Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

Second rate reporter says what?

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Come on, man.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Duck Blogging / Respite Open Thread: Formal Protest

Respite Open Thread: Formal Protest

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three ducks gathers at door

So the ducks LOVE dog food. I’m assuming whoever raised and abandoned Mabel (l) and Maddie (c) fed it to them. I’ve had little luck moving them to duck crumbles. I finally resorted to very expensive duck seed, so it’s not processed into a pellet. They will eat that, but not until after their dog food is gone.

After discovering Bixby is sensitive to chicken (of all things) I had to change the pups food to a different type and brand. Over the summer the duck eggshells have become thinner and thinner and the only change I could think of was the dog food. So I’ve stopped giving it to them.  Monday.

What you see above is the result. They stand outside my patio door and bitch at me because I have not provided them with the proper nutrition for the day. In protest, I have not gotten an egg from either of them in two days.

Penelope has not been as picky, but in solidarity, she has joined the picket line.

(And there, Cole, are your ducks for the day)

Open thread…

(oh, and I just finished the first cookbook (of 4) over the weekend and should have it up on Kindle by the end of the week. I know I’ve promised many people I’d do it…so finally)

Reader Interactions

56Comments

  2. 2.

    trollhattan

    I’m imagining ducks bitching and can hear it, because sometimes “quack” isn’t just “quack.”

    We backpacked to a Sierra lake last week and were entertained by tree-nesting ducks along the opposite shore. They never came close enough for a really good look but weren’t wood ducks so I had to dig into the bird books and Cornell website back home. Turns out there was a healthy colony of buffleheads that 1. were breeding well outside their normal range and 2. give me a new name to call people, “You bufflehead!”

    It’s also an off-the-charts great year in the Sierra for butterflies. Heavy snow+late spring=good conditions for those.

  3. 3.

    The Moar You Know

    After discovering Bixby is sensitive to chicken

    More people need to be aware that chicken is not necessarily the unoffending animal protein in dogs that it is in humans. I kind of suspected it might be a problem when we’d feed him chicken off the table and he’d have a bit of pupset tummy the next day. But everyone said it was something else.

    Our poor pup was on it for over three years before a brief illness allowed for a changeover in his food. He’s on a salmon-based kibble now and is in every way so much better and happier.

  7. 7.

    OzarkHillbilly

    They are laying thin shelled eggs because they need a supplement (or formulized feed) to replenish the calcium and other minerals that they have been losing from their bones. This is common for laying hens (and there comes a point where they stop laying all together) which is why there is Layer Feed. I don’t know quack about duck diets, but a google search should give you answers.

  8. 8.

    CaseyL

    …maybe if you mixed some of the food they like in with the food you’re moving them to?

    IIRC, that’s the standard procedure for changing one’s critters’ regular diet.

  11. 11.

    Amir Khalid

    I suppose you could get the old dog food for the ducks, while Bixby and Scout get the new dog food.

  14. 14.

    Barbara

    If you have ever watched Dr. Chris, Pet Vet, which is a kids Saturday morning show that follows an Australian veterinarian, he had to treat a duck that had gout from being overfed in a public park. Some regulars noticed he was in distress and called Dr. Chris. After treating him, he said that it was important to feed animals as close to what they would eat in nature as possible, and never to overfeed them.

  17. 17.

    feebog

    Ducks on strike quacks me up. No dog food, no eggs, sounds like a pretty simple ask to me.

  18. 18.

    Searcher

    Does the “crumble” food come in a “pellet” variant?

    My chickens tend to prefer the Layena Pellets over the Layena Crumbles, because (I assume) it is easier for them to grab individual pellets, and more satisfying than “scooping” up the crumbles.

  19. 19.

    kindness

    Wrt the egg shells thinning……is there a calcium supplement made for ducks?

    It sounds like all they have to do is make it look like dog kibble.

  20. 20.

    JeanneT

    There are no ducks in this announcement, but it’s a good day for my dog pack. My dog Raleigh (a 12 year old Lowchen) has officially finished his second cancer-free year since being treated for parathyroid cancer. We will celebrate tonight with a spoonful of yogurt in everydog’s kibble. This does not sound exciting when I write it, but the dogs really do think it’s special!

  21. 21.

    Raven

    When I cultivated a colony of flesh eating (dermestid) beetles for my redfish skelatonization project I had to start with a small vial of larvae and feed them dogfood!

  25. 25.

    Martin

    Fuck yeah!

    California’s Orange County, a longtime Republican stronghold, has now flipped to become majority-Democrat.

    The Orange County Register reported on Wednesday that the number of Democrats in the county has surpassed that of Republicans for the first time since 1978.

    According to the Register, there are now 547,458 registered Democrats versus 547,369 registered Republicans.

    It’s hard to express just how much people despise Trump here.

  26. 26.

    TenguPhule

    @dnfree:

    How adaptable are your cookbooks for vegetarians?

    You may have to stew them a bit to break down the paper fibers.

  27. 27.

    Roger Moore

    @Martin:
    I’m annoyed at that lede. There may now be more registered Democrats than Republicans in OC, but there are almost as many no party preference voters as either, which makes it a Democratic plurality rather than a majority.

  28. 28.

    Sab

    Pleade tell me those ducks weren’t eating chicken dog food. That just seems wrong somehow.

  30. 30.

    Mike in NC

    We were served Peking duck on our cruise ship tonight. A bit too gamey for my taste. Sorry, ducks.

  31. 31.

    Mart

    Now I know what “ducks in a row” means. Get me some dog food now, or we will peck you up!

  32. 32.

    Ella in New Mexico

    103 Degrees and 21% humidity in El Paso right now.

    Hoping for 22 random, senseless, attacks of heatstroke and at least one lightning strike from an afternoon monsoon to hit our visiting Presidential delegation

  33. 33.

