The Doodle Dilemma

The Doodle Dilemma

Doodle, our littlest Blue Swedish duck has been broody for about three weeks now. We’ve watched her move her nest from one corner of the coop to another corner with the help of our “ducky cam.” We started noticing eggs that may have been pushed out...
Ducky Cam

Ducky Cam

For the second year in a row, we have a broody chicken. And no rooster. Hannah took pity on chicky mama and tucked a few duck eggs under her with hopes that she can finally hatch a baby. What we’ll do if this works, I don’t know. Do the ducks stay with the chickens?...
More Wandering Ducks

More Wandering Ducks

Once again our ducks have been wandering. Hannah discovered them where they shouldn’t have been. Our Pekin ducks typically didn’t wander far but these Welsh Blues are always looking for greener pastures. Or better ponds....
Damn Ducks

Damn Ducks

Hannah’s family of Swedish Blue ducks have made it through their first winter at Downeast Thunder Farm. They didn’t stray far this winter, sticking close to their house much of the time. With the snow melt and spring rains, they been enjoying the driveway...
Independence Day

Independence Day

The significance of Independence Day is singular for each of us. For me, the Fourth of July was freedom from livestock in the mudroom. The ducklings have officially moved into the ducky halfway house. The halfway house is a portable critter house on skids. Puddles,...
California Peeps

California Peeps

Meet Murphy, Puddles, and Doodle, straight from California. I still amazes me that three ducklings can be shipped in a box across the country. These babies are one of Hannah’s summer projects. She’s determined to raise ducks that “will love...
A Lonely Duck

A Lonely Duck

It was a rough winter at Downeast Thunder Farm. Not only did we lose a chicken to the local bobcat, but we lost two of our ducks as well. During the middle of the day something, perhaps a fox, absconded with Oscar the last of our original ducks (2011). Then it was...
A New Custom Designed House for the Ducks

A New Custom Designed House for the Ducks

A new duck house has been on my “Honey Do” list for more than a year now. Peep, Squeak, and Oscar have been living in a makeshift house that was recycled from another project. The old house was never designed for ducks and was too big for our trio of...
Dilly – A Good Duck

Dilly – A Good Duck

Today is a sad day. It started out lovely with ice out on the sunny side of the pond. The ducks, Dilly, Quackers, Peep and Squeak enjoyed a first spring dip in the pond while I enjoyed the view from my chair in the shade. Yet, when it was time to bring the ducks in...
Spring Arrives in Maine

Spring Arrives in Maine

Given the unseasonable beautiful weather we’ve been blessed with as of late, the first full day of spring was a rude beginning. A month since we had any measurable snowfall and today’s Snow Day No. 4 feels like a step backward in the march towards spring....
Ice Out

Ice Out

Ice out on the pond was last Sunday, March 13th. It seems that after two months of frozen water, the ducks had forgotten all about it. They are definitely creatures of habit. I was able to snatch up Dilly, our physically challenged duck, and drop her in. That’s...
Open for the Season!

Open for the Season!

Arriving home from work this afternoon I marveled at what a week of warm weather has done. The pond is half melted, and the snow around one edge has disappeared. The ducks, however, had little interest in exploring the new found amusement. So I plucked a protesting...
A Good Mud Puddle

A Good Mud Puddle

Today felt like Spring! Sixty and sunny, the ducks got some supervised play time outside their house. I guess you could call them puddle ducks as they were having a ball in the melting driveway. Splashing and preening, they were, feathers flying. What I can’t...
Dilly, One Annoyed Duck

Dilly, One Annoyed Duck

Did you know that ducks are great complainers? Dilly is broody and unfortunately she’s made her nest by the pond and not in the duck house. She religiously sits on her eggs during the day. Come evening she’s not happy about being coaxed indoors. We were...
An Uncooperative Broody Duck

An Uncooperative Broody Duck

We have another broody duck. Peep is sitting on a cluck of eggs in the duck house. Now Dilly has joined the hopeful building a nest near the pond. She’s become very serious about her efforts, sticking to her nest rain or shine. The problem is, it’s not...
My Broody Girls

My Broody Girls

Meet Peep. She’s a one-year-old Pekin duck, born in our incubator last spring. She is broody and seems to be doing a good job at sticking to her nest. The only problem is, we don’t need any more ducks! We have eight – three of them boys. That fact...
Winter Ducks

Winter Ducks

Not long ago, Janet emailed and asked how the ducks were fairing this winter – that I hadn’t mentioned them lately. Well, Janet, winter is definitely not their favorite season, but our eight duckies are doing well. We got the ducks for eggs (although...
Introducing the Ducklings

Introducing the Ducklings

The ducklings spent the last few days in a play yard outdoors becoming familiar with the other farm critters. Today, we introduced Peep and Squeak to the rest of flock. I expected the big ducks to chase off the babies, but for the most part the babies were ignored....
Adventure to the Big Pond

Adventure to the Big Pond

Peep and Squeak are finally getting out of the brooder and experiencing the great outdoors. We put the big ducks in their run early and let the babies explore alone. We had to coax them into the pond. It’s a lot bigger than the bathtub! Then they began to loosen...