Looking after the ducks

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Rob showed us the routine for the ducks in the morning of day two so this became AP and RM's responsibility every morning. We feed them their grain, give them water, get their bath going (from a baby's outside tub that Rob found discarded!), and then they go off and forage for slugs through the day, before we put them back in their pen in the evening, so they are warm and safe from any foxes. We enjoy doing this as the ducks keep themselves to themselves and aren't really aggressive at all (except a couple of males to other members of their flock).

The ducks lay eggs all year round and we get anything from 4 to 9 eggs a day. They are Khaki Campbell breed of duck, they can't really fly or produce much meat, but are prolific egg layers and slug eaters.
Every few days we clean out the duck house. They poo a lot over the night (and all over their eggs!) so we take the pooey straw out for composting and put fresh straw on. These are among the most aromatic moments of our week!

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Photos

Ophelia the duck
I did name her Doris but was told her names Ophelia, and I think this is more suited, such a pretty duck.

Daddy duck
The big duck is the boss

Ben
We name this duck Ben, he was constantly bullied by the boss duck and you can see it. He was chased, had feathers pecked out and was the last one to eat. He couldn't be taken away from the flock because it would stress him out more than being in it. We're not sure if he will survive another year.