The duck house & small temporary yard are working out nicely. The ducks have been fine outside, and know they can go back in the house when they want to, so we’ve decided to leave them outside pretty much all day now, as long as we are home. I am in the garden much of the time keeping an eye on them. We’ve also taken the barrier off the pool, and allow them to go in when they want. They usually go in after eating, to drink and bathe. We also put up a chunk of plywood on blocks that they can sit under for shade, and they do seem to like it.
At first, only one or two would go in the pool. They look so much alike it’s hard to tell if it’s the same one or two, of if they’re all taking turns, but I never see Whitey go in. He does look much better now (see previous post), but he still seems less active than the others.
The ducklings are so cute in the pool. They float, they dip their heads down and sometimes dive and swim under water, even though the pool is barely deep enough for them to do it. They can actually stand on the bottom, or lift their legs and float. They look so natural when they’re in the water—it’s quite evident that their bodies were made for it. We have a step inside for them to use to get out more easily, but often they don’t bother with the step, they just jump out somehow and do a belly flop on the ground. Often when they get out of the water, they stand up tall and flap their little wings. Very cute.
The video is a little out of focus when zoomed in, but you’ll get the idea.