Ducklings!

We had bought a trio of Bantam White Calls, a breed of small domestic duck for ClaireAnna for her 3rd birthday. Ted had them shipped all the way from New York State. Unfortunately, soon after they arrived, the male died. We have had no luck in acquiring a new male for the last 4 years. ( It just costs too much to ship a single bird ) This past fall, a 4-H friend heard we were looking for one. He called and said he was going to Louisiana to his grandpa's for Thanksgiving and he could bring us back a male. (Grandpa raises ducks) Ya! Finally, we had our trio again.

So, about a month ago we started collecting the Call eggs and when we had enough, we put them in this box.

Grandpa Harmon kept them sprayed with water once a day. 28 days later, we heard peeping!
Unfortunately, out of the 15 eggs in the box, only 3 hatched. (Ted had to help them get out of their shell ) Humidity in the incubator is apparently a very tricky factor.

ClaireAnna is raising her 3 new ducklings in her bedroom, at least until they are a little bit older. She decided she needed to get IN the box to bond with them.

They are so tiny - smaller then a tennis ball and weigh even less. The littlest ducklings we have ever seen.
This is an adult pair of White Calls. This is what our ducklings will look like when they grow up. Aren't they cute?! There is even more good news. Both White Call hens, our Chineese Mandarin hen and our Ancona hen are all sitting on thier own little nest full of eggs. In a couple of weeks we should have our first batch of home raised ducklings!