Sunday, June 7, 2009

Twelve Acres Maternity Ward

We've got more babies than you can shake a stick at right now. Ollie's been scratching up a storm all day today showing her babies how to forage. I watched her catch a big worm that was obviously too big for the babies and she ate it herself. The little red chick managed to poke through the fencing then poked right back through! They scoot around like little water bugs. In fact, I'm thinking of naming the little black one Scooter.



Daisy's got six fuzzy butt babies to take care of now. I was duck midwife last night. I had to help two ducklings get out of their shells. It was amazing! One of them is the brightest yellow one. I think it's a little hen because the whole time I was removing bits of egg shell for her she was screaming for her mommy as loud as she could. Hen are much louder than drakes, even at a young age. Two of the ducklings had birth defects and I had to euthenize them--not easy, but the right thing to do. I found one dead near the pond's edge this morning. I'm not sure what happened other than an accidental drowning. The remaining six are energetic and the apples of their daddies' eyes! It's heartwarming to watch the ducks' family unit. The drakes accept the ducklings into the flock and are so happy to have Daisy back with them. I can tell that they miss having the hens around.



Macaroni has a nest full of fuzzy yellow puffballs now. I think all 14 of her eggs hatched. There are so many little heads in her nest that I can't count them all! She's not bringing them out just yet, but hopefully tomorrow she will. She's going to have a whole entourage following her around!

6 comments:

  1. Awwe, look at the litte baby duckies... so adorable.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I just love to watch a MamaBird with her babies. All in all, the hatches went well especially Macaroni's.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awesome! I didn't see the videos, on my slow Internet, but I can just imagine. :)

    Ron

    ReplyDelete
  4. How do you get anything done? I would just sit outside and watch the babies all day long.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mel, just wait till I post a video of Macaroni's brood!!!

    Joanna, I love to watch 'em too. It's wonderfully relaxing and enjoyable.

    Ron, sorry! I will post still photos tomorrow.

    Christy, I'm a whirling dirvish around here anymore. The only time I sit still is at night when everything else is asleep!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wonderful pictures and story - enjoyed reading it!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comment! I may or may not be able to reply to comments depending on how busy I am.