Duck Daddy and Hmmmmm..Uh, Oh

It has been almost a month since I last wrote about the ducks. I was going blog about these endeavors with the ducks until they were grown up and outside. Since day 1 back on May 20th, the duck stories have been followed, and they have been outside for quite some time now.

They changed rapidly. One of the original six girls died at a couple weeks old. They pooped like crazy. They loved the water like, well, like ducks. Bev got duck poop in her eye. The squeaked like crazy for lettuce. They eventually developed their quacks, and their feathers. We learned lessons about ducks, and then the girls made the cover of the Runner Duck Newsletter, and they also made the news in a local story on Urban Farming.

Well the last month has tow major duck developments:





1) they are in their new house. It has been built into the shed. Next to their shed is our duck pen. It is wire fence almost six feet high, and netting over the top to keep out predators. It is a fine black plastic mesh netting. So far it works just fine. The only visitor we've seen in the duck pen is a groundhog. He lives under the shed, and came out to say high to the ducks. It was in the middle of the day, and it looked like a standoff. The groundhog was staring at the ducks, and the five ducks were staring back at the groundhog quacking.

I was in the kitchen talking with Val. She saw a creature in the pen, and said, "There's a creature in the duck pen. I think it's a beaver."

I thought to myself, "There's no chance it's a beaver. We don't have beavers in Salem." But, I ran out to see what kind of predator it might be. The groundhog ran off when he saw me.

2) We discovered that one of our ducks is not. We have not named the ducks, because they all looked the same, and even the small differences were difficult to follow through the changes as they were growing up, and changing so quickly. That is all except one. One of the girls was bigger than the others. She was a little darker. She seemed like the duck in charge - always alert, and a little protective of the others. As she grew up her feathers came in a little later, and her down stayed a little longer. Her quack was whispery and hoarse compared to the honking of the other girls.

Okay, you duck oficianados and farmers already know what was going on.

Bev decided to name the one duck we could tell apart from the others. She named the duck "Pato." I though that the name was too masculine and did not like it. Well, I suppose that Pato is a fine and appropriate name, because one day over the last month, it dawned on Bev despite the little white band around the leg which came with the duckling as assurance that we had 6 girls, Pato was not a duck. Pato was a drake. After over 3 months of duck raising poor Pato was thought to be a girl the whole time.

Now instead of Duck Daddy and his 5 girls what we have is Pato and his Harem. Sheesh. He looks pretty proud in that photo, doesn't he? So much for my previous post titles - I can not call this Duck Daddy and His Five Girls anymore.

Duck Daddy and His Five Girls - 11 weeks

So the girls are about 11 weeks old. Feathers are all over the yard. They are loosing, pulling out, and spilling feathers with some downy edge to them, and these feathers are everywhere in the lawn.

The ducks are also uneven in color. Will they stay this way, or will they get darker on their fawn colored parts as they loose their young ducky feathers and grow the next crop of them? This is our first duck adventure, so we are not sure, but here's how they look right now.

Duck Daddy and His Five Girls - Duck Party!

We had a duck party last week. About 50 people from the church, and the neighborhood showed up. Our yard became a combination petting zoo (with ducks that really didn't want to be petted), and amusement park (with kids swimming in the pools, and sliding on a slip and slide). After the kids were done swimming, we put the ducks in the large kiddie pool as the party wound down. Here's the video:

Duck Daddy and His Five Girls 8th week: a Duck is Like a Pickle

I am convinced that the only reason the neighbors don't mind our quacking ducks is because a duck is like a pickle.

There are certain words, and their connected thoughts or actualities that bring a smile simply by mentioning them. The words sound light-hearted and funny, and almost bring a smile whether one says those words, or hears those words. The accompanying image of the meaning behind the words furthermore is humorous, because the object which the noun names is in itself a peculiar or clownish thing.

Pickle is one of those words. It feels funny in the mouth. It sounds funny to hear, and dances on the tongue like a nursery school rhyme. Say the words a few times and see if it does not make you smile.

Well, duck is another one of those words. Say the word a few times and see what it does to lighten your heart. Duck, duck, duck....

A duck is like a pickle. Don't you think?

