I love my duckies. My dad, who has never been one to like animals, has admitted that they are cute. Anyone who knows my dad will be shocked to hear that. Here are some more pictures: (Sorry, I cannot post videos just yet - we're leeching internet off of someone else and it's not strong enough. Once we get internet, I will post a bunch).

Sleeping next to Lambchop

Sitting on daddy's lap

We're having so much fun with these little guys. When I began this whole duck thing, Andrew was really apprehensive and told me that he didn't want much to do with it. That has changed drastically; he's crazy about these little fluffy balls of butter and sunshine. They are a lot easier to take care of then I thought! The only problem is poop. They poop a lot. I have to clean their cage out around 2-3 times a day. But they aren't noisy, they're easy-going, they keep themselves clean (however they are messy eaters - especially when they get special treats like strawberries or lettuce), and they smell so good. They are not to be compared with real babies - if I could have one, believe me, I would! These are definitely allowing me to practice my maternal instincts. 

I should also mention that they need a lot of attention. It didn't take long for Andrew and I to figure out that they have 3 very distinctive calls: one where they just talk to each other, one where they get excited, and one where they are like, "where are you! I miss you!" I've realized that Napoleon does this the most - he has the most separation anxiety. When we leave, he does it. When we're talking particularly loud and he can hear our voices from the other side of the house, he does it. It's pretty cute.

Here are some interesting things I have discovered about Pekin ducks:

1) They are domestic waterfowl. In other words, I can't "let them free." That's considered animal cruelty. They were bred by the Chinese to be fast-growing and temperate meat birds. They can't even take care of their own young. Just like dogs have been bred to be domestic, so have they - just for different purposes.

2) They are precocial animals which means that they can feed themselves and take care of themselves since birth - for the most part. I don't have to hand feed them and I don't have to clean them often - they are very clean. In fact, within a week of living in their "home" they have started to only poop in corners and on the sides of the cage, with a few exceptions.

3) They imprint. All waterfowl imprint, as well as a few other species of birds. The imprint takes place 6-12 hours after hatching where the animal will "latch" on to its caregiver as its parent. Once the imprint has occurred, the animal genuinely believes it is the same as its caregiver. The known reasons for imprinting is for feeding and survival. It is an adaptation - the babies follow their mommy and are able to instinctively eat as they go along. This is unlike other birds, where the parents have to bring food to the young themselves. Waterfowl typically produce a much bigger brood, so there is no way a mommy and a daddy duck could bring enough food to feed 10-12 hatchlings. The imprint has occurred for my ducklings - they follow Andrew, my sister Stephanie, and I around.

4) The first week of their lives, they follow with their ears, not their eyes. It takes around a week to ten days for a duckling to memorize the face of their parent/s. In the meantime, they will follow the sound/quack of their caregivers' voice. When they follow us, we have to keep talking so they don't get lost.

5) Ducks are emotional, or so I have read. So far, I completely agree. They need lots of cuddle and play time. I'm trying to get them used to being outside and further away from me, that way they can become more independent and learn how to gather food for themselves, and be able to be outside without freaking out if one of us isn't there.

These are just a few things I've learned/observed. While they are young, they have been sleeping in our room with us. We are sleeping on a mattress on the floor and I put their enclosure in such a way so they can see me. Every time I wake up in the night, I simply open my eyes and they are there staring at me. I'm worried they are even sleeping! They're so funny.

The Farm Life

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been a while since I have blogged - it's been pretty crazy 'round these parts. (I have every right to talk like one of them country folk because now I am one). We're now living on my dad's farm! We're having so much fun out here, the exception being when little Roland died. The last duck left in my incubator hatched out but had a mean infection. I stayed up late for a few nights, getting a total of 7 hours of sleep in 2 days, trying to help him along and keep the temperature steady. I tried my best to save him but he died in the night, after I had collapsed from exhaustion. When I woke up, I was devastated...

