Feathers For Our Feathered Friends

Our Pekin duck and chicken feathers are in high demand these days........ They are plentiful and free for the taking!!

 

This adorable male Tree Swallow was playing with this feather before going to the nest box with it.... Clean, loose feathers are important for Tree Swallows. They line their nests with them, lots of them....It keeps the babies comfortable and dry.

They are everywhere... I found this feather hanging onto a dandelion.... The first thing in the morning when the ducks and chickens emerge from their house, is the best time to capture this spectacle!!  The Tree Swallows are not far; look up, and you will see them swooping and gliding everywhere.... In the meantime, they are in search of a freshly preened feather from down below.... don't blink if you want to witness the take, because they are fast!!

There he goes!!  As you can see, there are a few more feathers close by, but they won't be there for long....

The male Tree Swallow was having a little bit of a problem getting this feather in the nesting box.... He was trying so hard.... I looked closer and noticed that the hollow shaft, also known as calamus (the pointed end pictured just above his head) was too long to fit in the nesting hole.  I waited until he eventually dropped the feather.  I assisted by snipping the calamus off.  Then, I tossed the feather into the wind and a few seconds later, he caught it in mid-air!!

And there he goes with it to the nest... !! Oh, you're welcome, glad to help out (wink, wink)

We have been watching the Tree Swallows collect many of these naturally shed feathers and take them to their nest over the past two weeks.  Here's a peek when they arrived.

The female and male both work very hard in the nest making process....

Rise and shine.....

Say hi to Squirt....she is happy, along with all of the other Pekin ducks to contribute her soft downy feathers to the nesting Tree Swallows!!

Duck Olympics !!

" Water Duck Race "

At the starting line:  "Lucky" our 1.5 pound call duck, and "Tony" our 10 pound Pekin/Mallard duck

ON YOUR MARK.... GET SET.... GO !!!!

Uh oh !! Lucky just stumbled !!

By the look on his face, it seems like he is fearing for his life rather than winning the race !!

Hey wait.... !! Look at Lucky go....he is back in the race !! .... It looks like he is running across the water....

Can he catch up ?

It's a race to the finish line and Lucky wins by a feather !!!!

Your race officials for the day !!!! (Three sweet chicks)

The Canada Geese Stopped By ~

A breeding pair of wild Canada Geese made their

designated rest stop in our pond this morning....

I was outside at the time letting our free-ranged ducks and chickens out of the barn when I spotted them. The female was very vocal when she saw me and our border collie. At that point, I thought they would fly away, but they didn't. They are sharing the pond with our ducks, Lucky and Squirt....

I managed to get a bit closer....

They swim by the rest of the ducks and chickens....

 

And, we cannot forget about Skittles....

he is our very friendly Barred Rock rooster!!

And there they go.... they will make their way to their nesting area and hopefully have a successful brood in about a month....

Introducing ... & Remember Me ?

The 3 newest and ''unexpected'' members of our feathered family

These baby chicks are just under a week old....

Here is how it all began....

We free-range all of our ducks and chickens and we can't forget ''skittles'', our year old Barred Rock rooster.  They are really good to go to bed, especially when they see us coming with their food! At the end of July, one of our hens went into the woods one day and never came out at bedtime with the others.... we were devastated and thought that a predator came in contact with her....It was a sleepless night worrying if she was ok wherever she was... The next morning, she came darting out of the woods and ran to the coop, and I'm thinking to myself that she must be thankful to be safe with the others... NOT!!!! She got a drink of water and helped herself to some lay pellets then darted off to the woods again... A day went by, another day, a week, another week.... and we said if she is not out this week, we have to think the worst! Then, one afternoon, we looked out of the window and saw these little balls of fluff tip-toeing along the edge of the woods with the mother hen....we could not believe our eyes!!

And here they are with the mother at 4 weeks old, and as you can see, they are getting their brand new feathers....

It will be fun to watch them grow....it's still too early to know if they are boys or girls! Stay tuned....

AND .... REMEMBER ME.........

Squirt.... 3 days old

Wow, Look how much she has grown....She is 4 weeks old here!!

She is just leaving the pond from a bath and a short visit with the other ducks....She is our "little baby" and still sleeps with her two teddy bears every single night, and Lucky duck is sleeping in his house right beside her!!!! Remember this photo and story "My Name is Squirt":

Squirt is 5 days old here and snuggling up to her teddy bears

And now look at me.......................

All grown up at 8 weeks old....

Squirt loves playing with the other ducks and is enjoying her life here on the farm....

Farm Yard Family Photo

Our furry and feathered friends keeping each other company!!