More on the dorm ducks

It’s Friday, so let’s have a butcher’s at the Dorm Ducks. They’re about six weeks old now, and all ten ducklings are thriving. Mother Maria is on the scene most of the time, and is a very attentive mom.  You’ll see how fat the little buggers are, and how much they’ve grown.  Blame the Mazuri Duck Chow, mealworms, and plenty of fresh water (about 20 gallons per visit), much of which we schlep several blocks in gallon milk jugs.  It’s not an easy job, but somebody has to do it.

Here are some photos and two videos from July 31:

Tub o’ ducks!

The ducklings like to lie on tufts of grass on the patio, even though there’s a whole lawn right nearby. But they like to stay close to Mom and their siblings.

The tub gets a bit crowded at times. . . .

But sometimes a lucky duck gets the tub all to itself. Here’s a video of one having a high old time swimming, drinking and ducking. We’d prefer a pond, of course, but that’s not available.

Napping on a tuft. Notice the closed nictitating membranes protecting the eyes.

The lovely Maria, who hatched all these babies:

More bathing, noshing, and preening in this video:

. . . and another shot of Mother Mary:

A baby in all its grown-up splendor. The secondary wing feathers are coming in, and today the primaries were visible.

Another improvised swimming pool. I used to use these containers in my incubators to keep my flies under high humidity. Never did I dream that they would serve as duck bathtubs.