Duck Daddy and His Five Girls 8th week: Urban Farming and Quacking Ducks

Well, we purchased Indian Runner Ducks because they lay lots of eggs - maybe 300 a year, which is like a 6 day work week. We also liked them, because they were funny and seemed to be the clowns of the duck world. Furthermore they are highly sociable, and this is nice for someone who wants to pick their ducks up, and cuddle with them - okay "cuddle" is not quite the term for a duck, but you know what I mean. Last of all, we heard that they were quieter than other breeds - right.

First thing in the morning when we let them out they run around the yard quacking up a storm of noise. Now, this is not a tight urban neighborhood with no yard space. We have a quarter of an acre, but we have one of the largest yards in the neighborhood. So abutted to our yard is 6 to 7 other homes which all look down from their second and third story windows into our yard. Salem is really the northern edge of Boston urban, and we live just outside the downtown area.

So, the other day Bev was inviting neighbors with kids to our duck party. (Yes, we are having a duck party tomorrow.) One of the neighbors, whom we do not know well, said to Bev, "Oh yeah, everybody's talking about the ducks."

"Uh-oh," thought Bev.

In the last couple weeks this has been one of a few interactions with the neighbors which has caused us to wonder if the ducks might be disturbing our little sub-urban neighborhood.

The people across the street mentioned that they could hear the ducks, and that their girls run to the windows to see the ducks when they hear them quacking. Mark loves the sound of ducks. (+1 ducks)

The next door neighbor on our street came over to see the ducks, because she heard them. We apologized for their noise, and she said that she enjoyed hearing them. "Oh no, we love the sound of the ducks. I wanted to get my own chickens, but my husband won't have it." (+2 ducks)

A second person who abuts our property and can look down on our yard stood on her tip-toes to speak over the fence and said, "do you have ducks?"

"Yes," we replied, "are they too loud?"

"Oh no, they are so cute." She replied. (+3 ducks)

A third abutting neighbor, whose back fence is directly next to the duck pen was outside painting his house. I came home in the afternoon, and the ducks always start quacking loudly when I arrive, because they know I will let them out to free range the yard for grubs, and worms, and bugs and the like. I will also throw them some lettuce in a little kiddie wading pool we have in the yard for them, and of course this gets them quacking wildly until the lettuce hits the water. Even then they make quacking noises while eating, and dunking their heads.

The Painting neighbor said, "the ducks are excited about something." I apologized and mentioned that they are noisy in the morning and late afternoon.

He said, "I don't mind it at all. I like the sound of the ducks. I'd get my own if I could." (+4 ducks)

Then a fourth neighbor who lives a block away had been walking past, and heard the ducks. She returned later with her grown sons, and they all came in to check out the ducks. They had seen bills, and heard quacking. They came over because they were excited about the idea of ducks in the neighborhood. (+5 ducks, 0 grumpy neighbors - so far.)

The moral of the story is this: Ducks are like pickles. Know what I mean?

If you don't understand you will have to check in tomorrow.

Duck Daddy and His Five Girls - Days 47-52

So the ducks are a coming on 8 weeks old now. They are outside in their pen through the day, and free-ranging our yard when we are home to let them out. They really enjoy getting out in the yard, and honk up a storm of noise in the late afternoon when I get home. This photo is them standing at the door of the pen waiting to be released.

The old 6' by 10' foot family sized kiddie pool brooder has now been turned into a duckie pool, and they love swimming around in it. When they first jump in they go crazy, and start swimming around splashing, and diving, and one of the girls will do laps under water.

They are fully feathered except for the largest of the girls, who has a little tuft of fuzzy down sticking out on the back of her head. They run around the yard flapping their wings like they are trying to fly. Okay, now I was told that Runners don't fly - well, one of them was getting out of the extra large kiddie pool former brooder, and took a leap off the edge and flapped a good 3-4 feet through the air landing softly and then took off on a run. This looked suspiciously like pre-flight practice to me.

They are sleeping outdoor in their temporary night home - a doghouse with a hinged lid, and a screened door, and a latch to lock them in.

I sat outside late last night near their night hut, which is currently near our back door, and a skunk came walking around the corner toward us (me and the sleeping girls in their duck night hut). I gently said, "hey their little buddy." What does one say to the King of the Urban Jungle - the skunk? Fortunately skunks are not typically up for a fight for no reason. He took a funny little hop when I spoke to him, and then ran off across the yard. I was surprised how fast he ran. Skunks are not typically fast runners. Skunks waddle rather confidently, because they have such power they never need to run. Okay, sometimes they do get bested - Holly our greyhound killed a skunk once - dang, that was a mess! And Bev ended getting rabies shots for that event.

