It's been a few weeks since the Northerns got the duck pen all fixed up, and it's time to update y'all on the upgrades. First, NorthernDaddy would like everyone to ignore the pile of scrap wood that was left on the ground right before the picture was snapped - it was an oversight and has since been removed. Also ignore the blue kiddie pool that the ducks are using as their spa; it's being re-used from last year until the nice 100 gallon stock tank can be fitted into place.

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Now that the "please excuse our construction" warnings are done with, feast your eyes on the grand re-opening of the Northerns' Duck House. After last year's devastating raid, in which a racoon dropped through the loose chicken wire covering the run and ate all three residents, some reinforcements had to be made. (Um...pardon the interruption, but NorthernDaddy would also like everyone to ignore the painted rooster cutout on the side of the duck house. It really belongs over to the right on the chicken coop...)

 

Since the side panels of the run proved to be fairly sturdy and the chicken wire has held (so far), the only real work that needed to be done was to rebuild and strengthen the top. NorthernDaddy did some cutting and hammering, and hopes that 1x4 and heavy-gauge field fence will keep hungry varmints out. In addition to taking care of security concerns, a special feature was added to make pond-cleaning chores easier: hinges! The left-hand panel is hinged to swing up so that the pond can be accessed. Last year, cleaning the pond required unhooking two sections of chicken wire and jumping over the fence into a narrow section of the pen - not easy or fun. Now, all a person's gotta do is toss that rope over the peak of the duck house, run around back and climb onto the roof, and use that rope to haul the heavy panel up to vertical. Much easier! (Plan is to put a pulley up top so that the rope can be pulled from the ground...)

 

Switching gears, the Northerns have observed a few differences between keeping chickens and raising ducks.

Chickens are old ladies; ducks are college frat boys.

 

Don't believe it? NorthernDaddy's got three examples that prove it:

 

Chickens get up before dawn and are ready to scoot out the door and hunt for food.  At dawn, ducks are up....barely. Open the door, and you'll see one or two ducks standing around staring at the walls while the rest of the ducks are sprawled across the floor griping about the bright light you just let in. Open the door to their run, and not one duck moves. They're all just groggy and lazy and making motions like, "Hey man, could you just kick that food over this way a bit for me?" No go-getters in this group.

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Chickens are kind of messy. They scratch and dig in the dirt and tear things up.  They like to bill the food out of their feeder and shake water droplets off their beaks onto the walls of the coop. If they find a non-food item laying around, they'll check it out and then set it aside. They tend to (in LittleNortherner's terminology) 'go potty' any where and any time. With chickens, there's some cleaning up required. The idea of clean-up takes on a whole new meaning with ducks. They'll find a non-food item laying around and start playing with it like meth-addled freaks. They found a plastic bag poking halfway out of the ground by their fence and spent four hours performing some kind of running backspin headstands on the thing. Totally insane. Don't try to take their toy away, either. If you think that a five-year-old is possessive of his or her toys (go ahead, ask NorthernMommy or Daddy how they know that!), you should see a duck - puts the little boy to shame! Ducks are not neat eaters, either. They will stand in their food dish while eating. Ducks don't scratch and dig too much in the grass or dry dirt, but they will turn some dirt and water into a mudpit playground in short order. In the rain storms that have crossed Vermont this week, the ducks mud puppies have been swimming in their gross little mud puddles. As far as chickens having a relaxed attitude towards pooping, the ducks beat them hands down: ducks will not only poop any where and any time, they have explosive poop. Seriously, they have rocket sh*ts. Don't be standing around when a duck butt pops off - you'll be quite alarmed....and possibly dirty. Ducks don't care...

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In the evening, chickens will head into the coop and take to their roosts at dusk. All that's required is to duck (no pun intended) inside and close the door to the run. Simple.  The frat boys? The frat ducks are a different story. They are not going inside. Dusk? Party's just getting started. It could be pitch-black dark with rain pouring down - the party's just getting good. Getting the ducks inside the house (theirs, not the Northerns') requires arm waving, shouting, and quite a few threats. (Hint: don't let the neighbors see you.)

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That's just a few of the differences in keeping ducks and chickens.....stay tuned for more.