Here are our 12 ducks safe in the electric fencing at the end of December.
On Sunday we had a grand plan- this usually means Mike or I have an idea and we talk about it for 1-2 minutes and then we declare the plan sound and move right into implementation of the plan (total time 10 min or less from idea to implementation). We decided that it was time to let the ducks be free range. We bought the ducks because we thought it would be cool to have ducks in our pond and the pond was calling!
These last few photos are a little out of order, but here are the ducks in their new home!
It took a while to convince them to go into the pond. At one point they jumped in the water and then turned around to head back to the fenced in area.
But after a few tries they finally realized they were in a REALLY BIG tub of water and they splashed around for a few hours. We will still need to feed them every day and we hope they stay in the middle of the pond when the fox and coyote come around. But the pond now looks as it should and all is balanced at the Green Akeys Family Farm. The ducks looked soooooo happy to be in water and we again spent 30-40 minutes watching them. We do a lot of watching of animals and taking pictures on our farm :) Feel free to come on over and watch our animals with us--- it's absolutely fascinating. Did you know that cows take turns 'babysitting' each others calves-- it's amazing to watch-- but that's a story for a different post.
Here is Frank doing his job getting the ducks to the pond. He's not as gentle with the ducks but with the right coaching he does fine and the ducks get where they need to go. He absolutely loves to work and herd anything, anywhere, anytime.
I also have a really hard time when Mike gets to give him commands and I have to watch on the sidelines. I really love working with Frank and I've been trying to teach him to STAND and a slow, slow approach on the sheep in tight areas rather than his typical fast paced herding. He does a good job listening to me and it's absolutely addictive. If we ever decide to let Dot have puppies, I'm keeping one for me..... what's one more dog?
Everyone always asks me....so what's next...
PIGS!!!! 3 pigs to be exact. We know where we are getting them and now we have a barnyard (as of Monday)...so maybe I'll be able to convince Mike to get them this weekend?????
After that, we can get the Guardian Livestock dogs, and then maybe 1 dairy cow for fun.......and then some rabbits..... he-he.
5 comments:
Is that white duck an albino?
Do you have fish in the pond?
No fish yet. The pond is only 2 feet deep or so. Maybe 3 feet. You need a minimum of 10 feet in order to have enough dissolved oxygen to keep fish alive over the winter. So we will deepen the pond at some point and then stock it with sunfish and bass, and maybe catfish. Its not a huge pond. If we win the lottery we can make the pond bigger...
And he isnt an albino. He is a Crested Duck. He has Don King hair.
Y'all definitely need an LGD now. Goats, ducks, lambs, calves - you need a Pyr/Anatolian.
I love watching our ducks in the pond, too. Beats Dancing with the Stars.
We had 4 lambs this evening. I went into the barn to check on them right before we had to leave for Kevin's soccer game and there was a lamb hopping around. I looked over and there was another lamb! But there were two ewes who looked like they had just given birth. Both were licking the lambs. Um...which lamb belongs to which mom? Took me a while to figure it out but the mom who had the twins was letting them nurse and the other ewe was just confused as about 15 minutes later she started into labor and had her own twins! 2 ram lambs and 2 ewe lambs respectively. I slightly assisted the second lamb as she was presenting backwards and also because I could...:)
Ah, now Im a real farmer. Im a lamb puller.
Photos tomorrow. Im too pooped and the camera battery is dead.
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