Well, she might not like me telling that story, so I will sign off on the duck update before I get in deep ducky doo-doo.

Peace and Duck Dreams to You.

Duck Daddy and His Five Girls - Day 46

"Like a duck to water." This saying makes more sense to us than it ever did. Ducks do love their water. In fact ducks need their water.

They forage through the mud in search of yummy bugs, and end up with a mouthful of mud. After foraging for awhile one of them decides it is time to clean their mouth out with water, and they all run to the pool to drink like madmen.

Now keeping their water clean is important, but impossible. Right now we have two small kiddie pools we use to let them swim and simply get wet. One in their pen, and one out in the yard.

This is what the one in their pen looks like after having been emptied and refilled with clean water just a few hours earlier. So much for being green. Ducks are as brown and muddy as it gets, and they seriously overuse water. Now we do have rain water barrels, but those barrels will not keep up with the ducks need for water.

Well, its late, and I think I need to move along, because even though I have a couple more things to do I would rather head for bed like a duck to the water.

Duck Daddy and His Five Girls - Days 41-45

The Girls are outside all day now. The pen is complete, but the house is not. Unfortunately, the week they needed to get moved out I was away, and so their pen could not be finished. Now it's close to done, but good enough for then to be outdoor all day long.

Their little house for night sleeping is not yet complete though, and that will hopefully be done tomorrow. The pen has a net over the top to keep predatory birds (like the hawk which has been seen in our trees) from killing the girls.

So this is what the scene at the Wymsn house looks like. The ducks are still in the 10' by 4' inflatable pool brooder in our back room at night. The weather had still be insanely wet and cold up until yesterday, and between the bad weather, and my being away they were not outdoors as much as they needed to be. Yet now each morning they go out into the pen. If we are at home, they free range around the yard finding bugs, and grubs, and worms, and eating grass.

We have two small kiddie pools outside. One in their pen, and another on the lawn. The ducks are spending more time in the water, and less time eating. They are not quite the eating machines they were a couple weeks ago.

They also appear to be acting a little more independently, but in a moments' notice they all get excited and start running after us, or if we are out of site they start quacking for us. Fortunately all our neighbors are pleasantly intrigued by the girls, and are glad that there are ducks in the neighborhood. This definitely helps the urban farming project.

Duck Daddy and His Five Girls - Day 40

Now Duck Daddy had been away in Washington DC for nearly a week, and returned to find his girls had grown up.

So here are the tales of the days I was away:

While in Washington the girls ended up in another public appearance. Last they posed for Runner Duck magazine, and now we find that they have once again appeared in print this time as teenage heartbreakers in Art Throb. Follow the link to read the story.

Now they also started doing things they had not done before. We were ready to put them outside permanently at about six weeks, which we are just coming to now. Well, at five weeks I was away, and they started giving Duck Mama heck - just like teenagers.

They got faster, they started showing a little more independence, and did not want to come back inside after being out for hours. But, of course that independence was not independence from one another - only from us. They did not want to be picked up, so our extra large family sized pool brooder became a difficult place to catch these now Olympic speed duckies.

They also started quacking loudly. Now that their voices were changing from cute little squeaks to larger than life honks, once Bev would take one duck outside all the rest would start making a fuss. Of course the fuss does not stop until they are together again. Duck Daddy laughs when this happens. Duck Mama does not, and becomes a little flustered hoping the ducks won't hurt themselves as they jump onto the back deck and try to run in the house to be reunited with their sisters who still haven't made the transport outside.


Upon my return I noticed that there were some significant changes in the girlies. They had some rather ugly feathers on their wings before I left for DC. As can be seen in the pictures their quills were showing making them look like they needed to join the Hair Club for Men. Upon my return their feathers had all filled in, and their wings looked significantly better.

Having returned from DC, I am now setting up their outside pen. The area is about 16' X 16' and I will eventually make part of the shed into their duck house. A hole will be cut into the side of the shed, and a duck house will be built inside the shed. For now we have a dog house which will do the job.

That's all for now. More observations tomorrow I am sure. The ducks amaze us more each day.

Did you get your own ducks yet? We are advocating for urban mini duck farms, and having your own eggs each morning.

