Well tonight was ducky bath time, and here they are in the tub, having a whale of a time!
I tell you though, they are now ducks, not really ducklings. They have gotten HUGE!
Ducky Bath Time!
Everybody gets busy with feather arranging and making a mess of the tub and the bathroom in general, with all their spashing.
See how big they are?! I remember when they all fit across the tub. Now just a few of them do. Wow, duck-o-rama!
So then the drying started. They take a lot more effort to dry at this size because they seem to take on more water. Forgive my appearance, today has been one of those days and a long one. I spent half the afternoon laying on the floor of the barn clipping a sheep with scissors. I saw no reason to get changed or "prettified" for this event! Consequently, I look like I was dragged through a hedge backwards, but at least you can see how big the ducks are because they are on my lap!
Up and over the shoulder!
Kissy kissy!
Here's the one that looks most like a mallard.
Purdy feathers!
Here's one of the maybe Swedish ducks, but no blue to it.
I'm not sure if it's Swedish now.
Umm... Claire, I think your bathtub shrank.... ;-)
See how the smaller of the 2 maybe-Swedish has brown in its feathers around its head? I think it might be a Swedish mallard cross or something?
Lazy Ladies - I knew there was something about that!! You hit the nail on the head!!
Post bath feather arranging...
And more feather arranging. Everybody - be a contortionist!!
Come flyyyyy with me...
SO CUTE!
Thats so cute i can't wait till i can get some Call Ducks i found a site on how to build a pen with a little pond in it.
Claire will you get them a pool this summer that would be cute all those ducks in a pool?
We have a kiddie pool we use for our dog, so we'll use that, but probably they will go straight to our pond. We'll probably try to build a little duck house on the pond to keep them safe.
I didn't know you had a pond Dang!! you got it all Claire and then some i'm SOOOOOOOOOOO JEALOUS!!!
It's not a huge pond or anything Harmony - just a pond on the edge of our woods. It is where the river otter lives in the summer.
It is fed from a smaller pond which is also on the property. I haven't decided which pond to put them on yet. The smaller one is closer to the road so it worries me.
Here is the small one (in winter)
Here is the larger pond that is fed by the smaller one. When we get a lot of rain, there is runoff from the little one into the big one.
I would like them to go here, but I worry because it is more in the woods, therefore more chance of raccoons, etc.
How the HECK they manage to grow that fast...
DD here sayin' "we can just cover the pool to keep it warm in summer -let's get ducks -I want ducks" lolol. well me too but reason before duck lust...
Beautiful.
I'm gonna post links to videos here in a second if I can get it to work!
See Harmony, you wouldn't want a pond in a freezing cold icy place like Iowa!!
That is some beautiful pond pics Claire i love where you live ***SIGH***
I love your climate more, Harmony!!
OK folks, try this out. Here is the next duck bath video. Then I'm going to post one of them fixing up their feathers after.
http://flickr.com/photos/10178403@N05/3227621074/
Somebody tell me if it works!
It works great
Well it's been loading for quite a while now. Same w/ the last. I ended up watching the grainy one. Maybe that's just my computer though.
Love the video.. love the pics! Thank you for taking the time to give us such a nice show!
Here is the video of them all fixing their feathers and drying off in their pen.
They are so cute, and they can do crazy things with their neck! Notice how quiet they get (comparatively) when they are preening.
http://flickr.com/photos/10178403@N05/3226787489/
That was like syncronized swimming and preening Thanks Claire ^_^
Here's the grainy version of the bath video:
http://picasaweb.google.com/PatentGarden/DuckBath2#5295422179550746290
Jaiden (my 5 year old daughter) was standing here coaxing the ducks... "if you want out little duckies, just fly out..."
Tell her not to give them any ideas!! LOL!!
Here is the link for the grainy drying off and preening video
http://picasaweb.google.com/PatentGarden/DuckBath2#5295435886745797794
Thanks ever so!! Still listening to the music...lolol. Definite shrinking tub syndrome...
I can't believe Dahlianut is missing all this!
D-mail?
Oh man, I missed it!!!! They have gotten huge! They seem to float a little better as well.
The ponds are beautiful, even when snow and ice covered. I have no idea about the breeds of ducks. I just think they are cuteouswithfeatherous!! Time to get a bigger tub though, that one does indeed look like it shrank. Who knew tubs did that! huh! I sure do envy the fun with tubby time. ;) Have a wonderful day Claire!
Thanks for the videos and pics Claire;)
QUACK! QUACK! Puff Puff paddled over as fast as I could. OMG they are HUGE! I don't even recognize Blub anymore (sniffle). Was she the noisy one? But there's Dippy sticking her head under the tap as to be expected. I TOTALLY LUV the little butt shakes they do to dry their tails. Thanks ever so for the videos Claire. Now I can quack along anytime I want. Quack. Quack