Happy Hens in All Seasons

     The old rabbit hutch we built received renovations recently.  With the rabbits having grown old and moving on, we had a great old hutch not getting use.  Getting it weather ready for the ducks was fun.  They need a space to huddle up in during the cooler and snowy days coming ahead.  They have their main coop for at night to keep the predators away (their fortress, I call it, is by our house), but they needed something during the day when they are in their large outdoor pen (their day pen is a large enclosure with garden greens, flowers, raspberries, etc. away from our house).  They prefer sleeping under flowers and nestling in the raspberry patch.  However September and October strip our region of the floral and lush greens they love.  Accommodations were made.   And the hens responded very well to their new and improved Fall/Winter outbuilding. 

Great new place for them to lay their eggs.  

Enjoying the new leaf ground cover.  I rake and bag all of the maple
leaves in our front yard and bring them back to our hens. 
They enjoy rummaging through Fall leaves for bugs.  

Lights were added.  As the daylight becomes scarce, we provide light
to keep the hens safe and aware of their surroundings.  We use both solar and
timed lights to keep parts of the yard aglow.  

Hens in Summer

     Summer is the hens' favorite season.  The temperature is glorious, the bugs are out to eat, worms are everywhere to be shoveled out, garden treats are ready, rainstorms are a favorite, the pool is always open, and the days out are long and full.  They laid a great amount of eggs over Summer.  They created new nest sites with marsh hay, creating beautiful rounds spaces under nasturtiums.  We were able to share eggs with neighbors and friends.  And always the duck eggs were a hit - so good and so fun to bake with. 

   

I added morning glories and other flowers to their coop. 
As the season progressed the flowers blanketed the coop
and made a pretty, flowered cover-up.  

The three hens would take turns building and positioning feathers
and marsh hay for a shared nest beneath the nasturtiums.  

Their favorite spot in the morning - in the kiddie pool.  

After just laying an egg.  They still prefer to bury them under a layer
of marsh hay or below the shavings in their coop..  

The Ducks' New Neighbor

     After a little while the hens didn't seem to mind their new Possum neighbor.  It lived in our neighbor's backyard somewhere, and used their giant tree to climb up onto our fence.  It would balance and shimmy it's way over to our front yard where we guessed it was dining on our apples from our apple trees.  I was more worried about the Possum tangling with our dog.  Our dog did not want this critter anywhere in our yard, but no problems occurred. The Possum minded it's business - leaving my hens alone.  And yes, this Possum was out in the middle of the day when I snapped one of the  photos.  I'm guessing something scared it out of its daytime refuge - seemed healthy and happy scurrying across our fence top.  We would see it a lot at night, going from our neighbor's yard to our front yard.  But now that the season has changed I have not seen any critters outside besides birds, squirrels, and chipmunks.  This scavenger must have moved on. 

Our first sighting when it was tiny. 

A daytime sighting, after it had grown, a couple months later. 

Know Your Scats

  We knew something was unsettling the birds at night.  They were incredibly quiet and careful about staying low in their coop.  Our ever faithful Labrador Retriever also knew something new was roaming the yard.  His snout was stuck to the ground, tail wagging, senses anxious and heightened.  I hadn't heard anything, but knew by my pets' behaviors that something wasn't right in the yard.  Was it a feral cat again?  A mink?  A skunk?  I was awaiting evidence. 
  Growing up on a farm as a child in the middle of nowhere, I learned a lot from my dad about animal scats.  It was always important to know what critters were visiting our acreage and coexisting or harming our farm animals and crops.  Today, our new yard visitor left some evidence - scats.  And they were such perfect scats I could easily identify it as Possum scats.  Possum scats right outside the duck coop. 
  I'd rather it be a Possum than a gang of clever raccoons.  But still a Possum holds a threat to ducks - a smaller threat, but still a game changer of peace in my backyard.  Now it's time to be more diligent than ever.  Keeping ducks safer, dog safe from a run-in with the Possum, and the Possum safe, too.  Possums can be beneficial to gardens - eating pests and other rodents.  It just better stick to the gardens pests, and not get too curious or tempted by my three lovely hens. 


