Week Three:

Everyday for the past two weeks I have been taking care of the sheep, but this week I was able to spend time with Carly in the lemon orchards taking care of the ducks. When I first heard that the ducks lived in the lemon orchard I was thinking, why? Why aren't they living in the pond? And ducks usually need water to mate, so how were they reproducing? But my questions were soon answered.

The primary crops Apricot Lane Farm produces are avocados and lemons. Both crops require some maintenance including: weeding, watering, trimming, and picking the fruit. Neither of the two trees uses pesticides or any weed control chemicals, so when snails began eating the lemons on the lemon trees the farm took a biodynamic approach to this problem. 

Ducks were the solution to the problem because of their appetite for snails! The duck's coop was moved to the orchard and the animals were fenced off to a certain section. The fence is electric this keeps the ducks in, predators out, and the people on their toes when they get shocked. The electricity is generated by a solar panel, which absorbs the suns energy and stores the energy in a car battery. The stored energy is then used to electrify the fence during the night when sunlight isn't present. 

Picture of me getting zapped by the fence.

The duck fence is moved to a different section of the orchard when the snail supply is running low. The duck care taker usually counts the number of snail in a 4 ft. by 4 ft. section. About 100 snails are counted in the section on the first day, about 40 snails are left on the second day, and the duck's fence is moved to a new section on the third day.

Picture of Carly herding the ducks into a new section of lemon orchard.

Unfortunately for the ducks, the coyotes dug under the fence and killed 52 out of the 60 ducks. Currently there are 2 injured and the 6 in good health, but all 8 are male meaning no more eggs will be produced. Luckily we have about 15 duck eggs incubating, so if the farm decides to continue using ducks there will be some little ducklings in the future. 

Also, the answer to my last question about ducks needing water to mate isn't true. Ducks prefer water to reproduce in, but are capable of reproducing on land.

On a happier note, we have a new WWOOFer at Apricot Lane Farms, Joshua D. Nelson! He has joined the WWOOFer cult...just kidding we aren't really a cult. I spent some time teaching Josh how to care for the sheep, but he came to the farm an experienced duck master. Since he has been here he has also unintentionally checked the electric fences voltage strength after he increased the voltage in a last attempt to keep the coyotes out. Josh is keeping the last 8 ducks alive by catching the ducks at night and locking them in the coop and putting the voltage up high.