R.I.P Little Roland

There is good news. That next day, I was so sad I thought I could never attempt to have a duckling again because I would betraying the memory of him! As the morning went along I reconsidered - thinking that this was the best time for me to raise baby ducks. I wanted to do it so badly! So I set out to find some. A few days before Roland died, I had a feeling he wouldn't make it so I called around to see if there were any hatcheries offering ducklings - just to see. No one in Nampa offered them at the time - they said they stopped at the beginning of June but I wasn't going to give up! Turns out one of the hatcheries had a random and unexpected shipment of ducklings THAT VERY DAY. I was elated. My sister, Stephanie, and I went and got 2 ducklings from the hatchery and brought them home. They were scared at first but now they love us! Usually when you take little animals outside, they run away from you or go do their own thing but not my babies. They will follow you around and if you're sitting down they will climb up on your lap and snuggle. 

Through some very thorough investigating, I found that I had one boy and one girl. The boy is definitely more aggressive, fearless, and thinks he's bigger than he actually is - so I named him Napoleon. The girl is timid and sweet and quite the little princess. Andrew said we should stick with the French leadership theme so we named her Marie Antoinette, Marie for short. Turns out they are much easier and much more fun than duck eggs. I do want to attempt hatching again, however I want to make sure I have good eggs, and a REAL incubator. I learned my lesson - PROFOUNDLY.

Anyway, here are some pictures of my babies and the farm we will be living on the rest of the summer.

The pasture

Mama and baby - mama has 3 names: her registered name is "Lucy," Linda (my step-mom) calls her "Bessie," and my dad calls her "Sunday Dinner." The baby is known as "Jesse" and "Roast." My dad is special. ;)

The other 3 cows - juveniles. No names yet.

Bailey - the herd dog. Just kidding. She just barks when we need her to - and when we don't need her to.

Andrew is a real farm boy now - he fertilizes and sprays the pastures, cleans out the barn, herds the cattle, you name it.

And here are our babies!

Napoleon

Marie

They are so friendly and love to interact. I will post a video of them running and sticking their tiny wings out - it's freaking adorable. They bring me so much joy!

Goodbye, BYU

Since my ducks are still in the process of hatching (it's taking much longer than I anticipated), I thought I would blog a goodbye to a special "someone" named... BYU. 

Dear BYU,

Let's take a stroll down memory lane, shall we? I remember when I was a high school student. My sophomore year, I had no idea where I was going to go to school. Junior year, I hoped more than anything that I would go to BYU but I didn't think I would get in; it was worth a shot. Senior year, I transferred to another school which depressed me to no end and my grades reflected that and yet, I applied to you anyway and I GOT IN. I couldn't believe it. I remember getting the letter and taking it into my bedroom and opening it in secret. When I read that I was accepted, I cried and cried! I thought, "Wow! Even when I don't believe in myself, BYU does."

I was so excited to meet you! I thought I would major in elementary education. I even declared my major as a little freshman. My first semester I was taking 17 credits (thanks to my dad who insisted on it). I had no idea that was an extremely heavy workload for a newbie. Within a few weeks my grades were plummeting, even with sincere effort. I was too scared to get help so I instead decided to hang out with my best friends - from Link and Zelda to Tidus and the rest of the Final Fantasy X gang - yes, video games. They were my escape from reality. I stopped going to class and I had to stop caring! MAN. Fun times... Second semester yielded a similar result. It just wasn't working out between you and I. I didn't understand you then and you definitely didn't understand me.

I went off and did my own thing. I went to dental assisting school, got a great job for a few years, and then met my now husband who encouraged me when we were dating to reapply. At the time I was considering going to UVU. I never thought you would take me back because of how poorly I performed! And yet, YOU DID. You kept believing in me! What did I do when I found out? I cried and cried again - tears of joy, of course. I attended 2 semesters and 1 term within 2 years and did AMA-ZA-ZING! I can tell you are so proud of me.

I just want to tell you that I will miss you. Your campus is beautiful, the professors and instructors I had were fantastic, and you introduced me to my husband - WIN, WIN, WIN. Thank you. I hope you like the decal I put on my car. So long, BYU.  

