Buttercup

We had a surprise snowy morning today and spent a lot of time outdoors with the animals, especially sweet Buttercup, our last Runner Duck. 

Her buddy Jemima (a male, named before we knew) passed away over Thanksgiving weekend, and little Buttercup has been lonely, even with her chicken and sheep friends.  So Anna gives her extra love and attention (and corn!).  Today, we thought we might give her a big bucket of water to play in, instead of the usual heated waterer which is only 12 inches square and 2 inches deep -  definitely not enough water for a duck to splash and dunk!

When we filled the bucket, Anna splashed her fingers in it to tempt Buttercup, and something funny happened.  Buttercup had an instant reaction to the sound of water, and even though she was standing 3 feet from the bucket, she started to "dunk" her head, preen her feathers, waggle her tail feathers - just like she does  when she is in the water!

Then she stood up, spread and flapped her wings, and puffed up her feathers to "dry off."

 

Silly duck!  She never did actually go into the water bucket!  But we put some cracked corn next to the bucket and she happily took the food with her mouth, dropped it in the water, and then dunked her entire head and neck under to scrounge for the corn.  Now that's what ducks love to do!