Some Ducks Videos, and the return of Duck Daddy

Duck Daddy has been away in Washington DC, and just returned. After all this time away, the girls grew so much, and are faster, and crazier than ever, and definitely ready to move outside.

The ongoing chronicles of Duck Daddy should return tomorrow. Until then here are few video shots of the girls from a couple weeks ago. Thanks to the inimitable and funny John Harding for these shots of the girlies.

Duck Daddy and His Five Girls - Days 29-32

These last four days have been quite busy, and I haven't had the time to post. So, here are the basic observations over the last four days:

1. These ducks are getting big, fast, and what they are going to look like when their feathers are fully in is more obvious.

2. These ducks love to forage in the yard. Bugs, grass, weeds, flowers - all these things are up for eating. Like people they are omnivorous. They especially love a muddy little hole to forage through. One of the girls caught her first worm yesterday - darn she was happy!

3. They love to duck (obvious to me now why we use this term for a quick submergence under the water) and dive in the little pool we have for them. One website suggested putting certain food at the bottom of about 4 inches of water so that they can "wash their eyes." These girls don't need any eye-washing encouragement.

4. They are pretending to be a little more independent. They will run off in some meaningless direction in the yard when we take them out, but after about 5 yards they will make a circle and come back to forage around my feet.

So what follows are a few of the eye-washing, feigned independence, and foraging pictures from the last few days:









This last picture shows what happens when I stand still. Please send shoelaces.

Duck Daddy and His Five Girls - Day 28

Well, the girls are getting famous now. They will be on the cover of the Indian Runner Duck Association Newsletter. Wow! They're Covergirls!

The newsletter is still upcoming, but the a photo of them is up and can be found on the front page of IRDA website.

With the the continuing saga of why our ducks are not white: Glyn writes to us after reading yesterday's blog post:

"I have just read your blog and wanted to let you know that your ducks aren't white ducks they are fawn and white. Far more attractive in my view. This is obvious from day one, white ducklings have pure yellow down with no other colours.

Good luck

Glyn"

Thanks Glyn

Duck Daddy and His Five Girls - Day 27

Yesterday was the third day that we turned off the heat lamp in the evening. It has remained cold the last few days, but the girls are bigger now, and we figure they can handle 60º at night when they huddle together. We are now only using the light after they swim and go back into the brooder wet. Of course the 6' by 10' inflatable kiddie we have set up is not really a brooder anymore. It is more like an indoor duck pen.

The ducks are getting scraggly - some fuzz, some feathers, some stuff in between that looks like they haven't shaved in days. These are some li'l Bohemian ducks right now.


When we take them outside, which is a couple times a day, they run right for the pool, and want to swim. I have to trick them by moving the location of the pool to keep them from spending the whole time swimming. They are supposed to be Runner Ducks, so I figure they need a little running.

Well, even more than yesterday it looks like our little Indian Runners are not white Indian Runners. Their incoming feathers are getting darker each day.

Duck Daddy and His Five Girls - Days 24-26

Three whole days without writing about the girls. I've been busy, but then they are a part of the busy-ness.

Here are the highlights of these last three days in Duckyworld, and the Adventures of Duck Daddy:

It continues to be cold for this time of year in New England. In the mid 50s in mid June is really chilly. So, the ducks are not getting out as much as we would like, but they are getting big - and not just big, they are also getting quite fast.

About four days we began to notice something which we found quite humorous. Now we were told that these were going to be white Indian Runner ducks. In these last four days we have noticed that their chest feathers are coming in with a brownish tint, and getting darker each day. Never having raised ducks before I figure there are three options to this observation: 1) white feathers don't start out white, 2) our ducks are filthy and need to take a bath more often, or 3) these ain't white ducks. Noting that #1 seems silly, and that they look the same after swimming I am betting on #2. What do you think?

We have a temporary outdoor pen set up, so that we can take them outside, and work in the yard without them swarming around my feet the whole time. So far, when they are outside they follow me so closely I can't get anything done without fear of stepping on a duck.

This pen is in this location just for now, and will be replaced by a taller, more secure location next to our shed. We are thinking that cutting a duck entrance into the shed, and creating a duck house on the inside of the shed is our best deal - especially to deal with the brutal New England winters.