 

Happy One Year Birthday, Ducks!

  One year ago today our little ducks hatched in their hatchery in California.  The next day they were sexed, packaged in a holed box, and shipped via jet plane to my part of the United States.  I will never forget the peeping sounds they were making when we picked them up at the post office.  They were so cute.  Then started the year of adventure and learning for this duck mom.  I couldn't be happier with my new adventure.
  Even though we said good-bye to our wild Mallard - what a success that was to hatch out, raise, and release a wild mallard; and even though we had to re-home our super noisy Swedish duck hen, Galantis - it was a successful first year in duck raising.  I have three beautiful, sweet, quiet, hard-working hens.
  They lay an egg each daily.  They gobble up lots of garden pests - they have almost completely eradicated the slugs and earwigs destroying my plants.  They love dandelions, and are doing a good job keeping those numbers lower.  They are funny and sweet.  They are a delight to watch as they chase bugs, reach into my raised beds for some romaine (I call it the forbidden salad bar), sleep in the yard, splash in their pool, relish in the rainstorm, and dig for worms.
  They are a hefty chore - a chore I love to do.  They need to be taken care of daily, like a dog.  And like our own dog that barks when alerting us, they quack along with him to let me know something is wrong.  They were upset when a crow snatched some rabbit babies, they were upset when the neighbor's cat hunted chipmunks from our fence, and they get upset if they run out of food.  But they are typically quiet, happy feathered friends.  They wander after me as I work in my garden beds, digging up pests.
  Happy 1st Birthday to them, and I hope for many more years to come. 

Coming out of their coop in the morning. 
They follow me to their day spot - my old veggie garden turned into duck home.  

Birthday treat - cherry tomatoes - one of their favorite things.  

Birthday treat a success.  

Dahlia (on left) and Molasses (on right).  

They just love their pool.  Napping.  

Daisy looking out.  They have a huge fenced in area in our yard. 
And they also get to come out into the entire yard certain times of the day. 
They are pampered feathered friends.  

And Then There Were Three

     After the unexpected April blizzard I noticed some extreme behaviors from my Blue Swedish duck, Galantis.  She began to endlessly quack all day and into the night with a loud alarming sound.  Wild Mallards were landing on our roof top - up to seven at a time - answering to her quacks, but not getting too close. She was getting moody, chasing the dog whom she'd been at peace with.  She was easily unsettled.
    Living in an urban setting with neighbors close by, I quickly realized Galantis would need a new home.  Neighbors weren't angry, but it was noticeable that her quacking was getting on the nerves of all of them and sadly, me too.  So, I began the search for Galantis's new home.  As she quacked loudly in the backyard about everything, I looked up and messaged area farms that had ducks.
     But nobody wanted a lone duck to add to their tight-knit flocks.  Introducing a new duck to a flock can be bad all around.  As the days went on, and her quacking grew louder, I feared that I would never find her a place to live.  My other three ducks were starting to pick up on her behaviors, and I feared I was going to have to get rid of all four of my birds.
    Then, one afternoon a friend told my husband about a place just outside of town that had domestic ducks on a large pond with a gazebo.  He had said that the elderly couple usually took in ducks.  I called them immediately and they said to bring Galantis over, and that they would love to have her join their tiny flock of random ducks.  I was so relieved.  We found Galantis her countryside retreat where she could be her loud, quacky self.
     The next day, I gently wrapped my quacking Galantis in a towel and hugged her close to me.  My daughters tearily said their good-byes to one of their favorite ducks.  My husband helped strap Galantis and myself into our minivan, and he drove us out of town towards Galantis's new home.
    Probably the strangest thing I'd ever done - been a passenger in a minivan with a duck wrapped in a towel hugged gently to my chest.  She nibbled my chin, and quietly observed out the window.  I was worried she would quack in the van, but it was the quietest she had been for a month.
     Thirty minutes passed, and we finally came to the country retreat for Galantis.  There was a beautiful pond, a gazebo, fields, rolling hills, and plenty of space to quack it up.  I carried her out of the minivan, gave her a hug, and let her loose.  She quacked and ran right back to me as I tried backing away.  I shooed her into the pond.  She liked the pond, but then jumped out again and ran back towards me.  However, as she ran towards me, the resident ducks came waddling over to meet her.  She was suddenly distracted by them, and they all quacked greetings and then waddled their way into the pond together.
     My husband and I crept back to the van, got in, and drove away.  My biggest fear was that I'd come home to three loud ducks - that they had picked up on Galantis's super quacks.  But what I came home to was a silent yard.  My three remaining hens were quiet, and seemed uncaring that one of them had gone missing.  My yard is still quiet, weeks later.  And now I know that a Blue Swedish is not a good fit for an urban setting - they are quite loud - and they need a space where they can be loud.  And I'm sure she's enjoying the pond and her new duck friends.  I'm so thankful we could find her a new place to call home. 

