9 Months old and Fabulous!

The ducks are 9 months old now and laying up a storm. The have their own "Duck Area" complete with 2 pools, a duck house and a fenced enclosure. They get free-ranging time too. We are going to be moving to kentucky the end of March so only 9 ducks will make the trip. 2 Golden Welsh Harlequins will be rehomed with their duck house before the move. So, much work ahead following much work getting their area all fixed up. But, Kentucky here we come.

Here are some pictures of their Duck Area and house:

Part of their fenced enclosure with plenty of trees and shade

Interior of duck house with removable dividers for breeding. It is 6' x 8' and very sturdy.

Another portion of their fenced enclosure

Two duckie doors/breeding sections

Duckie house before remodeling and modifications. All of the treed area in the left of the picture is fenced, requiring almost 200' of fencing.

Playing in their small pool

Having fun

Ms Sasha, My Lavender Ancona

The rainy season
The rainy season

So, the ducks will be in 4' x 4' transport cages and our hope is to drive it straight through, taking turns, so door to door in 36 hours roughly. Then they have a nice stall in the barn to hang out in and 5 acres to roam on while we secure their living area.

Twelve Weeks Old and Fabulous!

The ducklings are doing fabulously. They had their first experience with people food. They had some leftover spaghetti with meat sauce and roasted tomatoes. Oh my goodness what a mess they made. They loved it and wanted more. I did not give in to them and shoved spinach leaves at them to finish off their bedtime snack. They are all Brats! Pigs with feathers that I expect to hear 'oinking' at anytime. But I love em!

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The rain has stopped duck house work but I have gotten the house leveled, cleaned out and ready to do painting and framing for the windows to go in. The gang does not mind being in the tractor and kiddie pool during the day and sleeping in their bid pool in the garage. It is secure for them and they have plenty of room. Not to mention the spoiled kids getting their free-range time in the late afternoons with me and all sorts of greens to munch on. They will be very happy in their new duck house when it is done, I am sure. I purchased some small touch LED lights to mount inside the duck house so I can see in there at night. I will probably leave one of them on all night for them util next Spring...maybe longer. The light is small and unobstrusive so it should not bother them. They do great with their 25watt light on at night now. They settle down easily and sleep well.

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So, off to check on them as it is sprinkling outside and they are loving that....I just want to check the weather and see if I need to give them a tarp for cover anytime soon. I just could not stand the thought of leaving them locked up during the day because of a little rain...if it gets bad, I will bring them in.

More later...

The babies are 11 weeks old

They get their bedtime snack each evening before going to bed in the brooder for the night. Their favorites are spinach leaves and tomatoes. They are spending their days in the chicken tractor with a small kiddie pool and they sleep in the garage in a large pool. Meanwhile, work continues on the duckie house.
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I purchased 2 older windows for the duckie house and am getting ready to install them, ventilation must be cut, interior painting and their sections constructed before they can move in. I also bought a heavy duty pond liner to put on the floor to protect it from moisture as the flooring is all OSB. Work continues but the duckies are happy with the current arrangements.
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Odd pics of the babies from the last 2 weeks:

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Being Nosey

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Wanting more Spinach

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Getting hosed

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Enjoying hose time

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They grow so fast and I love em too pieces.

New things happening

They are 9 weeks old and I am still running a week behind in my posting...today they turn 9 weeks old and wow at the changes. The pictures are from the 8 week old stage.

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My male Golden Welsh Harlequins are getting a little mouthy with each other. It appears as though they are establishing a pecking order per se. It has not escalated to any fighting but there are some bill to bill tussles going on.

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I did pick up one window for the duck house today and still need to find another small one to install. The pond liner for the floor arrived and now I can get busy with the painting and separation divider building. It is going to be fun transforming the black shed into a adorable duck house. It is also going to be work so I am not kidding myself with that one. the ducks themselves are getting nosey and trying to investigate everything and explore everywhere in the free range time. They have now found that those steps take them up onto the deck.

