The sun was shining, mother duck needed to get outside and the ducklings are just over two weeks old.  So  I asked Jeremy to “knock up” a duck run along the lines of the silkie hen run.  It wasn’t what he had planned to do this morning but, luckily for me and for the ducks, he put aside some other garden tasks and set to work on cutting and sawing.  By lunchtime the ducklings had a new home and mother duck had a real treat when I placed a large bowl of water in the run.  She sat in it, drank water, preened and cleaned her feathers.  Of course the ducklings also got in on the act although duckling feathers are not waterproof and it is dangerous for the little ones to get cold and wet.  After watching for a while, when I thought that mother was well washed, I took the bowl out of the run much to mother’s chagrin.  When we lived in Devon 40 years ago some kindly friends offered to buy some ducklings for us and show us how to keep them.  Ignorant of the ways of ducks they brought them to The Old Forge, threw them in a bowl of water to “let them swim” and the ducklings got water logged, cold and then died!  A lesson well learnt.  They have to grow their adult feathers (at about 6 weeks or more) before they are fully “waterproof”.  Duckling are absolutely divine and (don’t tell Wiggle) as pretty as lambs.