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Day 8 October 25, 2005 The ducklings took their first swim today! They seemed to love every minute of it. The water was room temperature and Greg put his hands in to give them a place to rest when they wanted. Of course, they had to make it their own by pooping the second they touched the water. After their swim I dried them off and put them back under the brooder light to warm up. 
Hey, this ain't half bad - in fact, it's all good! More swimming photos:  
 
Swimming is alot of work, thanks for the rest 
Time for us to dry off They've grown alot more, and are pooping alot more too. You'll be hearing that alot! This is one corner of their cage barely one hour after cleaning it completely. The other side is a complete mess of food and poop. We still have them indoors at this point, though we're getting very close to making the big move to the great outdoors. 
Don't look at us, we're too cute to poop! Sorry about the gross picture. I try to take pictures after their cage is clean. This one is for anyone who doesn't realize how messy they are, even as ducklings. Cute yes, but boy are they full time poopers and food flingers!  Day 9 October 26, 2005 Today was an important day for the ducklings. We moved their cage outdoors this morning. They are next to Thunder Bunny until the threat of rain passes. They seem to be doing really well outdoors, the sun was out and it was almost 70 degrees. The fresh air is good for them. We'll upgrade to a 75 watt bulb before dusk and cover half of their cage with towels so they stay cozy and warm overnight. It's turned into such a nice day that they are going to be moved so they can be on the Duck Cam! 
Hey, where's the food? This is a good shot of their waterer. We use the standard plastic kind you can get any any pet store. A little trick I came up with is to put the waterer in a shallow food storage container. It came from the dollar store and it's dishwasher safe. They are proficient at gulping up water and simultaneously releasing it from their beaks outside of the reservoir base. This extra measure prevents alot of the waste and mess. We can use the lid under the food dish too. They are going through two water fillups a day! Their food bowl graduated to another size up. I'm running out of flat bottomed containers that can't be tipped easily. Tomorrow they'll be using the bin feeder with dry starter food. They are still on the water and starter food mixture. 
You are not touching this food, lady They had their first tomatoes today and wanted nothing to do with them. They walked right past them and you can see the female was guarding her food with her life. What a mess their cage is already, and they have a couple more hours to go until changing time. Day 10 October 27, 2005 Their beaks are peachy-pink now, and their legs are getting beefier. The boy has the sturdier legs. I can already tell the difference between the two by physical characteristics and personality traits. 
Look at how pretty we are That's Double Trouble on the right. What a handsome fellow! The lady bird is on the left. She's acting friendlier since they were relocated to the great outdoors. They had a quiet day today. The sawing and loud construction noises are almost over, finally. They're getting over their separation anxiety from being moved outside yesterday and not being near Mom all the time. I miss them being in the house too! Day 11 October 28, 2005 They are just starting to show a few white downy feathers. Double Trouble loves to be held and runs right up to us. The little girl is friendly too, but a little bit shy until she sees him say: "Relax, these people are OK". 
Goody! We're getting our cage cleaned again! We haven't been able to have them out in the yard as much because of construction debris, but they are enjoying the bathtub and being held just as much. Day 12 October 29, 2005 They enjoyed a nice romp in the yard today. We've had beautiful weather, fortunately, and the construction mess is cleaned up and done for a few days so it's safe to let them roam. They are pecking at everything, and are able to eat some small leaves. The baby tears are their favorite. 
This is fun! We've noticed that they seem to prefer walking on the concrete to the grass. It's more stable under their legs, but harder on their feet so we limit their time and keep coaxing them to softer ground. Look how big they are! Day 13 October 30, 2005 They are so active and learning to run pretty fast, so it's been harder to get them to pose than before. This duckling is the girl. It's easy to tell, because her head is always down when we hold her. Double Trouble always has his head up so he doesn't miss a thing! When they walk around, they switch off head high and head low just to keep us guessing. 
Lemme go! I want to eat some baby tears! Already, their personalities are taking shape. Double Trouble is fearless and the girl (who I'm calling Sweetie Pie or Baby Girl until she's named on November 10) is a range from not wanting too much attention to being as sweet as can be. She was squirming quite a bit when I tried to get that picture of her. Day 14 October 31, 2005 Another day of growing and eating, not much new physically. They are enjoying the water a bit more than before. 
Look at us go, and we're synchronized They have more and more white patches, but it's very downy - no sign of feathers yet. They still get pretty soaked after swimming for a few minutes, so we're making sure the water isn't too deep for them to stand up in. And of course until they are fully feathered all swimming is 100% supervised. Here's a Halloween picture taken of them on their first day here. My how they've grown but they are just as adorable.  
Trick or tweet! What a great week, and what fantastic ducks Pekins are! 
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