Mallard Pole Position

Because we have a pond and several seasonal bogs on our property, we end up with a lot of wild water fowl visitors. Mallards, herons, wood ducks, and several other varieties will pop in from time to time. Sometimes they will stay awhile before moving on. Some just pop in for a day or two. 

Over time, however, our poultry feed bill has gone up as some of the ducks have learned where to find the "free food." They come up from the pond and line up outside the chicken pen and wait for us to put out the chicken feed. (Our own domestic ducks will chase them away if they try to compete for their feed.) 

So, the horse pen often has a line-up of wild ducks patiently waiting to race up to the feed pans as soon as we put the food out for our chickens. 

Sometimes I try to chase them away so our chickens can enjoy their meal in peace, but it's a bit of a lost cause. Even Aslan now considers them not-a-threat. At least he does still try to ward off the larger birds like herons, eagles, hawks, etc. 

Sometimes we'll get a young duck that gets trapped somewhere or separated from the rest of its family. Just this week I rescued one that Jax was cornering back in our cedars. I walked her back over to the pond on the opposite side of our yard where she quickly rejoined one of her companions. 

We love all the ducks! 💗