In the last few days duck paraphernalia has begun to arrive. We now have two Max the Duck stuffed animals. My mom sent the second one, and knowing that Bev shopped at Kohl's where they are selling for $5, she sent a note saying that she hoped we hadn't started a flock of Max the Ducks. With Max, and the book he comes from, Duck at the Door, came a note for Holly the greyhound saying that this was the only duck she could play with. Holly doesn't really play with stuffed animals, but sometimes she will sleep with them. Maybe it will help her make duck buddies instead.

I wrote to the Indian Runner Duck Association in Wales about a week ago and let them know that I was writing this blog. So, they checked up on me, and they responded with a few comments which were quite helpful. Of note was the fact that they do not recommend feeding ducks lettuce, because lettuce has been found to be high in nitrates, and this in turn is unhealthy for the ducks - well for people too - it might make your babies turn blue! Really, it's true, and in the UK they monitor the amount of nitrates in lettuce.

Side note on the Indian Runner Duck Association: The only negative thing I have to comment on them is that they don't siarad Cymreag (speak Welsh) - oh well, can't have everything going for you. ;-)

Okay, so I thought that I would look this up: Nitrates and Duck Health to see what we we might be inadvertently doing to these poor little ducky waifs. Here is some information I discovered. Quotes from government websites, and links below followed by other random info:

* Nitrate is a natural component of vegetables although the levels present are affected by growing conditions, fertiliser use and plant species / variety.
* The UK has carried out annual monitoring for nitrate in lettuce and spinach since 1996. Every Member State is required to monitor and report levels of nitrate in lettuce and spinach as part of a European Commission Regulation.
* The European Commission Regulation sets maximum levels for nitrate in lettuce and spinach, however UK growers are currently exempted from meeting these limits for a transitional period.
* The levels of nitrate detected in lettuce and spinach do not pose a risk to consumer's health; all dietary exposure estimates were below the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) set by the European Commission's Scientific Committee for Food (SCF).
from www.food.gov.uk.

Organic Lettuce Packs 25 Times Less Nitrate than Conventional Lettuce

Nitrate levels in organic lettuce are a fraction of levels found in conventional hothouse lettuces. Experts, however, say authorities are reluctant to showcase the benefits of organic farming.
from Persian Road. I am not sure of the validity of this statement, but it is a commonly found statement on many sites across the internet.

At Agroecology.org you can download a 64 page abstract with a 1999 study of nitrate levels in spinach, romaine, and iceberg lettuce grown in California. Organics generally did better, but some organic farming can also raise nitrate levels. Spinach generally should be avoided it appears because the nitrate levels were higher, and exceeded the UK levels of acceptability. Iceberg and romaine were acceptable regardless of the growing methods, although using guano as fertilizer was a set up for higher nitrate levels.

Now, here's the good news for our little Indian Runners. They are being fed mostly romaine, iceberg, and a spring mix without spinach. They are also being fed organics most of the time. I appears that they are not white ducks turning fawn colored because they are being feed too high a nitrate level. Whew - I was worried there for a moment that I was turning them into mutants.

Actually it turns out that they are merely going through an ugly stage with feathers coming out, and fuzz disappearing.


Well, here are my thoughts about nitrate levels:

Duck poo has piles of nitrates.
Poo is used to grow lettuce.
Ducks love lettuce.
Ducks must have a poo/nitrate addiction.
I need to take my ducks to NA meetings.

Actually, I will just stick with the organic lettuce for now, and hope it is good enough. I will also use cuttings from our yard (we don't use any nasty chemicals in our yard) like dandelions, and young grasses - I've been doing this all along as well.

I will close with my favorite internet question from someone raising ducks:

"Ok, so I’m new to the whole duck thing, forgive me if I’m a little behind. I just hatched 8 ducklings, and today they are 9, 8, and 7 days old. I've come to realize they are massive pooping machines! I read they poop a lot, but I had no clue this much. They eat and drink constantly...and did I mention grow constantly too?

Anyway, I was cleaning out their cage yesterday and realized I just can’t keep it poopless! I had JUST cleaned it out and within 5 minutes there were dozens of landmines! Finally I counted the poop, and lost count at 26. Do they poop every minute, and a half or something? There is only 8 of them, so that’s 3.3 poops each? Are my ducks normal, or do they have ducky irritable bowel syndrome? Luckily it doesnt stink...yet!" from Backyard Chickens forum.

Now doesn't that make you want some duckies of your own?!