The Duck Days of Summer - Part 1

Our homestead is ever expanding and changing. It seems rather appropriate to provide a thorough update of who is who on the land and who is expected in the coming months.  Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!

First, we have our “original” flock(s) from last year. We have 17 adult ducks, so they are a little difficult to gather and pose for a group shot. I hope these suffice:

 

Family Photo

You’ll immediately recognize Alice and Ms. Duck, the large white Pekins. Alice has maintained her Top-of-The-Flock status and can be regularly found displaying her gorgeous (and incredibly soft) self for everyone to see. Ms. Duck is still a little strange: Standoffish with humans but desperately interested in being part of the flock. She misses the social cues of the other ducks and marches to a different drummer. She is sort of a “weak” duck with regular accidents (she once sprained her leg flying into another duck in the middle of our icy winter and had to spend 6 weeks rehabilitating in our garage), but balances our flock out and makes us very glad she’s part of our family. Both lay white eggs of gargantuan proportions every day or so. 

 

The Glamorous Alice

 

The not-so-Glamorous Ms. Duck



Then there are the Khaki Campells. These are the babies that arrived with Alice over a year ago in a straight run (mixed sex). We butchered the males (except Muffin, our stud and Edgar) and kept the females. Along the way, we lost our fair share (remember Jerome?). Now we are down to Splitfoot and one other female who doesn’t have a name. They lay good sized white eggs daily and are pretty social with us humans.

Splitfoot and Nameless

 

(stud)Muffin

Next come the Golden 300s. This is a hybrid variety that we got for egg production. They look nearly identical to the Khaki Campbells but have a darker wingstripe and a light brown facial stripe that the Khakis are missing. We have 5 Golden females and 1 male (Bismarck). We have a light one named Goldie who regularly squeezes through the fencing to wander among the goats or sneaks into the neighbor’s yard to eat her fill of dandelions without competition. We also have Mama Duck who has gone broody and is sitting her eggs as I type. It’s amazing to watch her pull bedding into her already full nest box and nuzzle her warm eggs. They lay a medium sized egg a day.

The Golden Girls with Bismarck Behind

 Mr. Bee’s attempt to restore the world through breeding of this “endangered” (aka rare, domesticated) breed? Ah yes. The Magpies.  Well, we have 3 females that are currently happy to be part of the flock. Don’t let their iridescent feathers or unique patterns fool you into thinking they are docile beauty queens. These 3 ducks make as much noise as our entire flock combined. Black Beak is the loudest and serves as the appointed “spokes duck” for her breed. Next, there is Freckle Face and Skinny Head. They usually stick together and produce an egg every day or so. Although many flock raisers describe their meat as gourmet, we didn’t like the taste and actually bartered the butchered males for other items. And those supposedly green eggs? Try a white egg with a dark brownish-green (aka baby poo) bloom to it. Not my favorite breed to say the least. We will be finding another way to save the world—sorry Mr. Bee! 

 



The Magpies Showing Their Backsides (typical...)

 And what happened to the little Muscovies you may be wondering? Well, one got lost with Butry and the other has become quite the fixture on our homestead. Little, as we aptly named him at the time, is huge. He is the Alpha Male and loves to assert himself by opening his large beak wide and “hissing” or breathing very heavily since the male ducks can’t quack. He is friendly like a puppy, and follows me around while I do morning chores. He wags his big butt and fans his tail in hopes of a treat, then pants like a retriever while he waits. I love Little.

 



Little!!

To meet the ducks I haven't introduced you to yet, check out my next post.