instinct by devouring an invading earwig. Hopefully they'll be just as adept at eating slugs and snails. In general raising these birds should allow us to lower our carbon footprint a little bit more. They provide us with food and fuel while we provide them a healthy, humane existence away from life in an insanely small cage.
I realize now why most sites I've seen on ducks/chicks are weighted with more posts while they're young and trail off as they get older. Already these three seem to be growing out of the brooder we've set up. We're planning to move them to a larger enclosure this weekend.
We've gotten lots of wonderful suggestions for names, but an epiphany dropped into my lap yesterday as I was requesting a copy of the Walt Disney masterpiece Sleeping Beauty from a friend. The three fairy godmothers in that film are Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. We're not quite sure who's who yet, but you can be pretty sure that the smallest and pluckiest will be Merryweather.
This clip pretty much represents their routine so far. Eat, drink, eat, drink, poop, drink, eat, drink, sleep, eat, drink, etc.
Well, 3 girls to be exact. The post office called bright and early at 7am to let us know that our Khaki Campbell ducklings had arrived. They took very quickly to drinking water and nibbling food. They're still a little skittish but will calm if held gently and petted. I didn't take measurements, but I'd swear they'd already gotten bigger by the time I came home.
Another big day for the girls. This morning I chopped up a bunch of grubs I found in the compost pile and mixed it in with some of their starter meal. Later in the afternoon we took them for their first foray outdoors. They're not quite eating out of our hands yet, but we're working on it.
After five short days the ducks have already outgrown their original brooder. I doubled the amount of space they have as they continue their rapid growth and development. Any duck or fowl raised commercially would be stuck in a cage with barely a square inch to themselves, but ours are meant for better things.
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