-Marcie

I took some pictures on campus this last week as mementos: 

These are the flowers I watched bloom this term...

And these are the mountains I will miss...

SUPERMAN IS HERE

I mentioned it in earlier blogs, but Andrew and I were apart for 2 and a half weeks. That's the longest time we've ever been apart since we got married. This is mainly because I had to stay here to finish my spring term, and house sit for my family while they're out of town. Meanwhile, Andrew was living with my parents in Nampa helping them with their farm. We just couldn't take it anymore! Andrew decided to come see me and keep me company as I have not been feeling well. He got here yesterday. SO GLAD.

P.S. Had a bit of a scare last night - woke up at 4:30 to find the incubator temperature at 107.4 degrees which is the highest I have ever seen it - NOT GOOD. I was panicking big-time thinking they were dead. I candled them quickly and to my pleasant surprise, they were still moving around. This morning, both of them are halfway through the membrane. Breakout time is APPROACHING.

These 2 eggs are thriving on 4 things: warmth, humidity, love, and PRAYERS... SERIOUSLY.

The internal pip

As of today, we're on day 29! Still no duckies but they're just taking their time. Apparently this is fairly normal, especially with homemade incubators. The more "fiery" of the two has already begun the "internal pip." With hatching, there are 2 processes: the internal pip and the external pip. As the duck approaches the hatching time, it's wrapped tightly in a blood membrane while the other side of the egg, what used to be the egg white or albumen, has been converted to a large air cell. The internal pip is when the duck breaks out of that membrane - he has anywhere between 24-48 hours (I recall) to break out of the egg (external pip). The air cell is his source of oxygen while he works away at the shell. It's very easy to see this visually through candling. So yes, one of my ducks is close to break-out time! If too much time goes by and I can see him really struggling, I can help him by drilling a small hole through the shell. I'm not worried about this guy as much as I'm worried about the other egg - this other duck is smaller and has been a little less active so I'm worried that I may need to help him/her break out. We shall see. It's not supposed to be good for the duck however, so I will avoid it unless it's completely necessary.

Finally my naivety caught up with me...

So I changed my blog title today, which used to be, "From Ducks Until Dawn." Apparently, "From Dusk til Dawn," which I had no idea existed, is a movie that I have no intention of having any connection to whatsoever.  Don't waste your time looking it up, either. I'm pretty safe going with, "Lucky Ducks." I wanted to hang on to the essence of the blog. Anyway, just thought I would explain the change.

There's hope, after all.

Something happened today that has kept me going until the final stretch - I have 3 days left until the hatching should begin. Before I give up the good news, I am going to lay a big, fat disclaimer to those of you who may be considering attempting such a feat as hatching any type of bird in a homemade incubator: IT IS WAY MORE DIFFICULT THAN YOU WOULD EVER UNDERSTAND. Here are a few things that I never considered when I signed up for this:

1) Maintaining the temperature is not an easy task because there are so many outside variables that you cannot control. If you have a life, which I do, and it takes you away from your house a good portion of the day and the temperature high outside is say, 72 degrees, your incubator will be affected.

2.) You will not get as much sleep as you're accustomed to. This is due to constantly changing temperature and also egg rotation which must be done a minimum of 3-4 times a day. My alarm is set for 3:00 am every morning. There were many nights I would be up until 3:00 am because it happened to be a hot evening and the temperature kept raising every hour.

3.) Heartache. Because there are so many things you cannot control, your hatching rate will be lower than what is typical for a brood. I started out with 8 eggs, although 2 turned out to be infertile.There were 6 and then there were 2; that is a 30% hatch rate. This is assuming those 2 will pull through. So, my friends, it takes a tough skin and a lot of optimism.

4.) There will be naysayers. I've been lucky enough to have people that support me no matter what, however there were people who thought I was foolish. 

Of course, this is all in reference to the hatching process. I haven't even begun caring for actual ducklings yet so I have no idea what that will entail. So you want to know what the good news is? Do you want to know what happened while I was candling my last 2 eggs today?

