Happy Easter ~

 

Easter fills us with hope, joy and warmth.

May your heart and home be filled

with the blessings of Easter!

 

 

My name is "Squirt"

Meet "Squirt".... 3 days old here !!

Here's how it all started:

We have here on our little farm our own breeding pekin ducks and we cannot forget "Lucky" our 2 year old call duck.  We hatched successfully 13 babies !!!!  Twelve were born starting at 5 a.m. on July 26th and Squirt was born on July 27th at 5:30 a.m., so it was a busy couple of days and a busy month!!

Here they all are in the brooder 3 days old!! Squirt is in the far bottom right hand corner and the tiniest of the brood!!

We decided to incubate some pekin duck eggs for the first time and so glad that we did.  We learned a lot about the whole process and it was such a rewarding experience.  The eggs were candled the first week of incubation and you could see the first signs of life....When we saw the hearts beating, the excitement began.  Everyday, I turned the eggs a few times and kept the temperature and humidity at the proper levels and soon, the babies were being introduced one by one !!  Pipping started at day 26 and for the next 2 days the little ducklings worked very very hard to break through their shells... At exactly 28 days, they were born....

Here is a short video: (click on bottom right hand corner of video for full screen)

Squirt looks quite content snuggled up to Skye.... (2 days old)

Squirt finds a great place to hide.... (3 days old)

Looks like a comfy spot to rest my head.... !!

Squirt loves to sleep....

Playtime.............

Squirt's first ''piggyback'' ride

Squirt in the red bandana....

All 13 ducklings sporting their new bandanas at 5 days old....
**UPDATE** This photo was published in Canadian Geographic
PETS 2015 Special Collectors Edition
You can see it here 

And then there was one.............

Squirt's first night alone....

We decided to keep Squirt and add her to our existing duck family and we have found two loving homes for the other 12....(six to each farm)  A couple of little stuffed teddies in Squirt's house took away some of the lonesomeness.... We go outside for lots of exercise and playtime and the other ducks and chickens are curious about the ''new family member'', but we have to wait a little bit longer until she is feathered and big enough to tag along with our other waddling angels in the pond.  It will be fun to watch her playing, exploring, chasing after bugs and being mischievous like the others.  It is also going to be interesting to see if Squirt has Lucky's looks or mama pekin's when she is fully grown.... We will keep you posted!!

UPDATE:

Squirt just wrote a children's picture book!!!! ;-))))
Well, ok....I helped out just a little bit (wink, wink)

Squirt narrates her story of a warm summer day. She explores her enchanted world while enjoying her friends and meeting new ones. She always has time for fun, especially with Skye, who is her best friend. Have you ever seen a baby duck riding piggyback on a Border Collie, hiding in a sneaker, or sleeping with her teddy bear? Now you can! This picture book is a great addition to any child's collection, and will provide your family with many cherished memories for years to come. Come join us in the magical world of Squirt, Skye, and their delightful friends.

**Features full color double page illustrations**

Now Available on AMAZON - Paperback and eBook!!

For your convenience, you can order here on AMAZON.CA 

 Or if you prefer AMAZON.COM in one easy step!

Ebook orders can be placed here 

All Grown Up

Tony is 6 months old now!! 

 

And here is Tony being born May 2012...It never ceases to amaze me how wonderful mother nature is!!

Homeopathy for my Pekin Duck!!

Well a few weeks ago, our baby Pekin duck who would be about 11 weeks old at the time, was all of a sudden limping around.  We came to the conclusion that he stepped on a sharp object and punctured the bottom of his foot.  After a day or so, he wasn't walking on it and only layed in one spot and did not want to go in the water and swim with the rest of his friends :-(

Once we determined that there were no broken bones, we took him up to the barn and made a cozy little place for him to rest and after 24 hours, he was no better.  And it seemed like infection was setting in.  I tried some of my home remedies on him which started that evening:

St John's Wort Oil which would help him with any inflammation and infection.

(Arnica 30c) for the pain.

(Silicea 6c) This homeopathic remedy is used to extract any foreign object that may be inside his foot causing infection.

(Colloidal Silver) An ounce of colloidal silver in his drinking water.  Colloidal silver fights off infection, cleans wounds and helps build up the immune system, to name a few.

(Epsom Salts) One cup of epsom salts in tub of warm water. Soaked foot for one hour two times a day!

I phoned our vet, who is an hour drive away and asked her if the time came and the homeopathic treatments were not working, could we take our Pekin duck to see her.  She agreed!! You see, the closest avian vet is 7 hours away~~and we didn't want to traumatize our poor little Pekin anymore than he was.  Our vet said that she fixed a broken wing on a bird once, but never worked on a duck!!  We made an appointment for the vet the next day. We needed to create a name for the duck on file with the vet, so we called him "Peekee"

The next morning, after Peekee's epson salt bath, we set him down on the patio deck for a moment until we organized his little makeshift fort.  We used a little swimming pool filled with soft hay and a white sheet over his head for his roof to block the hot summer sun on him. We suddenly heard his little feet going pitter patter pitter patter and he was making his way to the other end of the deck!!!! It was an amazing sight to see.. He then waddled all the way to the other end, with no problem at all.. It was a miracle to see him start walking again.  He was still limping, but not nearly like he was before.  We called the vet and talked about how he was walking again.  We came to the conclusion that the homeopathy was working and we would continue with it.  We cancelled the appointment with the vet and we continued with the remedies on hand.  We massaged the foot with St John's Wort Oil twice a day for the next week and put colloidal silver in his drinking water.  We put him back down in the pond with the rest of his friends the next day and you could see that he was very happy!

Today, Peekee is swimming with his friends and walking around the grass and just having fun being a duck!! It is hard to pick him out of the group now.  He is keeping up with them as if nothing was even wrong with him!! We were thankful that it worked out for him and we will always make sure we have the above noted remedies on hand!

If you would like to know how we got these beautiful ducks, here is the wonderful story

My Furry and Feathered Family !!

Click on the photos to enlarge to read the comic strip!!