The bright side to winter

There are plenty of things I do not like about winter. It's dreary. It's gray. Nothing is growing. It rains -  a lot. It's cold, but rarely do we get snow. We get freezing weather on occasion, and all the headaches that come with it (duck pools that freeze over and an inability to wash out rabbit litter boxes), but don't get to enjoy the fun of snow. (And before you jump down my throat, when you rarely get snow, and have dogs that love to play in it, then yes - it is fun.) 

There is, however, one thing I do like about winter: the hormone levels go way down within the ducks. This means that the ducks are - for the time being - a united flock once again. The boys and girls hang out together without any infighting between the different age groups. I may have mentioned that the Mamas and the Papas and the Littles do not hang out together in the spring and summer. But in the winter time they spend all their time together, running around the yard in little row of all eight ducks. 

Aside from this being enormously cute, it also makes my life easier. I don't have to chase the ducks around in the evening to get them all in the run at the same time, and they go into the coop easily at bedtime. When the hormone levels are higher the boys enter the coop first and lie in wait for the females to enter the coop, where they then jump on the females in an attempt to mate. The females, who are far from unintelligent, know this and do everything they can to avoid going into the coop at night. This means that I can be seen running around the duck run with my arms spread out, trying to gently herd the females into the coop while they dart under, around, and behind the coop in an attempt to avoid me and the doorway. I'm sure I look crazy as I plead with the ducks to just. go. to. bed!

So not only is winter nicer for the female ducks, it is also nicer for me because let me tell you, seeing eight ducks filing into the coop in a nice little row after eating dinner at bedtime is a thing of beauty.  I suppose, it is even nice enough to make up for all the downsides to winter, so bring on the rain.