I got a wave hello.

3 more days.

I'm traumatized.

Another egg.

Gone.

I cracked it open.

Embryo dead.

I feel like I'm filling in

for the Grim Reaper.

And I'm doing the job

really well

-unintentionally-

Sorry, ducks.

I'm doing the best I can.

This is becoming less

of an adventure

and more

of a horror movie...

?

Just a quick update...

This is more for my own personal records than anything else... But as far as the ducks go, today we're on day 20. There are 8 days left. I haven't documented the candling because at this point, there's really not that much to see. The blood vessels have darkened. I threw one egg out today. Two days ago I noticed that the smaller side of the egg was purple and that purple spread to half the egg today. It smelled pretty bad, too. Apparently, rotten eggs can explode. I picked up the egg and it definitely was not doing well so I put it in a ziplock bag and threw it out. Now we're down to 5. All we can do now is... wait.

P.S. Is it strange that I'm not sad about that egg? This last weekend, Daniel, Amy and I all had dreams about the eggs breaking due to some unfortunate accident. However, this egg doesn't trouble me one bit - I think it's because I'm somewhat numbed by this whole incubation process. I feel like I've focused so much on these eggs for so long that it's getting old. Rotting eggs are just part of the deal with hatching any type of bird. C'est la vie.

At the park with Dallin and Preston

My nephews and their parents went to Disneyland this past weekend. I got to see my nephews as they were on their way back to Pocatello. We decided to visit a park.

The curse of the sunscreen.

Random little boy that wanted me to take a picture.

The curse of the sunscreen strikes again!

"Get down?"

"Look at my rocks, Aunt Marcie!"

The brilliant killdeer that laid her eggs on a playground.

It will be their birthday this weekend! They will be 4! Thanks for playing with me today, Preston and Dallin! (And thanks to their mommy for stopping by!) :)

My niece, Chloe.

It was a beautiful day...

And we decided to go for a walk.

We saw many beautiful things.

Including a hummingbird,

a yellow headed blackbird,

a typical mallard,

and a... WHAT??? A pekin duck??? You mean the same species of duck I have been incubating for 18 days??! It was a pleasant surprise. A very pleasant one indeed. I will be visiting him frequently.

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a....

Rainbow! Ok, so only someone with very limited eyesight would confuse a rainbow with a bird or plane... As I mentioned previously, I'm living with Daniel and Amy (Daniel is Andrew's brother) and while we were bringing in the groceries, Amy pointed out the fantastic rainbow that graced us with its presence today.

As far as my duckling adventure goes, things are going very well indeed. I spoke to my husband today and it sounds like they have a good home waiting for them at my dad's farm in good ol' Nampa, ID. They just finished moving and are now refurbishing the house. There is a barn outside that used to house some horses so there are a couple empty stalls, one of which would provide ample space to keep my ducks safe at night. Andrew told me last night they spoke to the neighbors who mentioned they've taken in a stray cat. This cat is extremely illusive so they weren't able to make it their official pet but they leave food out for it. I told Andrew, in perfect seriousness, that if that cat comes near my ducks I will kill it. He said he would pass the news on to the neighbors. (Sorry, cat-lovers. I've worked way too hard for this and I'm not about to let a stray cat ruin it just so he can have a good time). 

Anyway, today I went out to a ranch store to buy my duckling starter feed. I was pleasantly surprised when I got there. Here's what I purchased.

I got all this for $15. The ducks can eat the feed the first 8 weeks of development (2 bags should last them), and then the UFO-looking device is a feeder and the bowl is for water. So far, this whole adventure has cost us $65. Of course, this doesn't include the normal cost of purchasing a shelter and providing long-term care. I'm so excited to see them! As of today, we're on day 17 of the incubation period which is a total of 28 days. I will only have 10 days left by tomorrow! Crazy!

Oh. Before I go... Pictures say a thousand words. This picture says, "my niece is extremely cute" one thousand times. I love the time I've gotten to spend with her!