Orange is proving to be the most amazing mum – she makes sure her she knows where her ten ducklings are at all times and she is far more vocal than any of the other ducks we have. We have commented before how chickens and turkeys use their voices to keep in touch with their young whilst our Muscovy ducks are much quieter and tend to rely more on sight! Our guess is that because Orange is half runner duck, this probably accounts for her being more vocal. Pure Muscovies are generally very quiet birds that just make a low hissing sound, it is in fact quite rare to hear them quack. The ducklings themselves are very pretty, many of them sporting deep brown heads. They seem smaller than the pure Muscovies too, it will be interesting to see how big they get.
We are very nervous about all the ducklings being outside and have spent a lot of today checking and counting that all are present and correct but so far it looks as though our faith in Orange as a mum is well founded. Interestingly Hedgerow Broody is staying inside with her two and showing no signs of wanting to venture out!
Berry and Banana’s fourteen ducklings are five days old now and on the basis that all is going so well with Orange and family being outside in the paddock, tonight we moved them all from the Broody wing to the stables so that tomorrow, they too can have access to the outside world!!