I SMELL, I SMELL... DUCKY! (you smell me!?)

(For those of you who need it: the reference is to Land Before Time, or as a child I used to babysit named it, the "Time Ago's.")

The days just keep getting crazier and busier and longer and as a result, the blog visiting and updating gets more limited. Sorrie! However, I am now here to recount the experience of getting a new edition to the family:) The ducklings were a day late, a result of which can mean disaster for their survival rate because they basically won't have eaten or drank anything for the first three days of their lives. Thursday morning at 6:00am the Post Office called to let us know that the ducklings just arrived. So we jumped in the car and when we walked into the P.O. we could already hear the "chirp, chirp!" from the back room. When ducklings are shipped (or chicks or other tiny birds) they come in batches of 25 to keep warm. Ours was a batch of fifty Khaki Campbells and they came in a box 2 feet long, 1 foot deep, and 6 inches high, with tiny holes all over it.

As soon as we got back to Twin Oaks we had to take them out one at a time, check them to make sure they were healthy, and then dunk their bills into water to make sure they drink something. Then, once they are all safely in the pool we grabbed a bunch of them to put their bills in food so they learn to eat. UNBELIEVABLY CUTE! They don't weigh a thing at all, they beep constantly, and they are super fluffy. It is hilarious to watch them drink and run around because they also happen to be super clumbsy and hyper. Basically they were all drenched with water within seconds, running and tripping over one another.

Now several days later we have had a 100% survival rate, so Renee is ecstatic. Although, the fear now is the number of girls and boys in the bunch. You cannot get ducks "sexed out" (seperated by sex) so its a mix of boys and girls and you just have to wait until they get older to tell. Ideally, we recieved 50/50... but their is one big black one in the bunch (the rest are light khaki colored) and Renee is scared that we either have 49 girls or 49 boys. Haha. I have posted some pictures of them so enjoy... and know that even though they are SO ADORABLE in the pictures - they are at least 50 times cuter in person;)