I’m sat in the ducks’ enclosure laughing as I type this. It’s bath time and our ducks and young ducklings, now teenagers, are frolicking in their ponds.
Bath time has a routine to it. Once a week, twice in the heat of summer, the water in their ponds is changed in the duck enclosure. The fertilised water is transferred by bucket to watering cans, and duly used to water the plants around the enclosure and in the vegetable garden. Waste not and all that.
The hose pipe is on and slowly fills each pond to overflowing. The plan is to eventually connect the ponds to each other by hopefully flowing stream. Once we work out the logistics.
Moving water creates such playfulness in ducks. They are flapping, zooming, and running around the ponds wings outstretched. Lots of noise and lots of water going everywhere. (Including on my laptop!) It is a completely chaotic, laugh out loud, wonderful moment.
Fun and feathers duly done it is now time to preen. This involves twisting and turning, legs stuck out in arabesque or wings lifted. Or all of the above, depending on what feather the ducks are trying to get to. Using their beaks and its ‘teeth’ (think comb) they pull feathers through until straight and lying just so. Soon there is not a feather out of place, though possibly a few left pool side. Tres risque!
And after all this drama, it must be time for a nap.
More videos and pictures of bath time can be found on PumpjackPiddlewick on Instagram