A week on...

The little rescued Mallards continue to amaze me with their progress & fortitude. They have almost doubled in size I reckon & they are beginning to develop little characters. One is bigger than the rest, so maybe we have 3 ducks & 1 drake? Who can say - we'll just to have wait & see on that front! Here is an up to date picture of the little munchkins:

Ibbity, Bibbity, Bobbity & Boo approx 2-3wks old

They are so cute!

Fortunately long suffering hubby is completely smitten with them too, because at the moment they are living in a run in our bedroom. I must admit it is rather pleasant waking up to the sound of their cheery little cheeps in the morning, but not so pleasant having a constant whiff of duck poop in the air! But to see these little ones flourish when their story could so easily have been a very tragic one is more than compensation for that They are absolute darlings & quite happily let me climb into the run with them & 'chat' to them as they go about the business of feeding & stretching & preening. They are still on chick crumbs which they moisten with water before guzzling up this sort of duckling porridge. They have also enjoyed a limited amount of freshly picked grass & finely chopped lettuce.

This evening they have been splashing water from the mushroom drinker all over themselves & having a good old rub down. I think they are ready to have some shallow water to splash about in. As they are indoors I don't think a shallow dish of luke warm water will hurt for a few minutes. I know it's important not to let ducklings get wet & chilled, but as they are indoors & can be towel dried if necessary it seems important to let them fulfil their instinctive need for water.

The ducklings have been trying to wet themselves so they can preen properly

I gave my neighbour Mary a photo of them to pin up in her kitchen so that when they are big enough to join the rest of our ducks (which she can see from her window) she can remember just how tiny & vulnerable they were when we rescued them. That will be a happy day!

My biggest ducklings have seemed rather over shadowed in my blogging by the tiniest, but Tom & Cherry are also coming along just fine. They are very well feathered now, so hopefully they will be going to join the rest of the flock in our little field just as the rescued ducklings are able to go out into the garden. We have gone from having 3 ducks to 17 in a very short space of time & things have been a little hectic! I haven't spent nearly as much time with Tom & Cherry as I did with my Muscovy ducklings, but this hasn't stopped them being just as friendly, entertaining & lovable.

Tom & Cherry the Cherry Valley ducklings

So it's ducks, ducks & more ducks here ....... and then came along 6 ex battery hens! But that's for another blog.