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 just Peep and Squeak remaining. We hatched these babies in an incubator in 2013.  And then two weeks later there was just Squeak. For the rest of the winter, Squeak was confined to the new duck house with only brief forays outside. Once the pond thawed we allowed him freedom again during the day to noodle about the yard. The pond gives him some measure of protection should a predator come stalking.

Squeak, aka Mr. Duck, is a lonely duck. We have thoroughly enjoyed having the ducks on the farm. So much so that Hannah has talked us into a few new ducklings. While Paul welcomed the idea of scaling back, Hannah has promised that she will raise and care for them until she returns to school at the end of August. After hours of combing the local feed stores and searching online, we finally settled on three Blue Swedish ducklings due to hatch next week. Assuming that all goes we’ll have new babies in the mudroom before long.

Here’s a look at some of the antics we’ve enjoyed with the ducks (video). What’s a few more to keep Squeak company?