Actually Ducks! would be more accurate.
We’ve had a pair of Apricot call ducks on order from a local farm for the last 6 weeks, waiting for them to reach the point where they could be reliably sexed so that we could have a pair. We finally got the call this morning and went to collect them this afternoon. Draco and Daphne are now tucked up in a converted guinea pig hutch just outside the chicken shed. So far they have not ventured outside the hutch but seem to be settling in ok.
For those not in the know, “call” ducks are a small breed with many colour varieties and a louder than average voice. The advice we received was to get a male-female pair, rather than two females, as only the girls call and they do so whenever they hear another duck call. This means that two females will spend the entire time setting each other off. The drakes, who have a much quieter voice, will gently soothe their ladies into silence. I intend not to draw any analogies.
The hens, with whom they will be sharing the run, were a bit bemused by the strange noises coming from the hutch but have largely ignored them so far. We also let the hens out into the garden for the first time today to give them a bit of a distraction. They opted to stay within a few feet of the run this time, although they had a splendid time scratching around in the rockery by the pond and fighting over the slugs they found there.
Pictures of ducks coming soon.