The farm house

The farm house

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Everything Is Just Duckie!

Summer has arrived with a wallop of heat!! We wait so long for the nice sunny weather and then we seem to forget that for a few days to a few weeks, we experience extreme heat and humidity. I can truthfully say that our region is one of extremes when it comes to weather.

Keeping the birds and animals cool can be a bit of a challenge since I have entrusted this task to my son while I am away at work. My contract ends soon so he may not have to be burdened with it for much longer.

Frequent watering and access to water at all times is the key for many of my animals. Especially the ducks. It's been close to a year since I plunged into that world of farming. And, I admit that I enjoy them. In January I acquired more ducks but this time muscovies. I lost a few but acquired 2 more females from a fellow sheepkeeper and now, I can't imagine the yard without them!

Mother duck
I recently experimented with hatching muscovies in the incubator and success was had! A low hatch rate though. I also had a female sit on eggs and hatch some and currently have another sitting!!I also sell my eggs at the Farmer's market. There are quite a few duck egg enthusiasts out there but I am not one. They are wonderful in baking though!

Mature Indian Runner ducks
Muscovy ducklings
Here are a few photos of the ducks around the yard and near a leak in the hose!
2 incubator muscovies of different ages and runner ducklings
A mature pair of muscovies
a female Indian Runner duck

2 muscovy ducklings