Lately I've been letting my ducks have complete freedom around the 2 acre pen along with the chickens and goats. I figured "why pen them up in the barn at night when everybody else is free range 24-7?" So the ducks are now enjoying barnyard freedom.
At first they would waddle into the barn right at sundown and wait patiently by their pen for me to lock them up for the night. When I consistently didn't show up, they would come to the barn's entrance and quack loudly at the house as if to ask, "Where are you, you're late!!"
Eventually they found out that I didn't enforce their curfew anymore, and so the partying began!
They would stay out far past sundown, chase the chickens around, poop in the goat's food, make all the water buckets muddy, taunt the dogs by running up and down their fence line just out of reach, etc...
Now they've taken up the habit of getting up early in the morning, walking quietly to the fence by the cars and waiting for me to come out of the house. I've dropped my book bag more times then I care to admit when they suddenly start quacking loudly as I reach my car.
They enjoy it I'm sure (since they make a funny noise that sounds like chuckling), seeing me get all flustered as I pick up my bag and check to see if I dropped it in mud.
Pretty soon I'll be the one laughing when the weather gets too cold for them to pull their little pranks.
