I thought I’d write a post about how the ducks are doing, just as an update. I haven’t really mentioned much about them, so an update is over-due. 
I just need to say one more thing before I give the update, the waterfowl ducks are our Indian Runners, Khaki Campbells, and Pekins, so I’ll be talking about all of them in the bottom paragraphs. For now, Muscovy’s are up!
The Muscovy ducks, Bug and Timmy (our two survivors out of the clutch Addy and Seedy raised), are learning to fly! Addy, will, every morning, run down the “duck runway” (it’s our chip path, down to the barn door), flapping her wings. Bug and Timmy will follow, flapping their wings and trying to lift off the ground! It’s really cute, believe me.
Bug has successfully flown. Timmy hasn’t (he’s a one big dude though). Mama and Mikah saw Bug fly right past the barn door, and then land. She definitely hasn’t’ mastered the technique yet though. Addy seems to be focusing on the “basics”, which includes…
- knowing what the “duck runway” is
- knowing how to flap your wings
- knowing how to keep your balance when you’re basically running really fast downhill with your wings in the air
- knowing when it’s time to call it a day and go for a swim
- having patience beyond measure
…and not on the “intermediate” (which includes… kidding!) course. We think she’s a pretty good teacher. And it’s really cute when they’re all huddled together talking to each other after they’ve tried to fly. My idea of what they say…
“That was fun!” -Timmy
“I almost flew! I was just lifting off the ground… Mom, how do you do it?!” -Bug
“When the runway ended? I know… it’s definitely a problem. I’ve tried telling the humans we need a longer runway, but they never listen! But dear ducklings, you’re almost there. You’ll figure out your own style of flying. Your wings aren’t fully mature yet, that’s all! You’ll be up in the sky in no time at all!” – Wise old Addy
It’s totally like they’re congratulated each other! 
Okay, so now onto the khaki campbells… every morning, we take them out to pasture and feed them with the broadcaster. They sit down there for an hour or so, then come back up to the water tub and swim. Then nap time comes, then more swimming, then more feeding, then more resting. And they forage throughout their day, which is good.
At night, we lock all the ducks in the duck coop with food and water. The Muscovy’s are kinda mean to the campbells, but they get along okay. But the muscovy’s sleep in a huddle together in probably the warmest corner, and the campbells stretch out in a big circle. There are boundaries at some point.
The campbells are starting to quack too! They almost have all their feathers, but they’re wings aren’t full yet, it’ll be a while for that. I’m not sure if I told you this, but we got 10 new ducks from a friend. 5 of them are Pekins, which is a really popular breed of duck, and the other 5 are black Indian Runners. We already had 2 Runners (a grey-ish one and a white one) when the friend gave us the new ducks. Those ducks are fitting in nicely. The Pekins are really short and plump though, they have trouble getting out of the water tub if the water isn’t high enough. The runners are definitely the tallest, and the campbells are just medium size. Although, they’re getting fat too.
In a couple months, the campbells will start laying eggs! We’re a little more then halfway through with the “beginning months.” We’re getting really excited to finally have our own eggs! We’ll be butchering all almost all the drakes when they’re old enough also. I don’t don’t know what age though, I guess when they get big enough…
Anyway, so is that a good summery of the ducks?
I didn’t know that Muscovy ducks could fly,
but it sounds like they are having lots of fun!
P.S.Yes, that was a great duck summery !
Yes! Actually, Muscovy’s are terrestrial ducks, not as much water ducks, so they do fly more then Khaki Campbells, Indian Runners, and Pekins (those are just the breeds we have), which are all water ducks. And since we don’t clip their wings, they can fly to get away from predators, but they can also very easily escape our property (but we haven’t had that problem in a while… they look forward to feedings and swimming.
).
It’s so cute!
P.S. Thanks!
Hey guys!
Actually Indian Runners are not known for flying much at all. They will fly when chased, or when wanting to beat other ducks to the pool (can you say – cheater:-)
Mallards are both good fliers and water ducks – we got a mallard this spring and just when she started practicing her flying a couple of days later it was gone…. she was no where around the neighborhood. We think she flew to the river a couple city blocks away.
