Jack - The second duck
Max the pekin duck loves his Patty the Ameracauna chick, but we figured when we get our half-year pond, that Max would want another duck-friend to play with. After calling just about every feedstore in central and north-eastern Arizona, I located a fellow with ducks near the age of Max. We drove to Globe today, ate at Irene's (mmmmmn!) and went and bought Jack. Sam has decided that Jack is her duck. Jack doesn't seem to mind. Jack is supposed to be a khaki campbell, but the guy also had runner ducks there... Maybe. Khaki's are bred from runners and rueon ducks...So maybe he's half runner, genetically. Click on photos to see them better.
Jack's name will either be 'Calico Jack' or 'Jackie Chan'. It'd be nice if we knew if Jack was a male or female duck.
Max and Pattie meeting Jack. Jack was a little hostile to Max through the wire of the brooder, so we decided that everyone should meet on neutral ground. Pattie, the little chick, jumped at Jack. She's one tough little broad. Or rooster. We don't know about her, either. Jack's probably a week or two older than Max, but if he's a Khaki Campbell or a runner, he's going to end up about half the adult size as Max. You can see how Max is so squat and typically duck-like, and how Jack stands very erect.
Max was tasting sunflowers. He and Patty stay right near one another. Jack's still kind of shell-shocked by the whole being taken from his family, shoved into a cat carrier, the two hour drive home (with Sam's singing to him), the stop at Safeway, and then we made him bathe before the introduction. He really stunk.
The other project, which we completed in record time, was washing the brooder out and remaking the floor. This entailed taking the brooder apart, so that I could pull out the old floor, fashion, paint and put the wire on the new floor, then put it back together. We have larger wire squares, and the wire is covered with plastic. Hopefully poop will fall through easier and the whole thing be easier to clean. Jack had never tasted greens before. It's Max's favorite, and Patty humors us by eating a few.
Ducks talk back to you. If you talk, they go 'beep-beep-beep'. Almost sounds like 'peep-peep-peep', but it has more of a trill. Jack has really decided that people are OK (argument that he's a Khaki instead of a runner, who have reputations of being somewhat neurotic and difficult to tame), and he's very attached already to all of us.
Jack's name will either be 'Calico Jack' or 'Jackie Chan'. It'd be nice if we knew if Jack was a male or female duck.
Max and Pattie meeting Jack. Jack was a little hostile to Max through the wire of the brooder, so we decided that everyone should meet on neutral ground. Pattie, the little chick, jumped at Jack. She's one tough little broad. Or rooster. We don't know about her, either. Jack's probably a week or two older than Max, but if he's a Khaki Campbell or a runner, he's going to end up about half the adult size as Max. You can see how Max is so squat and typically duck-like, and how Jack stands very erect.
Max was tasting sunflowers. He and Patty stay right near one another. Jack's still kind of shell-shocked by the whole being taken from his family, shoved into a cat carrier, the two hour drive home (with Sam's singing to him), the stop at Safeway, and then we made him bathe before the introduction. He really stunk.
The other project, which we completed in record time, was washing the brooder out and remaking the floor. This entailed taking the brooder apart, so that I could pull out the old floor, fashion, paint and put the wire on the new floor, then put it back together. We have larger wire squares, and the wire is covered with plastic. Hopefully poop will fall through easier and the whole thing be easier to clean. Jack had never tasted greens before. It's Max's favorite, and Patty humors us by eating a few.
Ducks talk back to you. If you talk, they go 'beep-beep-beep'. Almost sounds like 'peep-peep-peep', but it has more of a trill. Jack has really decided that people are OK (argument that he's a Khaki instead of a runner, who have reputations of being somewhat neurotic and difficult to tame), and he's very attached already to all of us.