Growing up in the country!

It's a recognised fact that compost makes everything in the garden grow faster and stronger. And we certainly have an awful lot of compost around here......I shouldn't be surprised therefore to see our little ones all racing to become big and strong! Yet I am!

The three orphan ducklings are just one month old and are already losing their baby feathers. They still squeak a lot, particularly at the beginning and end of the day when all the other birds are in the Poultry Palace and they think they're on their own in the world....It will be unfair of me to keep them in the baby pen more than another week or so. Already they spend more time gazing through the fence at the big pond than they do paddling in their own trays.

Mind you , it might be something to do with the fact that the 10 chicks, hatched from the incubator the same weekend the ducklings hatched, have now moved in to the baby pen also. And they have taken over the 'big house' leaving the broody coop to the ducklings ---- although that was the ducklings' choice... I gave them the option (no--- we didn't debate the issue around a puddle, I just left both doors open) and they chose the smaller house. Very sensible....

Although the chicks are the same age they behave far less 'grown up', squeaking frantically and running away at the slightest provocation. With very few exceptions, chickens are far less intelligent than ducks - most of them are God's dummest creatures! So - no surprise really that the little ones are so silly. And I suppose I would run away screaming like a banshee if some strange giant came walking into my house.................

The first brood of ducklings to hatch are now almost indistinguishable from their colleagues. Only one stands out from the crowd. She's the prettiest little duck ever born here. The picture doesn't do her justice. Actually, she could be a he... it's too early to tell yet. But she is gorgeous. It'll be interesting to see whether her head remains milk chocolate coloured as she grows up or whether it will fade to the lovely buttery lemon shade of the rest of her feathers..... Some of her tail feathers are fringed with milk chocolate too. Actually, on reflection, she's far too pretty to be a drake! At the moment I call her 'Little Lemon' but I think she needs a grander moniker than that.

Meanwhile, over in the pigs' domain Ginger's brood are almost ready for weaning. She still allows them to suckle but the intervals are further apart. Nor is it unusual to find them out and about on their own, particularly late in the evening, when the grown ups have retired for the night. When Gunner and I return from our 'dusk' training sessions they are frequently to be heard squealing (excruciatingly) for attention at the fence.... And that may explain why Mangel is digging the biggest hole ever; either he's digging a tunnel through to Ginger so that she turns her attention to him and gets rid of them, or he's off 'down-under'! Or maybe he has something more evil in mind....... but we won't go there.

The little ones will be weaned next week, then it's off to Heckington Show with them (or as many

as we can persuade to explore the inside of their limousine!). Following that, three of them will be off to their new homes...... one (Red Ruth) will definitely be retained for breeding. And the other three? Well, we're not absolutely sure about them just at this moment. But it's still early days......