What will they look like when they are all grown up?

I get that question from just about everyone who sees the boys or a picture of them so I thought I would talk about that today. Let's start with Pierce, who is the darker one...
Pierce is a Blue Swedish duck which is considered a medium sized duck that will weigh between 6.5 and 8 pounds and are supposed to be very calm birds. Below is a picture of a typical adult male Blue Swedish so Pierce should look something along the lines of this...

Harvey is a Welsh Harlequin duck which is considered a lightweight duck with adult males being about 6 pounds and also a very calm duck and compared to Pierce, Harvey is way more calm :) below is a picture of a typical pair of Welsh Harlequins with the male (or drake) on the right. Harvey could look something like that...
...or closer to a large mallard like this...Harvey will be somewhat of a surprise, but however he turns out, I know he will be a very handsome drake, he already has the most gorgeous gray eyes, almost like Peeps :)

In the blink of an eye...

I wanted to show just how fast ducks grow so we took these 2 pictures and put them together. This is Pierce in my hands the day we got him on the left and last night on the right...quite a difference huh? FACT: Ducks will DOUBLE their size every week until they are full grown and Pierce and Harvey seem to be living up to that fact...in fact, they are progressing quite nicely. They are very good eaters :) Here they are eating some spinach from Nicole's hand.

Like a duck to water...

The boys had their first swim/bath adventure last night. I think they liked it don't you? :)

One week old...

The boys hatched one week ago today...man how time flies :) Last night they got to hang out with their big sister Terra for some bonding time. Terra is still not too sure of these little fuzzy things that run around and "peep" but she was much calmer last night when they were all laying down together...she even let little Harvey preen her back for a bit.

One step closer...

Pa Fuller and I cemented the fence posts in on Friday...woo hoo. I learned a lot about cement and how to use a post driver :) Now I just need to spray the fence with a water sealer and we will be good to go for installation. UPDATE ON THE BOYS: Today they are 6 days old and they had a big day yesterday. We spent the day at the park and the boys had their first experience with grass and dirt. They were so cute and good little boys.

Breakfast of champions...

I snapped this quick picture this morning while the boys ate their breakfast.I thought this would give me the perfect opportunity to answer the question I get a lot...what do you feed them? The answer right now is non-medicated chicken starter feed. For the first 3 weeks of their life they will eat this chicken starter feed and the non-medicated part is very important. Baby chickens are usually fed a medicated chick starter to ward off diseases but baby chicks eat a lot less than baby ducks and if given the medicated food, the ducks would over medicate and it would be very detrimental to their health. The other important factor in their feed is the level of protein. Ducklings to 3 weeks of age need a diet that is 20-22% protein. Too much protein can cause a condition called Angel Wing where the feathers on the wings will protrude upwards. Too little protein can cause nutritional deficiencies and serious health problems. Also, it is very important that ducks have water nearby when eating. Ducks do not have saliva in their mouths so they need to drink to wash down their food.

Show me sand the fence...

...ok that wasn't really the line from The Karate Kid but it made me laugh :D
I spent a portion of my day yesterday, sanding the fence panels for the farm. As you can see it is a pretty simple fence and we don't plan on painting it at all, just going to weatherproof it. The fence is mainly to look cute and keep the dog out of the garden and I will be soooooo happy once the damn fence posts are in so we can get this fence up!!!!

The Boys are here!!!!!

So the boys came on Tuesday instead of Wednesday, good thing we were mostly prepared...here are some of the first pictures taken of them on day one...Pierce is at the top of the picture, Harvey to the bottom...

I snapped this picture as soon as I opened the box.

Napping with Hippo which was Peeps' hippo :)

Look at their fuzzy heads...they look like 2 little old men.

This is Pierce resting in my hands, he is named after my grandpa, Howard Pierce Chewning, my mom's dad...

...and this little guy is Harvey, named after my dad and his father, David Harvey McCormick.

MANY more pics to come! By the way this blog will be my only blog and it will be about the whole farm, including the boys so bookmark it and check back frequently to see them grow up because it is going to happen quickly. Ducks double their size every week until they are full grown so they will not stay this size for long :)

Duck update...

Just a quick update on the boys...little Pierce & Harvey are hatching sometime today at Metzer Farms (www.metzerfarms.com) in Gonzales, CA which is up by Monterey and we will have them sometime on Wednesday...I (we) are VERY EXCITED and I am sure tons of pictures will be posted.

Holes for poles...

Another work weekend on the farm...this weekend's project? THE FENCE!
So this is how I envisioned it - dig the holes and set the poles on Saturday and then put the fence up on Sunday. Simple right? WRONG!!!! Saturday I go out back to start diggin holes and after about an hour of digging I had not gotten farther than about 6 inches...can you say hard soil?!? Thus the reason we are not using that soil for the actual planting! So we go to Home Depot to get the fencing and all the supplies and the associate suggests a hole auger...A WHAT? It is basically an engine with 2 sets of handlebars and it is attached to a large drill bit...COOL! And we can rent one!!! Sign us up!
Here is Nicole and her dad having some serious father-daughter bonding time :)

After a couple minor setbacks and some user error we are off and running and digging holes like gophers...actually this experience has lead us to believe that there is no way we will have gopher problems UNLESS the gophers have hole augers too. Seriously the dirt in the yard is so hard I think if we were to set the poles in there and add the dirt back and some water it would make its own cement!

So we now have 6 nice size holes in the backyard ready for the fence posts whenever we can get Pa Fuller back over to help :)

Busy worker bees...

Yesterday was our first official work day on the farm where someone besides yours truly was out there hacking away :) It was me, Nic, my sister Amy, niece Lauren, my aunt Shirley and friend Erin. We had tunes playing, food & drink and were able to get in some beetle baseball too! Here is a picture of Nic and I with our new pitch forks...just noticed that they match our outfits, how very stylish!!! :)

Since Erin was feeling a bit aggressive after making some bad choices the night before, she ended up breaking one of my hoes. It was an old hoe anyway (insert one of MANY bad ho jokes here) and needed to retire and since both Nic and my aunt were itching to go to Home Depot this gave them an excuse to go buy a new hoe plus some other tools they decided I (we) needed. Here is my collection of garden tools now:

While clearing out the old vegetation in the yard we came across many "treasures" but none were as fascinating as the zig-zagging of old irrigation pipes. There was absolutely no rhyme or reason for them and we took great joy in snapping off any we could. I am envisioning using them to build a scarecrow :)

I am still constantly amazed by the praying mantis population in the back yard. Found this guy (biggest one yet) crawling up my leg!

On Saturday when I was out int he yard working I realized that my hybrid Kandy Korn has started its first ear of corn...how exciting. See the little silks coming off it near the bottom?

So at the end of our work day yesterday we pretty much have the blank canvas that I need to start building what will soon be known as Dragonfly Farms :)

BIG THANKS to everyone who helped!!!!!!!!!!!

What a difference a day makes....

Ok so it only took a few hours but here are the before and after pictures of the south side of the house...

...and here are all the pavers/border pieces I found back there...

...and here is one thing I am recycling them into, a dragonfly for the walkway of the garden...

...need the second set of wings and then she will be ready to go when the garden layout is complete :)

A few little things...

Found this little baby cucumber (and a few others) in the garden yesterday...exciting! These are my Boston Pickling Cucumbers and that is what I intend to do with them...make pickles :)

Snapped a picture of our avocado tree too. This guy was started by my aunt with an avocado pit and now look at it. Gonna put it in the ground soon outside the master bedroom window to give that room some much needed shade when the tree gets bigger of course.