The lesson learned:
Unless you have a pond and other mallard families this ducks will leave your property – bummer.
It’s so nice to hear all the ducks are doing well and enjoying your property ♥
Hi, Jami!
Funny, ’cause our Indian Runners are actually the ducks who flap their wings the most. And they would be pretty good flyers, since they’re so light! All that weight is stretched out vertically, isn’t it? LOL I love our Indian Runners, they’re so cute!
We saw your mallard, right? Too bad she flew away… Seedy and Guppy both flew away (or some predator got them, but we think they chose to go).
LOL We made a second “pond” down the slope from water tub (you saw it when you came recently). When we drain out the tub, The water runs down a little stream and into a dip in the dirt (it’s actually about 1 foot down, so the ducks can swim — well, not the Indian Runners…) and it fills up with water. Only it runs into ground a couple days later, but we’re left with about an 2 inches in the bottom!
Wow – I now see lots of typos in my comment, sheeesh I’m going to have to slow down when I type!
Indian Runners can fly, but flying has been written as not being part of their personality. I’ve read they prefer to walk, this is why people could walk a flock several miles to market and not have them fly away.
Yes, you saw our mallard, but she is gone now
We got her when we were suppose to get our new Runners in the spring, but as you know the order kept being delayed. So she grew up alone, and this made her skittish, which contributed to her leaving I believe. She wasn’t bonded to any of the animals we had because they were all adult and not friendly to her. Oh well, I guess we learned not to count our ducklings until we see them delivered.
Are you guys going to order some chicken’s before next spring?
I know you’ve been thinking about getting some….
LOL
I fixed them all, I think. That’s funny, Jami.
They prefer to run!
I guess it takes less energy, or they’re afraid of heights. ;D
I remember her. She was so beautiful, with that bright blue feather hidden under her wing.
That was the mallard, right? Our first duck to leave (Guppy) was (we think) the “outsider”. She’d grown up with these three other Muscovy’s, but they were all great friends, and she wasn’t really included. She might have been lonely or something.
I think so. We heard of some guy that has 30 chickens (Production Reds and Barred Rock, I believe) that he wants to sell for $5 each. I think we’re going to get a couple of those, but I’m not sure. These chickens are on their first year of laying, if I remember right, so they’re really young and got another couple years ahead of them to lay eggs. How many years do chickens lay eggs for you?
Of course how well chicken’s lay depends on their breed, but a 3 year rotation is usually a good plan – cull them after 3 years or when they stop laying which ever comes first. Some breeds are not very productive after two years, they still lay eggs but not as steady as they do in the first few years. However, they are still good for butchering. RR should be real good layers for 3 years easily.
I have had to cull and give away all but 3 of my spring chickens because they turned out to be roosters! So I would like to buy a few of those chickens you are thinking about getting …. maybe your Mom could email me the contact information – since he has so many and all.
Love your post. We raised ducks for eggs when we lived where we could. Yummy eggs and so much fun to watch them. We had a mallard mommy and a Indian runner mommy. One time we let them hatch out a”gaggle?” of babies. It was so fun. They shared the nest taking turns keeping them warm. When it was time for them to hatch each Mom knew her own eggs. We couldn’t tell the difference, they were all white. As the baby came out they were by their own Mom. Think there is a lesson in there on mothering but for now, I’ll just say isn’t God our creator amazing!
Hi, Erin! Ducks are so wonderful.
Oh that’s totally what happened with our first clutch!
Addie and Seedy both sat on the eggs, then when they hatched, Addie claimed them all. 
She’d started laying and sitting first. 
The two ducklings that survived are now all grown up! They still chirp like babies though. 
I didn’t know you had so many breeds of ducks now! What breed do you favour? My rouens are doing well. Looks like, or I should say sounds like, because I can tell by the noise they make… I have 1 female and 4 males. They haven’t really changed colour yet. How old are they when they do?