Cindy Lou Who? and two of our other ducks were kind of broody at the start of the summer. Broody but not really committed to it wholeheartedly.

They would sit on a nest for a bit then go into the pasture and goof around all afternoon, eating bugs, swimming, living the duck life.

But I left the eggs in one nest, and it kind of became the communal dumping pile for all of the Ladies, and everyone started to lay their eggs in there.

We had some predator problems (see EGG PREDATOR post), and we lost about 42 eggs in one week, including half of the communal nest.

Then with 19 eggs full, Cindy Lou Who? decided to take on the task of broody duck, and sat for nearly 26 days, with only very short outing to stretch her legs, take a quick duck bath, or catch a few bugs, but she was never gone for more than five minutes or so.

Two days ago I heard some peeping and say Cindy Lou Who? all fluffed up and spread out, and she seemed to have a few small bills peaking out from under her wings.

She is super protective right now, so I am spending minimal time going around her, but I do have to change her water and give her more food.

I decided to turn a garbage can lid upside down and fill it with water and add that to the Quack Shack. And then I waited.

And there they were, coming for their first little swim, like baby Sasquatch’s, you know they are there but oh so elusive, and only a split second to record it for all to see!

After their swim, Cindy Lou Who? took them on their first field trip, down the ramp from their nest and then back up. What ever Mom said to the little ones they listened and stayed on the ramp while she checked out the surroundings.

The mix you say? Well Cindy Lou Who? is called a Golden 300, and Alistair is a Swedish Blue, so this will be super interesting to see their adult coloring. So far four of the baby quacks have black bills and black coloring, and one has a pink bill and grey coloring.

So far we have five, and Cindy Lou Who? is still sitting on the other eggs. I think I will let that go for a few more days to see if they are still viable or not.

It is super ideal temps right now for hatching eggs, the outside temperature is around 89 and inside Fort Duckworth, with the green house roof it is 100-105.

Enjoy, they are yummy! Nancy