And Then There Were 5

When we bought the ducks, the agreement was I would only keep 5 females, since the reason we got them was for eggs.  Well, the day finally came when my friend came to pick up the other 10. We first had to divide them by gender.  Do you know how to tell the difference between a drake and a duck?  My girls do!

You can hear the duck in the background because they were not happy to be separated from their friends. 

Essie helped put twisty ties (the poor man's leg band) on the drakes

YAY, a duck...how can I tell?

Packed up and ready to go

And then there were 5

They've been a bit shell shocked today.  I'm sure the hawk attack didn't help.  I guess when you reduce a flock by 2/3, the hawks find it much more appealing.  I was outside at the time and saw it swoop and then fly over my head.  I heard the ducks quacking so I ran to the garden and there were feathers flying.  The hawk was the same size as the ducks so I'm assuming that was the reason I still have 5.  One of the ducks seemed a bit ruffled but no blood so no one is the worse for wear.  I'm shocked a hawk would go after an almost fully grown duck.  Ducks grow to 90% of the adult size in the first 8 weeks of life, which for these ducks will be Monday.  It's been crazy to see how fast they have grown.  They don't usually start laying eggs until 17-20 weeks so we still have a bit to go on that front. The finale count for those wondering was 8 females and 7 males.