THE DUCKS! 

Meet "LaFawnda, Shaniqua, and Tyrone!"

These 2 lovely ladies and handsome boy came from our new friends out in Norridgewock at "Wagging Tails Farm."  They love lounging in the sun, grubbing for bugs, and of course splashing in their pool!  They are a joy to watch and we are so grateful to Mike and Jeff for letting us care for them!

(Click on any picture to enlarge it!)

June 11, 2009 - The only animals happy to see all this rain:

April 19, 2009 - Happy Easter!  The pond has thawed and the ducks LOVE IT!  Being so close to the house and barn, this is an especially nice feature and quite safe, as we have (so far!) never had any predators venture this close to bother any of our animals.  These little guys are a joy to watch and listen to!  Lawfawnda has been relegated to egg incubating duties and she hasn't left that nest for about 2 weeks now.  She gets very upset with me when I unroll the hay she's decided to build her next nest to, and she hisses at me and fans out her tail feathers in an attempt to look all scary.  Yes, oh my, she's terrifying.  ;-)

March 17, 2009 - Here's the nest the 2 female ducks started and then our chicken, Sarah, added to and helps to keep warm and guard!  It's hidden behind one of the round bales in the safety of the barn.  When they aren't sitting on it, they cover it with hay to keep it warm!  The white eggs are the duck eggs and the brown eggs are by Sarah, the hen you see keeping an eye on the photographer so I don't steal any!  With the combined effort of the 3 dedicated moms, here's hoping some hatch out!  The last photo is of the 3 ducks enjoying a puddle made by melting snow in front of the barn, mere feet away from their nest.  The male is dutifully watching for trouble while the 2 female splash around!

 Nest all covered up, courtesy of the feathered mothers.
 I uncovered the nest for this photo and Sarah, the hen here, wasn't too happy with me but tolerated it well.
 Tyrone keeping watch while the 2 girls play in the puddle.
Tyrone having some fun playing in nearby mud.
The ducks, Toby the turkey, and chickens all love to play in the water made by melting snow and all get along surprisingly well!
Stretchin' out those wings!
These guys are very chatty...always have something to say.

January 12, 2009 - Here's the little duck camp I "built" because, well, let's face it, I can't build for squatola.  It consists of an extra-large plastic dog house way in the back for extra protection on those sub-zero nights, and the "breezeway" is made out of putting 2 pallets up to form a teepee and covering it all with a blue tarp to keep snow and wind out.  It has a southern exposure, same as our run-in shed for the animals, so it gets sun all day long and rarely gets wind blowing in that direction.  I stuffed it all with hay to make it all nice and cozy and it's really quite pleasant in there.  I can even fit my fat caboose in there to clean it out and whatnot.  They have a heated dog water dish and another dish full of layer pellets in their little breezeway area where they tend to spend most of the daylight hours.  UPDATE:  In late January or early February, I had to move the ducks into the barn, as this area became completely closed off to me because of the mountains of hard-packed icy snow made by the plow truck.  This has been a very trying winter for all of us!  They seem quite happy with the situation though and seem to truly enjoy the company of all the other birds.  The poor barn on the other hand is going to need to be power washed from all the poops frozen everywhere!

September 4, 2008 - The ducks gave us these great gifts this morning!  (The pen wasn't one of the gifts though...that was a gift from their previous owners.)
    Mmmmm...fried duck egg and homemade corned-beef hash!  That egg equaled at LEAST 2 extra large chicken eggs and tasted exactly the same but a lot richer!  I am now a bona fide fan of duck eggs!
 

September 1, 2008 - The ducks are here! 
  Luc gets the new setup ready for the ducks.

Ducks are moved in and already enjoying their pool!
Tyrone and LaFawnda enjoy some pellets together.
Time to head out to a sunny spot to take a nap.
  Ahhh....freedom.  So close, yet so far.
  The view of the "new guys" from the road.