Ladies and gentlemen, we have a duckling! She/he is in the centre of the eggs below:
When I went down this morning, Ronna-duck was looking different. A little more alert and freaked-out than usual. I lifted her up to do my usual daily egg count, and found that a damp little duckling had just hatched out!
Here's where baby spent the past 37-odd days!
I brought soem food and water to Ronna nest-side, which she seemed to appreciate. I've shut the other ducks out of the run for now. When the hatching is all finished (I hope within 24 hours), we'll move everyone to the "duck nursery", another duckhouse with its own enclosed "yard."
It's a good thing our neighbours aren't nearby. When I found the little one this morning, I ran up from behind the barn screaming "BABY! BABY! BABY!" to Gordon, who was planting a star magnolia tree. He probably thought I yelling out a term of endearment...
Stay tuned for more duckling updates! My friend Ronna (aka RNTD -- "Ronna Not The Duck" as opposed to RTD -- "Ronna the Duck") is now a grand-duck-mother!
Wow the first one! I'm so exciting to see them.
ReplyDeleteHugs
Elna
I'm looking forward to seeing the new ducklings as they hatch!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see my grand-duckling!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations. If you need any names for it, I have quite a few international ones.:-)
ReplyDeleteHip! Hip! Hurrah! What an accomplishment. I'm so, so happy to have a farm to visit in my old age. I've never seen so many exciting things in my Montreal youth. Merci de tout coeur.
ReplyDeleteYAY !
ReplyDeleteCan´t wait to see all of them hatched !
Does big Mama-duck just sit on one that has hatched in among the unhatched eggs? A danger of smothering surely. In adition to wonderment at how life works I often wonder how it manages to survive.
ReplyDeleteDoes big Mama-duck just sit on top of one that has hatched in among the unhatched eggs? A danger of smothering surely? In addition to wonderment at how life works I often wonder how it survives.
ReplyDeleteBloomin' Blogger told me my comment attempt failed, then when the 2nd attempt worked it put up the first one too. Computers lie :)
ReplyDeleteAndrew, it messed up on me, but did post my comment. What's up with blogger these days???
DeleteThis can be great fun! I remember finding stuff like this on the farm. Hope everything goes well.
ReplyDeleteI really wanted to live on a farm as a kid. When I was quite young, I told my Dad I wanted to live in the country. I'm glad my dream has come true!
DeleteYeah! Babies! Yeah! Congrats! If Ronna is the Grandmother, and Ronna the Duck is the mama, then, what are you?
ReplyDeleteCant wait for the pics!
An excellent question. I'm still not sure!
DeleteWow! With all these ducklings, you'll have an entire duck nation soon enough!
ReplyDeleteIt's ridiculous!! If the rest hatch, we'll be up to 22.
DeleteWow! Exciting duck days ahead. Looking forward to lots of photos of cute ducklings.
ReplyDeleteI think my favourite time is when they take their first swim!
DeleteDid you write #1 with a marker on baby# 1?
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, that's really exciting to have soooo many new babies :)
Ha ha! So far, she/he is easy to spot. All the others are much darker!
DeleteOh wow, a new baby duckling! Welcome little one, cannot wait to see all of your siblings hatch!
ReplyDeleteI will post lots of pics!
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