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We probably have better things to do…I’m sure we do…..

But it’s important to know if your ducks are in a row…..

Sometimes your ducks run amok and you don’t even know it…..

To that effect…my older daughter and I…had to begin an on-going duck study…..

This all began earlier this month…when I opened the chicken coop first thing in the morning…..

…..ALL of the poultry were supposed to be inside the coop…..

…..but there was a lone duck hen waiting for her buddies to come out…..

…..and she was on the outside of the coop’s closed door…..(?)…..

I’ll state the obvious here…just to make sure we’re all on the same page…..

…..she had been outside all night long…..

…..that’s not good for any poultry or their projected longevity…..

My daughter and I figured that maybe she had laid and was sitting on a clutch of eggs somewhere…..

…..so…for the last two mornings we’ve been going out to the mounting block with our morning cups of tea and coffee…..

…..to observe the ducks…..

Duck behavior can be entertaining…..

We’ve been sitting and sipping and chatting and watching the ducks…..

And…we’ve actually learned………….nothing…..

It might sound boring…but if you watch for the farm’s morning nuances…it’s not at all…..

It’s entertaining…..

Otto…our barn cat…loves the activity…he shows off by climbing nearby trees…and insists on getting fussed with…and if you ignore him…he bites you…..

The goats are pacing the fence line…stomping and fuming…because they’re not getting fed immediately…..

Anja ignores us with her face in the round bale…..

…..Claire & Brave are napping…with one eye on us…..

…..and the Runner Ducks………….are running…..

The chickens and roosters are doing their thing…hunting & pecking…..

…..and the ducks keep running…..

They run from water tank puddle to water tank puddle…..

…..there’s so much mud…and so little time…..

Then they run to the water pans…to wade through them…and sit in them…..

…..because Lord knows…you can’t leave any container with clean water…it all has to be made muddy…..

And then they have to run back to the beginning…to start the circuit all over again…..

…..(it’s my morning exercise just watching them)…..

…..(if it weren’t for the caffeine…I’d be exhausted)…..

We’ve sat out there the last couple mornings…while the sun is coming up…and waited for the errant duck hen…to head back to her secret nest…..

…..she’s eaten…and filtered mud…and muddied the waters…..

…..and she doesn’t go back to her nest?…..?…..

There’s only a certain amount of time that a nest of eggs can be left uncovered and still keep them viable…..

…..and she doesn’t appear to be doing that…..

I had wanted to see where she went after coming up for her meal…..

…..but she’s out-waited me…every morning…..

I had wanted to follow her…to find her nest…..

No Such Luck………….Yet………….

…..(to be continued)…..

 

 

 

 

 

#duckeggs #runnerducks #hatchingeggs #nesting