Two ducklings hatched on June 25, with a third making her appearance on June 26.

Sylvia makes a “bloop bloop” coo I’ve never heard from a duck before. She kept her babies under her or under her wing when we would come in to put out food and water. We are fascinated by all the new behaviors.

Gracie takes her companion duck role seriously.

Sylvia originally had her nest where Gracie is sitting in the above photo. About a week before the ducklings hatched she moved her nest away from the wall. When she and Gracie and the kids were all outdoors, we peeked in her new nest. There are three eggs left in there. We also investigated the original nesting site and discovered 11 abandoned eggs. A number of other ducks were leaving eggs in Sylvia’s nest, which was partly why we moved the rest of the ducks down to pasture. Michael discovered he could move duck yurts while on his iWALK. The ducks and Michael love summer pasture.

Yesterday the black duckling shared Sylvia’s bath. She got out of the tub all on her own. Ducklings who crawl on and under mama ducks get coated with duck oil and so can take duck baths. Incubator ducklings have to wait about a month before they start to develop their own water resistance. — Yesterday the black duckling shared Sylvia’s bath. She got out of the tub all on her own. Ducklings who crawl on and under mama ducks get coated with duck oil and so can take duck baths. Incubator ducklings have to wait about a month before they start to develop their own water resistance that keeps them afloat.

Sylvia continues to sit on the three remaining eggs. It may be another week or so before they are due to hatch. We assume she knows what she was doing when she chose eggs to move. She rolls the eggs around under her and keeps them warm and moist. This is as far as I’ve seen the ducklings get from her. Mostly they are on her or under her feet.

We miss having our duckies under our feet!