Last week I went to my first animal auction since this pandemic started. It was nice to see farm people again. They had farm equipment, junk, and tons of animals. Adult and baby animals of every kind. I did not plan to buy anything but I did need more ducks. Some of ours have died of old age and it was time to add to the flock. My Indian runners are just not hardy here in the Ozarks. They got picked off by predators over the years. The Pekins, Crested and khaki are great survivors. But I have heard that Muscovy are great mothers. And that is what I need, great duck mothers.
One thing they had few of was baby ducklings. There were 6 baskets of khaki and 1 small cage of newly hatched Muscovy. I got one of each basket 'o ducklings. I got home well after 11pm and the auction would last until the week hours as there was a lot to sell.
I grabbed my spare homemade brooder cage, shavings, food/water and got them into their new home in my kitchen. Every day they get tub time so I can wash out their cage. They will be soon big enough to put outside in the coop. But for now I can enjoy their cute baby duckling phase.
This week I am also farm sitting. New homesteaders are in transition from city house to Ozark farm and they need their animals tended to. It is very hard even out here in the Ozarks to find a farm sitter. Most people just do not bother with farm animals. Or they just leave for vacation and let the animals fend for themselves. I could never do that, my farm depends on me and my schedule.
Meanwhile, my green beans, onions, cabbages, lettuce and tomato are growing well. It will be a busy canning season soon.
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