Sunday, August 29, 2010

Duckling Week 5

Week 5 and I guess they should be called Ducks now instead of ducklings. These ducks are getting their adult feathers and their wings structure is beginning to show.

Today is a warm day so one of the duck is more adventurous and decided to take a dip and enjoy the water.


and lost its head maybe........


OH found it!



The ducks had been lazy all day....resting in the sun and in the shade...



grooming themselves....

and doing stretching exercises.....


5 weeks old and they are still very timid. Each time they see us 200m away, they will start squeaking and oh yes, one of them start quacking at us too. They will push themselves and each other into a corner and behave like ducks that had gone mental! Don't think these ducks are driven by food because lettuce doesn't make them any more tamed.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Duckling Week 4

Week 4 and these ducklings are getting big. I can see their adult feathers growing. Their legs and wings are getting bigger and they are still very timid. We've got 6 now after giving 6 to Craig's mum last week.

There was rain last night and this morning, the duck pen is wet and muddy. I'm sure the ducklings will love the wet mud but i'm concerned about hygiene. So I've decide to give their pen a little revamp. I filled the sand ground with straws and place weeds (sponsored by Sandy yesterday )above the straw. Filled up a tub with water and added some bricks as little steps for the ducklings to get in. Replace their water container with a heavy mixer bowl so they can have more space in the pen. It's also to see if this might be cleaner option. Sit their food container  on 2 bricks so stop them from spilling food everywhere. This is later confirmed a failed attempt.:(



The ducklings decided to come out of their "bed" and I think they are quite surprise and happy with the greens. They started eating the weeds and soon figured it's not as easy as they think. It looks like they are drooling weeds. In an attempt to bond with them, I sat beside them reading for some time. They seem calm but decided not to do anything else but rest. Seems like they like their grass bedding and sunlight alot because they pretty much just lay there the bulk of their day.


and the occasional stretches....



and grooming..


I also chopped up some tomatoes for them and they (or some) seem to like it. It's meant to be good for them.


The chooks sure know where to get a bird's eye view of the ducklings ;)

Sunday, August 08, 2010

Duckling Big Day Out & Chooks Big Day In

The ducklings are on the way to destroy their lovely paper home with their messy eating and drinking. So Craig had decided out they go. There a little bit of poultry movement required. We had to move all the younger chooks into the pen and move the ducklings into the coop.

so in went the chooks, ready to brave Feisty, Timid and Sickie(not so timid and sick anymore.....we have renamed them to Nasty Pasty 1 and 2 ). They will have to learn to share the food, water and sleep together in the new home Craig had built.



And in went the ducklings! they seem to love the open air and sunlight. I have them a small bath and yes, messy as usual. Some ducklings were eventually falling into the bath and having a mini splash.





drinking from their bath

oh, did I mentioned we have 12 ducklings???


and only one brave one to start using the bath??



 Overall, They seems happy with their new home :)

Friday, August 06, 2010

Ducklings Week 2

These ducks are growing at a speedy rate.

Week 1 Pictures


Youngest duckling joining the rest on 29/7 (we had to wait for it to be able to walk on its own)




the rest of the 11 ducklings enjoying their warm under the heat lamp


they love their wet mushy food


Week 2 : Look how much they have grown!!!





when ducklings sleep, they stretch out their tiny legs onto each other.