Meet the quacky members of our family.

The ducks still don't have a run and home of their own at the new place. So, every day they get moved outside to the dog cage where they can spend time outside and eat the greens that stick up through the bottom of the cage. Then, at night, they come back inside the laundry room into their stock tank for the night. I never imagined that this set up would last this long but it has and I'm thankful that they very very rarely jump out of the stock tank.

Ducky and Speedy, when we first met

When we moved the chickens out to the new place, the food went with them. So, the ducks get to enjoy mostly kitchen scraps. They love it when we have fresh carrot peels for them, or a block of frozen shredded zucchini gets tossed into their water at night.

Ducky, less than a week old

Their stock tank sits across from the washer and dryer. When the kids get into the washer, the ducks eagerly nibble on their skirts or even the bare skin at the backs of their legs. The bare skin nibbling can hurt a little when Ducky, our drake mallard, nibbles. He tends to nibble harder than Speedy, our fawn drake runner.

Ducky and Speedy, enjoying a bath in their stock tank

What a blessing these little drakes have turned out to be. When we bought them, we thought they were females and that they would give us plenty of additional eggs to add to our chicken eggs. Then, their tail feathers started curling and Ducky's colors started emerging. There was talk of butchering them as they no longer were going to give eggs and we had decided a while back that any animals on the new ranch would need to serve a purpose. Well, now they are grown and their purpose is to be part of the family. Any additional ducks however, will need to serve a bigger purpose. How can we eat them? I never thought I'd think or say that. We eat meat. God has supplied that meat to feed our family. However, these boys have become more parts of our family. Kasey calls them quack quacks. The boys take care of them. Jessica watches them free range. Ellianna isn't afraid of them and Leah tries to hug them if she can catch them. Ryan brought them home as a surprise and I never expected to love them so much. If I am in the other room and say the word "Ducks", they start quacking as if they know that we are talking about them. They are as smart as Willy, our yellow lab.
Tonight, I brought them a treat of bits of green pepper. They eagerly ate them up and then soaked up all the petting that I could give them while trying to nibble at my wedding ring. Then when I was least expecting it, Speedy, cocked his head, looked up at me and then jumped. He jumped just far enough up to nibble at my lips. Yes, I have received my first good night kiss from a duck. :) I enjoyed it, too.

Kasey out at the new place, visiting the ducks