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Duck Growth at 7 weeks old

Draccus

They have just turned 8 weeks old and I am running a week behind in my blogging...got to catch up. They are growing at an unbelievable rate. Chickens grow fast but ducks really zoom. Each day they have grown more, changed and look more adult like. They are each different and distinct from each other in either appearance or personality.

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Each morning they trek from the brooder in the garage outside to their tractor and pool. They are a hoot to watch and I love the sound of their feet on the concrete when they get running to go outside. LOL

They spend the day in a huge tractor with a pool and sheets over it for shade. Their duck complex is in the works and I hope to have them moved into it in about one - two weeks.

Each evening before "Night Night" time they get to free range around the yard and get snacks from me. Their favorite snacks so far are spinach leaves, fozen peas and fresh tomatoes. They know now when I say "night night time", they have to head for the garage. They are so so smart.

They have also acquired a taste for the roses along the deck. That is fine with me as I am not a rose bush fan anyway. LOL

I will update soon with pictures of the duck house. I purchased a 6' x 8' nicely built shed from a gentleman here in town. I must now modify it for the addition of two small windows, ventilation and three sections. One section for my GWH and one section for the Anconas. the remaining section will be to store their food and such. I have already bought them a fan and they have a heat lamp so they are set in that area. I have two smaller coops ordered that are self contained with their own run so once they are all here, I will separate the groups down again. There will be one bachelor pad for my three extra drakes, 1 for a pair of ancona, one section of the large shed for a trio of ancona and the other section for a trio of GWH. Then there is also the consideration of building them a pond and using the kiddie pools so each group has their own pool.

Whew...work ahead but it is so worth it. I love my ducks.

6 weeks old and Awesome!

Wow do they change in a week. What a week it has been. Onyx, our Ancona Drake that we assumed was the standard black and white has been changing every day. First came this beautiful rust/copper color on his breast area and this week, a beautiful teal color is appearing on his face, head and back end. So...it looks like Onyx will be a tri-color which is thrilling as he is going to be paired up with my silver ancona duck, Sasha.

He will be paired up with Sasha. She is what i believe to be a silver ancona. Yay.

Then my three chocolate anconas will become a trio.

There is Mounds, a female

Hershey, also a female

KitKat, the drake

I will have a trio of Golden Welsh Harlequins, Draccus, the Drake

A female, Nibblets

The second female, Lilly

I also have three Golden Welsh Harlequin drakes that will be in a bachelor pad until I find them good homes or until I get more females.


Their favorite green is Spinach Leaves....oh my they go nuts for it.

So, the adventure continues. I am building the duck house and have a smaller coop coming for the bachelors so I will post pics of that as I go too.

They are 5 weeks old + and amazing

There is never a dull moment around here with the duck crew of 11. As you can see above, Onyx was having fun playing in the pool. They are a hoot! Each one has a different personality and is unique in his/her own way.

So far it looks like we have 6 drakes and 5 females. Well 5 are clearly quacking and 6 are not. My Golden Welsh Harlequins have very distinct looks too. The two that are quacking are a rusty beautiful brown breast area, the other 4 are splotchy and have dark heads and are not quacking. So time will tell for sure but I love em all anyway.

Here are some pics of my favorite harlequin drake...he loves the hose and being nosey. He has to check out everything I am doing or have.

All 11 of them in their play pool. They have a much larger one which they are sleeping in at night in the garage while their duck house is being built.

Kitkat refusing to use the steps, silly duck

Sasha being too lazy to get out of the pool

Nibblets

Hershey

Mounds

Sasha and Onyx headless

Water Play

Then of course we must groom afterwards

It looks like I will be looking for females for my 3 extra drake harlequins because I just do not have the heart to butcher the extras. I bought them as pets and love them as pets...so pets they will stay. If I need to rehome them I will do that or make them a bachelor pad of their own, which is the current plan.

More updates on the crew later because something is always happening with these guys.