raising ducks

7 11, 2020

Something I Learned on Miller Farm

By |2020-11-07T07:12:29-06:00November 7th, 2020|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara


I have learned many things living on Miller Farm. For example, I know how to tell a girl duck from a boy duck, also called a drake.

Girl ducks are actually louder when they quack.  Drakes make a softer sound.

Drakes also have a curl in their tail.

I guess it is the duck equivalent of really long curly eyelashes on human boys.

I’m not sure how useful this information is but it does make for interesting conversation while waiting in line at the grocery store.

8 05, 2020

It’s True What They Say About Ducks

By |2020-05-07T17:00:51-05:00May 8th, 2020|Uncategorized|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara


Since my music classes at school have been put on hold, I have been helping the science teacher grade papers. She makes a key for me which helps for grades 5-8.

In 3rd grade, though, I was pretty sure that saying having ten toes is a learned trait was not the correct answer.

This has made me reflect on all I learned in science classes, particularly about ducks.

For example, we learn that ducks have webbed feet.  This allows them to swim.

Sure enough, the first thing I noticed when our first duck hatched was its webbed feet.

Then within the first 48 hours, that little duck was in the water even though it was meant to be a drinking bowl.

One day after I moved the ducks from their outside pen back into their tub to bring in for the night, I noticed my hands were oily.

I realized this is also an adaptation – the feathers have an oily substance that repels water.

Who knew all those things I learned in science class actually existed in real life!

1 05, 2020

Just in Time

By |2020-04-29T12:27:13-05:00May 1st, 2020|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara


We started building a separate enclosure for the ducks during Spring Break. We dismantled all the individual Bantam runs and moved the small coop and “duck pond” to that side of the chicken yard.

Matt came and helped Brian build a door, and I strung the chicken wire.

It was finished on Sunday, and we moved the little ducks into their new home along with Lucy and Ricky, the adult ducks.

 

Now I go out at night to put them in the coop.

We made the move just in time.  Tuesday, the next batch of ducks started to hatch.

Here we go again!

17 04, 2020

Duck Report

By |2020-04-16T10:09:34-05:00April 17th, 2020|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara


The baby ducks are getting bigger. This is a good thing.  We want to move them outside because they are making a huge mess.

I put them in a cage outside while I cleaned out their tub this weekend. They seemed to enjoy it so I left them all afternoon.

They had a larger water container and spent a lot of time running back and forth in the cage.

It makes me smile.  Hopefully it makes you smile also.

We need to smile a lot these days.

16 08, 2019

Welcome Ducklings

By |2019-08-07T17:11:43-05:00August 16th, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

We moved the ducklings outside this week. They are in the pen where the white chicks had been.  They seem to have adjusted very well.  I close them in the coop at night and they come out during the day.

Lucy and Ricky noticed them pretty quickly and seemed very curious.  I may never get the big ducks back into their pen.

 

We are keeping Elvis, my friend’s dachshund, while she and her husband are in Alaska.

He seemed curious as well.

I’m not sure the ducklings realize what a novelty they are.  It is nice to see the rest of Miller Farm welcome the new ducklings!

14 09, 2018

My Life in Songs, Part 2

By |2018-09-03T09:35:34-05:00September 14th, 2018|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

 
The duck population on Miller Farm has increased to five. Filling their duck pool is the highlight of my week. They are so fun to watch as they take turns getting into the pool. Apparently sharing is a learned skill in ducks as well as in humans.
One duck hasn’t quite mastered the skill yet. The antics are fun to watch.

Of course this reminds me of a song. I actually have this song in a book all its own.

My copy is falling apart from so much use. Perhaps I should replace it before I introduce this song to my new group of classes. They have no idea what fun we will have! I do love sharing my life in songs.

1 06, 2018

Ducks to Water???

By |2018-06-01T13:43:38-05:00June 1st, 2018|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|3 Comments

A blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

I’m not sure where the phrase “like a duck to water” comes from, but I do know that our ducks have never heard it.

They outgrew the pan of water that we put in their pen so Rachel and I bought a small wading pool.  Negotiating around the garden center with a pool in the buggy was quite a challenge.

We got it home and discovered there were directions for assembling the wading pool.It has been a long time since I bought a wading pool but I’m pretty sure they are not hard to set up.  The instructions included a lanyard to be worn by the adult responsible for watching the children in the pool.

Since ducks are naturally good swimmers, we threw the lanyard away.

At the suggestion of the person who gave us the ducks, we put down a layer of mulch under the pool to keep down the mud.  The chickens thought this was for their entertainment and promptly begin scratching all the mulch out from under the pool.

The ducks were less impressed with their new “pond.” Rachel threw them in and they immediately climbed out as though it were boiling water.

We moved to plan B. Put the pool on more level ground. Surely the ducks would like it then. Wrong.

Rachel suggested digging an indentation to make the pool more level with the ground.  Sounded like a good idea to me.

So on to plan C. After wearing a blister on my hand, I had a shallow hole in which to set the pool.  I filled it with water and went inside to bandage my wound.

While enjoying some nice cold water, I glanced out the window to see the ducks in the pool!!!!  I was so thrilled I jumped up to get a picture.  They immediately jumped out.

Since then they have been in the water many times and I have tried to photograph them. This is the best I could do.

Any time I get closer, they exit the pool.  I’ve considered installing a camera in one of the trees.

I guess they finally heard the phrase “Like a duck to water.”

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