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| Enter
Quackers |
| Six
months after building the duck pond it finally has it's
first residents. Two male and two female "demi sauvage"
ducks bought on yet another excursion to the market at Les
Hirolles. This time we were lucky, on our last visit we
couldn't find any male ducks. At around 6 weeks old they
are just balls of down and they can move like wildfire!
Most of the sellers were sexing them by inspecting "down
below" which needs skillful handling - all the organs
are internal so it is very easy to damage a duckling by
inspecting in this way. Our seller used a more reliable
method of listening to the "quack"! I didn't believe
this at first as he picked up one duck after another and
held it up to his ear. However, I am reliably informed that,
at six to eight weeks old, only the female of the species
can quack, the male makes a sound something akin to laryngitis!
Listening to them over the ensuing weeks, I am now convinced
that the method works. |
 The
first few times trying to get them back into the duck
house at night was a bit of a performance. They shot in
all directions like bullets from a machine gun - in and
out of the pond. Eventually I resorted to an old swimming
pool net which amused the neighbours no end but saved
my patience and energy considerably.
After two weeks they seemed to get the idea and now they
trek up the ramp at nightfall. One of the females usually
stands at the entrance waiting for me to arrive and close
the door - they really are characters. There are few things
in life more relaxing than watching them swim about on
the water and, still being quite young, they engage in
bouts of madness on the water - swimming underwater for
the length of the pond then surfacing with a huge splash
and a cacophony of "quacking"!
|
 Now
around 8 weeks old and all the down has been replaced by
feathers. The colour of the males is developing gradually.
They must be one of the easiest creatures to look after.
We feed them daily on the same pellets as the chickens,
then top up with boiled vegetables, apples and usually some
maize. We leave a bowl of fresh water out each day also
and, apart from letting them out in the morning and putting
them away at night, that's about it. A small price to pay
for so much entertainment! |
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