Fifty Percent

The Magnificent 7 resting in the shade

I have noticed over the last week or so that the ducks are starting to form their own little groupings.

The first grouping would be of Lenny & Shelly and Shelly's little girlfriend Phyllis. They are almost always together. Although there are times when Phyllis decides that she wants to hang with the other Magpies, but she tends to get bullied a little - so then she usually makes her way back to the hooligans.

Grouping #2 would be an unnamed duo who is usually off by themselves (except at meal time). They do not have names because I haven't had any inspiration where they are concerned.

Group #3 - well, this is an interesting group. This group includes the remaining ducks. At first I only noticed the ONE drake. He doesn't sport a cap like most of the others, but a smaller spot toward the back of his head. Anyway, I thought "Wow, this one has three girls..." Oh, and I named this one. Tom was reading about Tropical Storm Gordon and I thought - YES...for some reason the name Gordon fits. It's an old name and we do have Leonard, Sheldon and Phyllis, so not really out of place. So, I thought he was the only other Drake. 

Until....

We were out taking care of the critters before dinner last night and I saw Group #3 and then I spied the telltale sign...

This curved feathers means something

A curved tail feather. This is the identifier for a male duck.

And one of the three that I thought were all girls ended up being another Drake.

Oh fine. 

So, of the Eight Magpie Ducks that we have, which includes the patriarch Shelly, four are drakes.

Sigh.

OH well, Farm Life with waterfowl is the Best Life!

The Hooligans

These Two

The Magpie squad would be lost without these two goofy waterfowl! Maybe not, but I think that the Magpie squad has helped to focus these two dudes. 

Ever since we combined all of the waterfowl, Lenny & Shelly have been keen on staying on property. They have free rein of the farm and they usually stick close to where there is water, go figure.

It seems like Lenny is keen on keeping an eye on the ducks and it's almost as if he tries to keep them away from trouble and somewhat safe. It could be because his pal, Shelly has connected with a couple of the girls.

He, Shell-Bell, seems pretty happy with the arrangement and I don't think that they miss being with the chickens one bit. 

Happy 16 Months Boys! Keep up the good work and keep those ducks in line!

The best shot that I could get of the dudes.s

This pic is more like it - together, but not. 

The waterfowl are the inspiration to Quacky Honker Farm blog. They are by far the noisiest critters here, except when the chickens have laid an egg or getting ready to lay an egg.

Cheers to the boys!