Triton's Farm

This week on the farm: it's the goofy ducks. I really like the ducks. Of all the animals on the farm they are one of the nicest. They don't tend to do many bad things and as long as they have water and we leave them alone they are fine. They have even learned to come in from the pond at night to get safely tucked in bed.

Just so you know not all the ducks we have had have been this well behaved. We seem to have a nice group. I really like the two breeds, Anconas and Silver Appleyards. Both have nice personalities and stay close to the barn. They don't try to stay out late so we can keep the safe from Willey Coyote. Hector playing the part of Ralph the sheep dog has an easy time with the ducks. He likes to lay by the pond watching the ducks. At least that's what he tells us he's doing. He might just be sleeping.

For the last couple of weeks I have been watching one particular duck, an Ancona Drake. A pretty black and white duck. We separated the Anconas from the Silver Apple Yards so we can save eggs and hatch out some more ducks. We didn't realize this would cause one particular drake so much anxiety. Ducks don't pair up quite like geese. They are a little more promiscuous and forgetful about their mates. They tend to like a little more of a harem than sticking to one hen. They do have favorites however. This little drake apparently had a favorite Silver Appleyard hen. I didn't realize and thought he would be over it by now, but he just seems to be more determined. We have the ducks separated so that one group can go to the pond while the other stays in the pen with a pool. The Silver Appleyards are lazier and seem quite happy with a pool while the Anconas like the pond. Every day this little black and white drake walks around the pen of Silver Appleyards calling to his hen. I think if I could figure out which hen he was pinning for I would let her out, but I'm not sure if the hens feel the same way about him. I haven't noticed any particular hen following him around or making head bobs at him. I think it may be one sided. So my little Romeo will just have to continue pinning for his hen till they have been separated long enough that I can be sure the eggs are pure for each breed. Then we will save some eggs for hatching and let the two breeds back together. Little Romeo just has to hold out for another couple of weeks before he can find his Juliette.