The ducks are annoyed that the chickens got airtime yesterday and are demanding I make up for it. That's okay, it's time to introduce...
...Warren the Upper Canada Village duck!
Warren is spending the winter with us. He is great-granddaddy to our own ducklings.
Warren is very handsome, friendly and curious. He is also the BOSS.
Something happened to Warren's wing a while back (he is seven years old) and it didn't heal properly, so it sticks out at a wonky angle. But it doesn't seem to bother him.
Handsome devil!
As you can see, the ducks have been busy drilling holes in the ground.
They've also been enjoying the sunny, unseasonably-warm weather we've been having lately. That's Hannibal on the left (the biggest "duckling"... hard to call him that when he's bigger than his Mama now!) Amy is just to the right, however...
I am starting to supsect "Amy" is a boy. I need to learn how to sex a duck. I am just going by the fact that Amy is almost as big as Hannibal. They seem to like each other and I often find them hanging out together. A name change may be in order. I don't like "Amos", so I will have to come up with another self-destructive superstar... Kurt Cobain? Jim Morrison? Heath Ledger? Someone like that. But I'll make sure she's a he first.
Aren't they attractive?
One of the girls (I have a hard time right now telling the white ones apart) likes to sit on my lap and get the back of her neck scratched.
There, hopefully that will satisfy the ducks' demands for today!
I'm sure they'll be very pleased for the airtime!
ReplyDeleteWarren is indeed a handsome duck.
It is easy to sex 'other' ducks but Muscovies are tougher to sex. Other breeds, you can tell pretty fast because the girls have deep voices and are noisy and chatty and the drakes are very soft spoken, almost like they have lost their voices. With our Muscovy ducks, we could tell when they were 4 or 5 months old because the boys are quite a bit bigger than the girls and the girls behave a lot more lady-like than the boys. They are 'prettier' too. Spend a lot of time foraging and get broody very fast. The boys like to EAT - but will wait for you to feed them. As far as their voices go, they both are very soft spoken and when the girls get broody they start to 'squeak'. My favourite sound in the whole world. Love your photos!
ReplyDeleteHow is it the ducklings grew so fast! They are sooo SWEET!!
ReplyDeleteNow I am sure Julius will be crying fowl at his non appearance for several days!
ReplyDeleteI see the babies are starting to get some red carbuncles (I forget the correct term, but you'll understand) on their faces. I've forgotten which one is L'Orange?
ReplyDeleteDid you grow a few acres of grain this summer, or will you be enriching the lives of your local feed store owner? :)
Glad the ducks got their day in the sun! Can't have those chickens running the place can we? (Though I'm up for more cat posts...)
ReplyDeleteThose ducklings have grown so fast!
ReplyDeleteMale - female - who cares? They are all wonderful and where would we be without them? Look at all the limericks they have inspired!
ReplyDeleteMóna, thank you for the great advice! I have so much to learn. I figure it'll be easy enough to tell them apart when they are fully mature. I am getting more and more suspicious about "Amy"! ;) I think a name change will be in order.
ReplyDeletePilgrim, I wish they'd stay little longer! It's funny that they are still making duckling noises, even though they are big now.
Jams, Julius is sharpening his claws.
Musical Gardener.... "L'Orange"? YOu are BAD! :) And we are enriching the lives of the Homestead Organics feed mill in Berwick. The ducks are definitely NOT paying for themselves (the chickens do better; we can't keep up with egg demand and because we supplement their light a bit, they lay all winter.) But they are hugely amusing!
Wandering Cat, I have seen Charlie Sheen back down from a chicken half his size. It's unbelievable!
ReplyDeleteEvlyn, I don't mind what we end up with but I want to get the names right. "A Boy Called Amy".. hmmm....
Nothing cheers me up more reliably than a duck. Yours looks like he's wearing an outfit.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Murr. They always make me smile!
ReplyDelete