Downy Duckling Day summary.
And breathe..!
This Downy Duckling week has been a very trying one, and very wet. We haven't experienced such steady down-pours in many years, but we didn't let the weather dampen our spirits! Tours were fully booked, and many visitors greedily absorbed the behind-the-scenes experience that is the Slimbridge Duckery.
If you came along, I would love to see a comment from you below??
The ducklings were on fine form, with some exciting species making an entrance such as Koloa, Orinoco goose, Ashy-headed goose and Hooded Merganser. Some good old favourites hatched as well, with the adorable chubby faces of the lesser snow goose and barnacle goose goslings captivating parents and children alike.
Hooded Mergansers are a favourite of mine, but not for any reason you might expect... Fluffy? tick. Characterful? tick. These guys also have a wonderful habit of developing the art of the exploding poo... As freshwater diving ducks these ducklings have their diet of chick crumb just like all of the other ducklings, but 10% of this is substituted with micro Lundi. This high protein fishy food is dark and pungent, and particularly rich. It provides them with a lot of vital nutrients, but also causes them to poo completely up the wall. Apologies if you find this a bit unprofessional, but it is an inevitable part of my job to look at poos almost constantly. They are normally the first indicator of poor health, either by their colour, constitution, or lack thereof! When a Hoodie poos, a healthy poo sounds like a deep water charge exploding in a war film. You can hear it from across the room! For this childish reason then, the Hooded Merganser is a favourite of mine. Sorry...
