Mini Silver Appleyards are pretty little ducks. The boys look similar to the mallard ducks we often see swimming in ponds around Oregon. The girls vary more, but they tend to be lighter colored than female mallards. Until recently, I was privileged to care for Whiskey and Glory, a couple of amazing little Appleyards.
Ducks love to swim and they really enjoy it when the water is deep enough that they can go bottoms-up and forage for food at the bottom of the pool. They might be munching on worms or plants or even crunchy insects that are as tasty to them as potato chips are to most of us.
Each morning, I would greet my ducks, “Good morning, Glory! Hi, Whiskey! How are you guys doing today?” They’d climb up their access ramp and plop down into the water to swim around their black rubber trough. They clearly enjoyed diving for the frozen peas I tossed to them occasionally for treats. Corn kernels were OK, too, but they were unanimous in prefering peas as their favorite snack.
What fun I had watching Whiskey and Glory poke their fluffy bottoms up to the sky as they foraged under water for some tasty morsels.
Unfortunately, ducks tend to be chatterboxes and I had to find a new home for them last summer when my neighbors complained about all the quacking they heard coming from my yard. I was hurt and sad that I had to say farewell to my ducks, but they are continuing their antics on a friend’s farm down in Albany. And I want to be a good neighbor to the humans on my block, too.
Carol Harker
