Ducks

When the ducks are outside, they snub their beaks at the chicken crumbles and prefer to dine on what’s outside.
Vegetable Soup
There was a lily flower just starting to bloom. It was reduced to a stump in a matter of minutes. They continue to like water lettuce and hyacinths. I have a separate tub for some [...]

The guys generally bunch up for nap time. It was a cool, wet morning here:
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Newly hatched mallards do not need to eat for a day or two. They are still absorbing their yolks. I found some chicken crumbles at a feed store not too far away. They have been eating it since they started. You will notice that their watering dish is near to the feed bowl. The ducks [...]

Velociraptors
When the the ducklings are foraging through the grass, it looks a lot like how some dinosaurs are depicted in the movies.
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Jurassic Park
At first the ducklings did [...]

Comet, our nine-year-old Australian cattledog mix, has shown no interest whatsoever in the ducks.  On the other hand two-year-old  Kylee, a supposedly pure bred cattledog, is way too interested.  We have to keep an eye on her.
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A couple of days ago we saw that the ducks were very concerned when they heard a seagull caw.  While the ducks seem to not go beyond the perimeter of the yard, it would be nice to be able to get them all back.
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Now when I bring the ducks outside, they scramble for the pond, generally diving under the water. Sometimes they chase each other under the surface. The fish seem unperturbed.
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What lies beneath?
The little ones were out for another swim. I was videotaping them when I noticed one of them was struggling at the other end of the pond. His head was down under the water with his back end up in the air. There was a lot of vegetation in this spot. Maybe [...]

Today the ducks were introduced to the outside world. They roamed around the grass with ease. Sometimes they would all immediately start darting in one direction or another.
There is a small pond in the backyard. I had read that the ducklings get their water repellency from their mom. She has an oil duct for preening. [...]

The dark egg and one that is of similar color to the eggs that hatched show no signs of pipping.
The preemie continues to struggle. Late in the day we try to straighten out it legs and spread out its webbed feet with taped little thin cardboard cutouts.
The other six are doing fine. Some are [...]