Three little ducks

These are our three little (sort of) indian runner ducks: Peking (black duck, also known as Honky), Pate and L'Orange.

They do like to run, and also to honk. We're working on a theory at the moment that it's the girls who do the honking. Certainly when tipped upside down it's the slightly smaller ducks (Peking and L'Orange) who do the honking, and Pate just sort of whimpers. We don't, by the way, make a habit of tipping them upside down, it was all in the name of science.

We got the ducks on some romantic notion that they could be used as pest control in the vegie patch. We were right in part, because their webbed feet do not scratch out the mulch and seedlings in the way that the chooks do, but sadly their diet is not limited to bugs and creepy crawlies. The ducks, in short, will hoover up anything that strays near its beak. Gumnuts, straw, sheep poo all go down the gullet without a moment's contemplation on whether it's a good idea or not. And yes, fresh broccoli shoots, spinach, sunflowers, and pretty much anything that one might normally find in a vegie patch but be hoping to actually consume oneself.

Fortunately we do have a fence around the vegie patch so their role is now strictly limited to entertainment for the humans. And that's good enough for us.