As it happens, a duck will follow you anywhere for a bowl of peas!
I ordered them months ago to be sure of getting what I wanted and to be delivered at a time when I wasn’t dealing with new layers and the meat chickens. I never expected, once they arrived, that their feed would have increased to $20.00 for a 50lb. bag. I now have three laying hens and a rooster, my two pet geese (Polly and Fredrik) and the runner ducks. I do hope some of those duckies are girls, so at least they can give me fresh eggs for baking. But if not, they sure are taking down the bug and slug population and many of the weeds as well!
I used to give the eggs from all my laying hens to folks who needed them or just appreciated a good fresh egg. However, since Covid nobody wants them anymore. That’s sad, but in the end, it saves me on feed.
And on another note, I will share that even though I was not here, I did take pictures, shoot videos, and work in the garden daily. I have a lot of material that never made it to my pages and would like to get it up here anyway.
Perhaps with some notation so you know the difference?
Life on the Farmlet 
I liked the communal tub a lot. It is a pity that there was no demand for your eggs.
Tom, they do like their baths, but peas can only be served there first thing in the morning… 😉
Well, it is their loss and our gain as we really can’t afford the feed costs right now. So be it. When, if, this massive inflation goes down I might allow myself a few more hens. IF…
If …. that is a big if.
Yes it is.
So adorable! Your life sure has changed since your move from California. I’m glad to see you posting again. I’m about to go on a blog hiatus myself until the end of the year. Going to try once again to get a studio set up so I can get back into a creative life. Hugs from Kentucky.
Anita, it surely has. I will be thinking of you as I dig out the mess in my own studio. I haven’t made a thing for a very long time. It’s time to stop living in my head and get busy with life! C-v-d is the new “C” Word. 😦
So let’s get busy creating again! Oh, and isn’t “C”reating a better replacement? ❤
I’m completely perplexed about people refusing your eggs. Of all the odd pandemic stories I’ve heard, that ranks right up there. What was the reason?
I do have to ask about those runner ducks. That’s a term I can’t remember hearing before, but of course I don’t know much at all about domestic ducks. Are they ducks that are especially eager and fast when it comes to running to their food bowl?
Linda, they never gave a reason, they just stopped asking and declined when I offered. Sad really. However, this will save us on feed costs, and now that Bob is going to retire at the end of December, we will have to be more careful about our spending.
Runner ducks were bread in India to be upright. I don’t know why, perhaps I should investigate deeper. Their longer legs, lighter weight (4.5 lbs. full grown) and upright stature means that they are able to walk fast and have the ability to run instead of waddle like all other ducks. Regarding your last question: They are all eager to get to the food bowl, but the runners far outdistance the Muscovies to the finish! 😉
I dearly love a duck… As a child we had Cayugas, gorgeous iridescent large black birds with a blue/green sheen on them. They’re pretty quiet and lay loads of eggs, but sadly I can’t keep them here as we have no water for them, and they would be terrified of Mouse, being rather nervous.
Kate, I had a hard time choosing which ducks to keep, Cayugas were on the list, but in the end, I went for the runners. And yes, your concerns about the dog are valid. I have already lost one wayward explorer. Laffy and and Daffy used to be triplets which were called: My box of chocolates… 😦
Covid made selling our eggs to Forrest’s co-worker’s impossible since he worked from home and could no longer take spare eggs to the office. For a while a few co-worker’s came by the gate and picked them up from a cooler we kept at our property entry. But eventually, people didn’t want to make the trip here, so I started giving most of our eggs away. Thankfully, people here still want them… but then the hens started molting, so no eggs to spare now.
I can’t wait to hear more about your ducks. I understand downsizing. We still have 26 hens and Dale the rooster. Feed is costly, but then we also purchase deer feed to supplement the fawns and mamas. We don’t do much off the place so we chalk up the cost to entertainment – we love the chickens and deer! I wish I could let the chickens graze in the pasture and yard, but we’ve lost several hens to hawks and owls this past year.
Lori, Isn’t it just so sad? All of it? We aren’t able to look at our feed costs and part of our entertainment budget. Feed costs here go toward our food budget. Though I do wish we could!
I think I may actually bore everyone with my duck news, I hope not, but it could happen. Easy. Too easy. LOL!
If you have time to supervise, you could let them out at the end of the day for a romp. Now that the weather is cooling down overnight feeding them their scratch will be a draw to come back to the chicken yard. Plus, it helps them to keep warm overnight. It’s their Achilles heal! Here…chick, chick, chick…
Why in the world would people not want fresh eggs, from happy chickens? Send your extras down here!!!!
Lisa, they are terrified of C-v-D. That is the only explanation. I don’t know what it is like where you are, but here there has simply been too much “panic-p-rn”. Although we are far less restricted here it is still an issue. Would that I could send them to you! ❤
That makes zero sense to me, but I also marvel that if one doesn’t trust the vaccines and spends so much time on that research, why don’t people also research msg and aspartame and all of the toxins ingested daily in so much of the easy-to-buy ‘tasty’ or sugarless products? But fresh eggs? Makes no sense to me – it’s backwards – one should get as close to ‘pure’ as possible! Down here eggs are sold and stored at room temperature – except for some who want all things refrigerated including tomatoes… it’s actually very refreshing here. .people didn’t balk at the masks, at being respectful for others, and even now when so many are vaccinated, they still wear masks and respect those people in their immediate vicinity. yes, like anyone else, there are lapses – but not out of being bull headed but because they just forget 0r are tired. maybe it’s because of dengue and chikungunya and earthquakes – people realize thre are times when you just have to be patient….
Awww! I’d love some ducks, so sweet
Lynn, I love mine, but I’m fast learning that they need restrictions in their allowed and not allowed grazing habits!
Lucky ducks!
Annie, they are!
Awww… love ducks even though they are messy with their watering habits.❤️
Deb, they are certainly entertaining, and you’ve nailed it on the watering habits. Eventually, they will have a large pen to keep them in and be let out for supervised garden cleanup; weeds, slugs, bugs etc. This will give the garden a chance to GROW. Especially the garlic. They do love garlic!