It's Wild Freakin' Kingdom Out There

I got the dreaded call at work from the SB.  "I have some bad news"  Uh oh.  We had lost one of the ducks.  Apparently to drowning.  I have heard that this can happen when the males are mating and push the head of the female into the water.  Though the water in the creek isn't really that deep.  Plus the SB said he had to pull the duck's bill out of the water, it had gotten stuck somehow.

He called again about half an hour later.  There was a unknown factor.  The duck had a hole in its bill where something had penetrated.  That would be some force to get through a bill.  Not simply a snag.   The SB also saw some movement in the creek.  Some bubbles.  We had seen a relatively large water snake in the creek several weeks ago, but it wasn't the nasty sort.  We also have turtles.

I was on my way home since the Governor gave us a couple extra hours off.  When I got home the SB informed me that we had a pretty big snapping turtle in the creek.  We went out and excavated it from the creek and moved it down to the river.  The thing was indeed big.  Not the largest I have ever seen, but given the size of the creek, it was impressive.  And it was big enough to have held a duck's bill underwater for too long.  I buried her in the duck graveyard.

Oh Yeah!

Today, the old and new ducks grazed in proximity to one another.  It felt like a GIANT win here at the Urban Farm.  The new ducks hung out on the banks while the old ducks swam.  It is all very high school around here right now.  It is going to get REALLY interesting when the new ducks get to breeding age.  There is precious little info out there on integrating duck flocks, so I really have no idea how this will turn out.  One flock would be ideal, but I still don't totally believe it is possible.

Tiny Window

This is the tiny window in weather garden etc that is precious.  The greens are going great guns, the summer pests haven't set in.  The mosquitoes are barely buzzing.  The rain is coming regularly.  There is much potential and promise.  Seeds planted.  Trellises constructed.  Mowing more or less under control.  Flowers blooming, etc, etc.

Oh!  Didn't I mention that the SB made trellises for the garden?  No?  You. Should. See. Them.  I feel totally rich.  They are simple, rabbit fencing with a bamboo pole woven through the top, hung on some posts.  We have two of these panels per bed.  We have the trellises around the outside of our 6 main beds, in a U shape.  When they grow in there will be a wee garden room springing up around you.  In my mind it is green and fruitful.

We'll see what happens when reality sets in.

Success!

Today the little ducks found the water.  They spend a good amount of time snorggling in the muddy banks and splashing about.  It does my heart good to see ducks in the water. 

The first of our strawberries should be ripe tomorrow.  Cross your fingers for us that something doesn't get them overnight.

We had soup of chicken stock, lambs quarters, mizuna and noodles this evening.  Yum.

Progress

The ducks have made some progress this week.  Sampson seems to have lessened the frequency and vigor of his attacks.  The little ducks have left the duck pen on their own without the SB or I chasing them out.  They are snorggling around in the flower bed right outside their pen.  I suspect they are eating the seeds that I just planted but I am willing to overlook that given the circumstances.  I hope they start foraging further afield soon.  I hope that they find the water too.  They are constantly trying to bathe in the drinking water which means that they splash it out every where.  Annoying.

Yay for integration.

Returns

We are thinking of returning the ducks as they are clearly defective. They have no idea how to be ducks. They haven't even found the water yet and it is 12 feet from their pen. What do you ship 7 nearly grown ducks in? Why are they so stupid?

Slogging

Seems like I have been moving through molasses lately. Not getting much done on any front. Spring fever? Laziness? Your call.

The new ducks are out in the duck yard. They are bums. They have to be rousted out of their house on a regular basis. I force them out into the yard (the big ducks are always dying to go out) and as soon as I turn my back they have snuck back in and settled in the house. It is a rough go for them, our big male Sampson will periodically chase them and then abuse them. It is pathetic. I don't know whether to just let them at it. I feel like he is going to get tired of it at some point. I think keeping them separate at some point just prolongs the integration. At the same time, locking them in a cage all day where they can't get away from him seems somewhat cruel. I guess it is gonna be rough whichever way it goes. And these little ones really do need to toughen up. They are total pansies. It is hard to find good info on duck flock integration.

The goats are enjoying all the greenery. They are eating up a storm and loving it. The goat vet came today for their yearly check up/vaccinations. She said that they are both "proper" goats, meaning they have good confirmation. Also that Zinnia has beautiful feet and Ella has witches toes. Just sayin'. She also allowed that they were at the perfect weight and I shouldn't feed them more than necessary. Which is good because they seemed on the thin side to me.

The garden is crappy so far this year. No rain and lots of heat has made the germination totally spotty. I am moving on. Looking forward to putting out the summer plants and planning for fall. I think we will have some mustard greens, arugula and lettuce, but nothing else seems to be coming up.