Love

K2 forms a real bond with each of her babies and can tell them apart from when they're pretty small.   [They all look the same to me - beige]  She knows which ones like the water the most.  Which ones could snuggle all day.  Which ones do not like the water thank you very much.  Which ones whistle and which ones quack the loudest.  They follow her around like puppies.

Here she is in front of a stock tank that she used as a swimming pool for them until they got big enough to go down to the creek.   Each duck got a snuggle as it came out.  She loves them. 

And they love her.










[pics: Lily Jenness]

Ducklings

Our Saxony ducklings are big enough to really enjoy the water. There are 9 of them and they don't like to be separated, so K2 commandeered the wheelbarrow for a pool.

Worked like a charm.   The ducklings adore it.  

It only takes a couple of minutes before they are soaking.  You can see the water really moving in this last pic. 

After bath time, they spend a while preening and when they're all dry again, they're soft and fluffy.

Adorable.

Ducklings

Ducklings are just plain cute.   We adore them.  

K2 lives for her ducklings.  They are her babies and she is completely in charge of them. This year she is raising Saxonies.  They are a rare breed, large, buff, gray and white markings.    The ducklings are pricey and we need every one to thrive.

This is their outdoor enclosure.   We let them play outside on hot days.  They love it.

Ducks put meat on fast - much faster than chicks do.  Chicks put all their energy into feathers, while ducklings put all their energy into size.  

This was their first day of being allowed to play/swim in the water.   Most of them weren't interested. 

This one loved the water and once s/he discovered it, s/he didn't want to get out.

Kind of like K2, who feels the same way about water.  

It might be another week or so before the babies really learn to swim.

Summertime

Lily snapped this pic a couple of weeks ago.  This is K2, getting a little sun.  Notice the umbrella she has put up to shade her ducklings.

Notice the ducklings, who are bonded to her and who have snuggled as close to her as possible in the enclosure.

Notice the math book.   We homeschool year-round for math.  It allows a slower, more measured pace.  We don't have the 'Huh?' moments in the fall when they open the book for the first time in 3 months.   The math stays fresh and we don't have to race through.   We just keep going.

This pic pretty much captures how we try to live.   We multitask a lot.   A little school, a little farm responsibility, a little fun.   Every day.

Shy Ducks Update

We drove by the beaver pond and K2 snapped this quick pic. [Sorry it's not a better pic]  Blow it up and count the ducks!   We also saw a female with a trail of at least 6 ducklings.   Awesome!