still no ducklings this year - we had the same problem last year as well, so we're really starting to wonder what those boys are doing out there.... but a third batch of chicks, this is the second naturally hatched now, with 10 out of 12.
One of these babies is a very lucky little chick. In the middle of the unexpected heatwave last week, with 9 other chicks already hatched, the chook abandoned the final 3 eggs. A few hours later himself headed out to check how everyone was doing, only to find 1 baby hatching itself in the heat of the day, all on its own.
So it spent the first afternoon of its life, firstly cradled in our hands whilst we scrambled to get a tiny brooder setup, and finally in a cardboard box on the dining room table, with the brooder heat lamp suspended above. That night it returned to the rest of the chicks, happily snuggled under Mum and has been fine since then.
But there is a reason for the slightly odd shading on these photos.
Lurky puss here thinks the little tiny cheeping things look quite tasty, so I was having to take photos through the wire and fiddle around to avoid letting her in.
Oh - and just so you can see what they look like when they grow up. The "Heir" aka Aloysius and his new little flock, decidedly unconvinced by my close up attentions...
