Duckling Update

I really, truly, honestly didn't forget to update y'all on our duckling hatch! But with this lovely weather, I've been outside in the garden when not in the barn, or at a goat show! :-/

So without further ado...

We ended up with two teeny, tiny ducklings!

Bad picture, sorry. :-/  There was a total of 6 eggs in the incubator, but two died at three weeks into the incubation, and then the other two died after pipping (cracking) the eggshell. :( 

But I at least got these two, so I'm happy. 

Small Noises...

This morning I checked on the incubator, as I have been for the last 28 days.

But today...

As I leaned closer to it, I heard a very distinct noise coming from within the Styrofoam walls...

A very small noise...

A quiet, but steady peeping! Upon closer inspection I found that one of the eggs had a small hole cracked into it,  and from there came the small noises! It is so cute watching our first duckling start to hatch, and hopefully within the next 24 hours it should be ready to come out of the incubator and explore the big world!

I'll keep y'all posted... :)

A Sunny, Warm Day...

It's warm today.

So nice and warm, in fact, that I got to wear my Crocs while outside...

It was warm enough for the ducks to take a little stroll together...

It was warm enough to let the animals into the other side of the fenced pasture...

It was warm enough to let all the goat kids out to play...

It was warm enough to make everyone sleepy...

Some of us couldn't stop yawning...

It was warm enough to merely watch life go by...

And then it was warm enough, that we fell asleep again...

Wish Me Luck!

Some friends of mine loaned me something...

I'm sure you can't guess what it is, can you? ;)

Yup, I am attempting to hatch out some duck eggs! We'll see if it works... I've got seven eggs in there right now, and hope to put some more in soon. 

I was extremely grateful that the whole thing is pretty simple to work. It now sits quietly in a corner. Humming softly to itself.

And there the eggs sit. Quietly. Peacefully. Will anything come of this adventure?

We'll find out in 28 days...

And They Lived Happily Ever After...

The end...

Eggses

I dunno'. Plain ol' "eggs" seemed so boring. Eggses has a nicer ring. Or maybe it just gets your attention... ;)

Some sweet friends of mine surprised me the other day by giving me a free bag of chicken feed from Q-Bar farm; I had heard a lot of good about this particular feed mill, so I was especially excited to see how my pullets did on the whole grain feed. To my surprise, on day #2 of switching feeds, my little ladies started laying! Coincidence? Methinks not. :)

The eggs are only about 2" long right now, as the hens get older, their eggs will get bigger. They look so cute nestled amongst the gargantuan brown and green eggs in our fridge.

Below is a picture of an egg comparison. On the right is one of our tiny pullet eggs; on the left is a duck egg.

Wait a minute! Where'd that duck egg come from!?

Hehe, I couldn't resist...

A friend mentioned to me that she needed to re-home her pair of Magpie ducks. And who was I to say nay to such an opportunity? ;) I absolutely love these two new additions to the farm. They are so hilarious as they waddle around, quacking softly to each other. As you can see in the picture, I dug out our kiddie pool that had been gathering dust in the shop, and filled it for my small aquatic friends. 

The female has been faithfully laying an egg every single morning, and for awhile we would have them for lunch (personally, I LOVE duck eggs!), but now I have been leaving the eggs in her nest in hopes that she will go broody and hatch out some ducklings! We'll see...