WHAT'S FOR SUPPER

Ducklings can be fussy about what they eat. The DH and I have started to feed seven ducklings and their mom (she is called a hen in biology terms) for the past few weeks in a pond close to where we live. In an earlier blog I described the menu of food offered to these ducks and their preferred food choices. They seem to have a fondness for crickets and worms (larvae) as in live crickets and worms. That seems to be their comfort food. We have been making sojourns to the pet stores buying these live critters. We even know the delivery dates for when live crickets are shipped to the stores. These ducks can eat a container that is suppose to contain 100 crickets within two days. I haven't counted the crickets in the container to see if there are REALLY 100 crickets. The crickets and larvae are stored in the garage and when you go into the garage you hear a chorus of crickets. The first time I got out of my car and heard this chorus, I couldn't figure out how a number of crickets got into the garage. I didn't know that the DH had gone shopping that day for crickets and that these crickets were contained within a container.

I don't do much of the feeding as handling live crickets and larvae/worms doesn't rank up there for me as one of my favorite tactile experiences. I have had to help my DH when the crickets are jumping out of the container as he is trying to grab individual crickets to feed them to the ducks. That is tricky as I am helping him I have 70 pounds of lab pulling me and wanting to go in another direction. Feeding ducks is also an art. You have to throw the crickets or larvae out in the water and the ducks have to move fast in grabbing these critters as the larvae sink fast into the water. We have also been ensuring that the runt of the litter is getting extra food thrown his/her way as it needs extra protein; it is smaller and its development is a little behind its siblings. We will be sorry to see these ducks fly off in the fall for a warmer climate and hope that they come back next year. Until next time......