Galantis being eyed up by the new misfit group of ducks.  Two of the ducks
are male Black Swedish ducks - a perfect match for a Blue Swedish to reproduce.  

Galantis and the new gang checking out the pond. 

Galantis - the duck with the constant wing flapping and loud quacking - too much
personality for my urban yard.  May she be having fun on her extra acres and pond.  

Ducks' First Blizzard. . . In April

  April 15th, 2018 turned into a record breaking day in Wisconsin.  A record breaking dumping of snow pounded the area, and erased any images of Spring.  We received almost a half inch of ice, layers of icy sleet, and then a foot of snow on top of that.  But, as hardy as they are, the ducks weren't bothered. 

Before the snow came the ice and sleet.  

Then came the snow.  

Lots of it. 

A foot of snow, and lots of drifting.  

The Pool Is Still Open

Despite the April snowstorm, the pool is still open!  

The birds enjoyed the chilly splish splash in the slushy water this early morning.  

Ducks' First Spring

   As Spring comes along I am coming to a close on all of the ducks' firsts for their first year of life.  Come June they'll be one year old.  They are enjoying their first Spring.  They are most excited that the pool is open again for the season - as long as the hose that fills it doesn't freeze on our cold March nights.  All four are laying one egg a night.  They still bury their eggs, and they all share one common nest spot in their coop.  They are busy foraging again, but are more restricted to certain areas of the yard as we have some sensitive flower gardens that need to come up before there is duck access.  With April quickly approaching, there is still room for snow, but these quackers are happy with the greening yard.  I'm guessing that Summer will be their favorite season - rain, puddles, worms, bugs, greens galore.  

Each one lays an egg a day.  

Warmer mornings make ducks happy.  

The pool froze overnight.  

But it thawed by mid-day, and they had loads of fun.  

Splashing.

They love to bed down in fresh marsh hay. 
Here they nestle against the greenhouse.  

Fresh Duck Eggs Daily

Duck Eggs!  

  The duck eggs are large - much larger than a chicken egg.  The yolks are huge, a rich dark color.  The eggs are delicious, not much different than chicken eggs, and they do work great in baked goods. All four hens are successfully producing fresh eggs daily.  They all share one nest that they create in their pine shaving bedding.  Each night they are in a different spot in their coop.  They still bury their egg treasures in their nest they create.  Their appetites have increased greatly, and they are now going through much more food.  They get to indulge in daily treats - from butternut squash to romaine to peas.  They are pampered egg layers.  :)  

Duck Eggs

   February 26th brought a surprise - our first duck eggs.  I was churning the bedding after letting the ladies out of their coop, and my pitchfork scooped up an egg.  One of the little hens had buried her treasure.  In fact, the other ducks like to bury them, too.  So the past few mornings I've been up to my knees in pine shavings trying to dig up eggs.  Two hens are currently laying, and I am patiently waiting for the other two to start. 

One of our hens was laying two eggs at a time at first.  But then
she regulated and went down to one egg a day. 

Blackish egg from our black Cayuga duck.  

One of my egg collecting helpers.  

Black Cayuga Egg

Ice Storm

A lot of rain has happened this winter.  

Now as Spring approaches, the ice storms begin.  

But the ducks love the rain, the ice, the puddles.