After much online research reading about caring for ducks I figured we could take on these little ducklings. We were hoping that they were going to be girls because I read that boy ducks (drakes) can possibly try to mate hens and cause damage to their lady bits. But with even more online reading now that the ducklings a few weeks older, I am pretty sure they are boys. At the moment, they are named Howard and Hughes. We weren't planning on keeping them if they were boys, but I'm getting a wee bit attached so we'll see how the transition to living outside with the hens goes. So far they are more afraid of the hens than anything so I can't imagine them trying to mate them.
Retro pic of the ducks!
In the midst of the duckling arrival, we had been building a large enclosure for our chickens. Brandon has been pushing for them to be confined to one area of the yard ever since we got chickens over three years ago. I love the idea of happy free range chickens so I have been pushing back, but I've finally had enough chicken poop to last me a lifetime. Our covered patio in the winter time becomes a home for the hens and it's chicken poop central! Not to mention I can't keep the ladies out of my garden areas and I battle with them eating my plants. It'll be nice to have them confined to one large area and then I'm sure I'll let them roam the yard more often than Brandon will want. :)
Here is our chicken/duck pen in all it's glory! It was a true labor of love that had me rethink why I have all these birds and end up appreciating them even more for their entertainment and of course, their eggs. And as a side note, I never want to use a post hole digger again.
The ducks are temporarily sleeping in a dogloo at night until we see if they will sleep with the hens in the coop or ultimately need their own coop. We slowly opened the ducks up to the hens and the first day we had a few bitchy hen moments but otherwise the ducks just get up and move when the hens come near them. We also clipped the hens wings so they can't fly over the fence, the first day we had a few escapees. Again though, I'll let them free range the whole yard often so they'll still be happy spoiled ladies.
This chicken pen/duck adventure is just a small piece of what we've been doing in our backyard lately. We've also had a complete office building built in the backyard for my new office space!
We had a local shed building company come out and build the shell of the building as you see above. It's 10ft x 12ft with a cute little 4ft porch on it. In the next few months we'll add electricity and internet, then insulate and drywall, then flooring and give it some finishing touches before I move out there. I am excited to have my own space outside of the house and Hunter is super excited to take over my office inside the house as her own bedroom. An almost four year old little girl really needs her own space. :)
I love that I'll look out my new office window and watch all the birds. Now I just need a koi pond and some goats and I'll be in heaven!
And thankfully we have our gardener taking care of the lawn too!
No comments:
Post a Comment