Ducklings - wet and dry And A Spotty Future

Hatching day is a big day for ducklings, they need lots of rest and enjoy cuddles  ... Going....

Going.....

Going......

Gone!

Today they are having mega fun with bath time, underwater races and splash fests!!

Welcome new kid on the block Ulonga Morse.  Yesterday was a big day, a long trip and this morning he enjoyed brekky and then a nice lie in the sun.  

I was beginning to think his legs were painted on, but luckily after lunch he started getting up and about!  He is a very calm boy and beautifully well trained, my thanks to Nerida and John Aldred for allowing us to have these gorgeous boys.

Looking forward to some stunning spotty cria from this boy and his half brother Basil, both of whom are co-owned by Garrick Llamas of Burra Creek.  New lines and (more) lovely spots for us both!!  The boys will be alternating between the 2 properties and available for stud, details will shortly be available at www.maisonmauve.com.au

Good Ducks Sit

Our first duckling has passed the day old personality test - good ducks sit - check :)  Suitable for pet!

Some firsts

These pics were taken a couple of days ago, I thought the prunus had reached its peak a little while ago, but last Tuesday was definitely it, since then the wind has blown and we have a confetti of pink petals, and the crimson rosellas have been in and down some pruning - uninvited!!  They have entirely stripped the flowering quince, the rotters.

The first daff is in fully open mode now, as is the second and lots more have joined them :)

And the first duckling for the season is on its way, unzipping has started!  Another hour or so and we should see this baby!

Melting Moments

Ducklings swimming in the laundry trough - melts your heart :)

Similarly, the newest member of the clan - apricot Call baby - even though it hatched in the incubataor, its now being raised by a mumma duck :)

And this is Kiki, butter wouldnt melt in her microwave!!  She thinks no only means no while you're saying it, once you finish talking..... its back to game on!!  A Hazel style nooooooo is useful!!  LOL!!

Roses, chickens and ducklings

The roses in Yass were superb, but I have some here at Mt Tanga too, and they are pretty good - although they may or may not be competing with more weeds than their Yass cousins ;-D

Really like this rusty red one:

Betty (Black East Indies Duck) hatched 10 ducklings the other day, and 2 days ago her friend Bertha hatched 2 - and I gave them to Betty to raise.  I gave Bertha a 'must try harder' chat!!  LOL!!  They look like little ants scurrying around the pen, most look pretty good, some might have white eye liner :( but they are all thriving.

Ginger is raising 7 Modern Game chickens, 5 white/cream (ginger pile), one black (gold or silver birchen) and one red (hopefully silver duckwing), and whereas Betty is not keen to let me even look at the ducklings, Ginger and her brood always come out to meet me - sometimes I bring meal worms and that's worth being at the front of the queue for!!

Ducklings, Sweet Pea and Red Brow Finches

Sweet Pea still hasnt popped!!  She is so big its amazing, but she continues to eat, sleep and look pretty pleased with herself, letting day after day go by without any sign of cria being closer to arriving!!

Morning nap time in the shade:

Yesterday the ducklings had their first day outside, they enjoyed the sunshine and spent most of the time in the water!!  They dont grow as fast as when they are in the brooder all the time eating and eating and eating, but they certainly have a nice time and sleep like little rocks when its time to come in.

Red Brow Finches - they're everywhere!!  The air is heavy with their noise and the ground covered with them.

Very good day today at lead and halter training - everybody is improving!!  Even Bracken walked forward, if only a little.   Phoebe is also improving, Maggie starred as usual and Joeley was marginally less stubborn than she has been!!  All good :)

From little eggs......

..... hatch little ducklings, our smallest Call duck so far!  But I am pleased to say ALL of this hatch pass the 'good ducks sit' palm test for calm personalities!!  And they are all v cute!!

We have them in blue bibbed:

 Blue fawn:

 Buff:

 And the teeny guy, who may well be white!

No baby llama - will a duckling do?

Sweet Pea continues to hold out on us, but the incubator is popping today.  The eggs are those rescued from the nest of my dear little apricot girl who was taken by the fox!!  First out is a lavender bibbed :)

Ducklings - in NEW colours :)

This morning's hatch included a lovely little blue pied duckling and a solid (ie non bibbed) blue.  Both rare and unusual - oh and very sweet - both passed the good ducks sit personality test :)

Not a very flattering pose, but wanted to show the underside of this nicely 'pied' baby :)

100% hatch rate

The last 2 ducklings have managed to get out of their shells, largely under their own steam :)

As you can see the incubator is now in need of some serious cleaning - ducklings start as they mean to go on and have trashed the joint in the minimum time!!

Very pleased with my stats, over 90% fertility and 100% hatch - that's a pretty impressive start to the season!!

And then there were LOTS

They've been busy hatching overnight and there are now 9 little ducklings in the incubator - only 2 left to go, one looks like it will make it, but I'm not too sure about the other :(

Meantime these guys need to move to the brooder :)

Call Ducklings - part 2

Baby #2 has joined us, and looks to be a blue fawn - no surprises there, my best duck is a blue fawn and best drake a blue bibbed, so this could be typeyist duckling in the world!!

Call Ducklings

Our first Call ducklings for the season, hatched today, brothers and sisters on their way :)

I dont do white Call ducks as a rule, so a yellow duckling with a white beak would normally fill me with fear and dread, but the last one I had like this turned out to be a very pretty apricot silver duck, so fingers crossed for this little pretty :)

Ariadne's First Clutch

Ariadne is my lavender bibbed Call duck. On 26 December I hatched 3 ducklings from her eggs in the incubator, on Decmeber 27 she hatched 4 ducklings and in the afternoon I offered her 'my' 3 babies which she accepted instantly.

These are the 3 babies I hatched.



Ariadne and the whole bunch, the incubator babies took a little while to get the hang of getting underneath their mum, but once they did the little gang was a very cohesive little group.



This was taken yesterday when the babies enjoyed their first swim, although not while I had the camera pointed at them!! They had a lovely time eating the finely shredded lettuce I added to the water and had no trouble leaping in and out of their little pond.