    TaMara (HFG)

    @dnfree: Well look at that my reply got eated.

    Remind me later this week or email me and when I’m not working, I’ll send you some links to the menus so you can see what’s what

  35. 35.

    BC in Illinois

    “What do we want?”

    “DOG FOOD!”

    “When do we want it?”

    “QUACK!”

    [ Props to Penelope/Pearl for joining in and not crossing the picket line. ]

  36. 36.

    worn

    On the heels of a shitty couple of weeks, your describing the avian hunger strike really made my day, TaMara. Thanks!

  37. 37.

    The Moar You Know

    Wrt the egg shells thinning……is there a calcium supplement made for ducks?

    @kindness: There is one for chickens. Works fine for ducks. And it sounds like the ducks need some.

  38. 38.

    TenguPhule

    Seems appropriate for this thread.

    Scientists just discovered a prehistoric parrot nearly the size of a kindergartner

    A collection of bird bones sat in lab storage for more than a decade, believed to be the remains of an ancient eagle. Little did scientists know what was hiding in the fossils: “Squawkzilla.”

    Heracles inexpectatus was discovered by scientists in New Zealand, according to a study published Wednesday. At about 3 feet tall, the bird would probably have stood nearly as tall as the average American 4-year-old.

    Scientists have been finding enormous prehistoric birds for years, but this one still shocked them. It’s the largest parrot ever known to have walked the Earth. It might have even preyed on other birds.

    At an estimated 15 pounds, the now-extinct bird beats out all the other parrot competitors, at nearly double the weight of the endangered kakapo, New Zealand’s reigning giant parrot.

  39. 39.

    MazeDancer

    Maybe fish based cat food? Or kitten chow. Fish is sort of bird food isn’t it? Okay, maybe only sea gulls, but it’s gotta be better than cousiny chicken.

  40. 40.

    Michael Sheridan

    If the strike continues, perhaps you should read the quackers a few “how to serve duck” recipes, and tell them they’re going in the cookbook if egg laying doesn’t resume.

  42. 42.

    jl

    I remember raising ducks with cute little duck pond on the farm as a kid. Ducks are fun. But when they get pissed enough to stage an organized work action, you’re in trouble.

  43. 43.

    Hoodie

    Another example of the sociopathy of the Trump administration, this time regarding the arbitrary transfer of USDA employees:

    “It’s nearly impossible to fire a federal worker,” he told the crowd at a Republican fundraising gala in South Carolina. “But by simply saying to people, you know what, we’re going to take you outside the bubble, outside the beltway, outside this liberal haven of Washington, D.C. and move you out into the real part of the country, they quit.”

    “What a wonderful way to streamline government, and do what we haven’t been able to do for a long time,” Mulvaney quipped.

    The people are fucking Stalinists. This is of a piece with separating children from parents as a deterrent for seeking asylum. These guys can’t comprehend that city residents are people, and not stereotypes of effete limousine liberals, welfare queens and gang members. Kansas City is a fine place, but maybe people have roots in DC? Mulvaney is a particularly obnoxious little shit.

  44. 44.

    LesGS

    @TenguPhule: Apparently falcons are more closely related to parrots than hawks and eagles. Squakzilla could very well have been a carnivore or at least an omnivore. (That was a freaking big parrot! I’m kinda scared of just the regular sized ones…)

  45. 45.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @JAFD: I still make what is known as “A Columbus County Baked Potato” traditionally served at any function where the parents were responsible for the cooking at my DH’s school West Columbus High School. Slice the raw baking potato in half. Place thick slices of onion and slabs of butter in the halves and sandwich together. Coat wet outer skin of potato with salt. Wrap the whole thing in tin foil and bake. They are absolute heaven.

  49. 49.

    J R in WV

    I think sprinkling a little calcium supplement grains (we used to put out crushed oyster shells for our chickens, they loved it!) on whatever you can get the ducks to eat would be the ticket.

    They are losing calcium in their bones, as another noted above, which is a bad thing. Also like the suggestion of getting duck feed in pellets rather than crumbs, sprinkle crushed oyster shell on that perhaps.

    They are so cute!

  51. 51.

    Mo MacArbie

    Gotta say, the lack of reading comprehension exhibited in this and previous threads WRT calcium supplements makes me rethink the value of other opinions expressed here.

  52. 52.

    Yutsano

    This really is a situation most fowl BHF.

    (I regret nothing!)

    Also working on a garlic herb cream sauce. Stay tuned.

  54. 54.

    low-tech cyclist

    Over the summer the duck eggshells have become thinner and thinner and the only change I could think of was the dog food. So I’ve stopped giving it to them. Monday.

    What you see above is the result. They stand outside my patio door and bitch at me because I have not provided them with the proper nutrition for the day. In protest, I have not gotten an egg from either of them in two days.

    Just sing to them from Al Yankovic’s “I Want a New Duck”:

    Better mind their manners, better do just what I say
    Or they’re gonna be duck pate

    Yeah, you wouldn’t really do that, but you should sing it to them.

  55. 55.

    Mowgli

    @TaMara (HFG):
    So funny, we have three adult ducks of exactly the same breeds, so your pic is like looking out our paddock. Ours are Bill (white layer), Mango (blue Swede) and Mrs. Waddlesworth (brown layer hybrid).
    We give ours layer feed, and they usually each lay daily, although they sometimes take a day off. We had to put the dog food up on hay bales to keep them away, our Great Pyrenees would have starved.

    Just got six new ducklings by mail last week:
    1 blue swedish
    1 black swedish
    1 Cayuga
    2 silver appleyards
    1 white layer hybrid

    I will have to post pics soon

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