Feeding time is a perfect time to pet the ducks. I am becoming very partial to them. They seem more low maintenance than chickens. No weird sicknesses. No roosts required. Everyone lays their eggs in the morning before they are let out. They don't cause much, if any, damage to the plants they can get to. They eat hornworms! and slugs. They are laying well. The muscovies brood and hatch with no help from me. And they are really taking over! 19 ducklings plus the five that we had over the winter. Another farmer was telling me that being a different species of "duck" and not a true waterfowl, muscovies are much easier to pluck than regular ducks and very tasty...
The muscovies are pretty friendly (for ducks) and let us pet them. The khakis are much more skittish. Unfortunately, the end is nigh for the khakis since this is their 4th year and winter is coming.
Some people are put off by the muscovies' caruncles. I think they are often pretty.
Sunny is being very patient letting brother M hold one of her newly hatched ducklings.
These new-ish ducklings are already catching up to little call duck.
Three of the guineas has some misadventures, but we have a nice little flock of 6.
The high tunnel has been very problematic with aphids and we never completely eradicated the hornworms despite frequent searches. Luckily, their predators are afoot and better at finding them than we are. Ha! This one is so full of parasitic wasp eggs. We are glad to live it be until they hatch.
This worm looks like it is in the final stages of being eaten by the wasp larva.
This bad guy is doubly terrible. Eating my poor kale AND we know from experience it stings like a hornet. They are supposed to be rare! Sometimes I wish that wildlife flourished a little less in my verdant garden.
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