Duck Showmanship

No one is going to be allowed to bring thier ducks, chickens, turkeys, and geese to the fair this year. I decided to do a post on how to show a duck. These pictures are of a khaki campbell drake. Khaki campbells are part runner, so they have more of an upright position when standing.

 

When showing ducks at the fair you should be dressed in a long-sleeved white dress shirt or a white lab coat and blue jeans. You should be neat and clean and remember to smile. You should also let your duck take a bath a few hours before the show. Put some olive oil on a cloth and wipe it on the bill, legs, and feet to make them shiny.

 

 

 

To Begin



 

Put the duck in an alert position on the table.

 



You pick the duck up with a hand under and on top.
There will be other pictures on how to have the hand that is under the duck.



To put the duck's head up in an alert position take one finger and put it under the
head and lift up.

Parts of the duck




Head



eye



nostril




bill and the bean
( the bean is the black at the end of the bill )



throat



neck



ear
( behind the eye )



cape



saddle



drake feathers
( only males have them )




tail



fluff

 



web




toe



shank



foot



primary feathers (for flight)



secondary feathers (for flight, shorter and broader than the primaries)



covert feathers
 (they protect the larger feathers by covering the quill, they insulate the bird, and they smooth the airflow over the body during flight)



wing

How To Show Different Sections

 

flip the duck sideways but not upsidedown. The tail should nicely unfold by it's self



To show the underside of the wing you put the duck's head between your arm and body and pull
the wing out and up.



You hold the feet by putting two fingers around each leg as shown and put your thumb
at the top of the leg.

Northern Cardinals

Male Cardinal

 When we had baby ducks in our basement in January 2014 we got them a different feeder and put the old one outside on our patio. A pair of cardinals found it and discovered that we had left food in it.

Female Cardinal

The male cardinal has a red crest and plumage, a  black head and a pink beak. Female cardinals are tannish-brown with red on wings, tail, and crest. They make nests of     grass and twigs. The female will lay 3 to 4 spotted brown white eggs.

 

 The cardinal is the official bird of seven US states.  It is a very well known bird. The male will defend his territory by fighting off other male birds. The male cardinal will sometimes attack his own reflection in a window, mirror, or anything that he can see his reflection in.

 

 

 

                                                              

In the picture below you will see a female cardinal, and another bird in the background. I think that  the bird in the background is a cowbird. I was taking a picture of the cardinal and didn't see the other bird, so I decided that it photobomed my picture. Once I saw the bird in my picure, I wanted to know what kind it was. I thought that it looked like a cowbird the most. So a cowbird photobombed my picture of a female cardinal.



A cowbird photobombed my picture



 

Bald Eagles

Last year we went to Homosassa Springs, Florda

 Last summer for vacation we took a family trip to Florda. We went to Disney World, Coco Beach, and Homosassa Springs, a Florida state park. At Homosassa Springs we saw lots of animals. The bald eagle was one of many different kinds of birds we saw. These pictures of bald eagles were ones we took when we were there.

 Bald eagles are very reconized birds. They have white necks, heads, and tails, yellow beaks and feet, and the rest is brown. The female will lay one to three white eggs, when she is old enough and is ready to start laying. Male and female eagles are great parents, as great and faithfull partners. They prefer to eat fish.

The bald eagle is one kind of eagle. Eagles in general are a symbol of power and strength, usally depicted fighting a serpent, the symbol of evil. In World War II, the day that the Germans were to begin their air attack on Britain was called Adlertag, or "eagle day." 

The bald eagle is the United States' national bird and is also on the American seal.

My Khaki Campbells

The Khaki Clan

 I was going to show my Khaki Campbells this year at the fair, but I got disappointing news this week that all poultry shows were canceled in the state of Ohio. I might end up showing my Khaki Campbells next year.

Khaki Campbells are a mix of an Indian Runner and a male Rouen. The person who developed the Khaki Campbell was Mrs. Adele Campbell. There are three different kinds of Khaki Campbell's: light,dark, and Khaki. I have dark Khaki Campbell's ,but I just call them Khaki Campbells.

Khaki Campbells weren't developed to be sitters. If a Khaki Campbell does go broody they will only keep it up for a few hours or days, not long enough to hatch eggs. If you want to hatch Khaki Campbell eggs you need to get an incubator. An incubator will keep them warm, so it is like a duck is sitting on the eggs.


The male Dark Khaki Campbells should have a beetle-green head and neck, and a light brown body  with penciling on the feathers. His legs should be orange and his bill a bluish-green.  The female Dark Khaki Campbell should be dark brown on the head and neck, light brown over the shoulders, breast, and flank, with dark brown pencilings on the feathers. Her back and tail are dark brown,her legs are close to her body color, and her bill is slatey brown.

I loved raising my Khaki Campbells and I think that they are very pretty ducks.

A female and male    

The day I got them

First day outside and first bath