Show us ya birds !

[gary112]

8 minutes ago, AJStrees said:

Yeah nice. There are a few threesomes on the pond and a couple of pairs here. 

 

A pair of Egyptians turned up on Saturday and have hung about for feeding which is pleasant. 

 

Now its the waiting game to see who has success with chicks. Then its the defense from the crows.....

 

Anywhoo, hopefully there are more than less by the end of the season. 

here's some ducklings we rescued a couple years back 

[AJStrees]

5 minutes ago, gary112 said:

here's some ducklings we rescued a couple years back 

What a wonderful thing nature can be...... 

[AJStrees]

The Egyptians had success two years ago with this lot. 

[gary112]

3 minutes ago, AJStrees said:

What a wonderful thing nature can be...... 

The duck tried to move em to the river and these 6 got lost so i took em home and the wife reared them,they used to fly round home each night for about 20 mins and we would call them back in again and shut them up for night time

[AJStrees]

5 minutes ago, gary112 said:

The duck tried to move em to the river and these 6 got lost so i took em home and the wife reared them,they used to fly round home each night for about 20 mins and we would call them back in again and shut them up for night time

That's impressive. What did she feed them? 

[gary112]

3 minutes ago, AJStrees said:

That's impressive. What did she feed them? 

Started them on liquidised carrot,they love it,phoned Slimbridge about it and thats what they recommended,then onto chick crumb,then out onto grass,but they got spoiled a bit,she spent a fortune on mealworms aswell?

[AJStrees]

Good to know. Most years there are little chicks left over after the mothers have been scared off by the crows and foxes, never really known what to do with them. If I can help them this year then that will be good. I think out of 34 on the pond last year, 2 made it to full grown, the rest got nicked by the crows mainly and the bigger birds or otherwise the mothers run off or get eaten (maybe) and leave a few behind. Pretty tough life out there. 

[AJStrees]

10 minutes ago, gary112 said:

Started them on liquidised carrot,they love it,phoned Slimbridge about it and thats what they recommended,then onto chick crumb,then out onto grass,but they got spoiled a bit,she spent a fortune on mealworms aswell?

That must of been weeks of work though. Pretty dedicated I would say.

[AJStrees]

This mother didn't pick her spot too well unfortunately. 

[gary112]

13 minutes ago, AJStrees said:

That must of been weeks of work though. Pretty dedicated I would say.

Yeah they stayed with us til late October,we took them down to the river one night about a mile away,and by the time we got back home,they were already back,then they took off about a week later and didn,t come back for a few days,but eventually they did go after about 2wks of coming and going