05/31/2026
Mike’s Log:
I want to talk about these two this morning, our two oldest ducks, Salle and Louie. Salle is the oldest. I think she is pushing 5 years old this year. Louie is about a year younger, maybe four. They are true mates and the matriarch and patriarch of the whole flock of 12 other ducks with one exception, Lestat our large black Cayuga and a loyal second to Louie.
Salle and her first mate, Nelson came to us after losing Lena, one of our first two ducks, a Rouen hen that we purchased with Liza. We added Salle and Nelson, khaki Campbell ducklings, so Liza wouldn’t be alone. Liza wasn’t too keen on the ducklings at first, but ended up raising them by proxy. Several months later, Liza disappeared with no trace. We like to think she decided to set out on her own. Rouens don’t typically fly, but not that they can’t. They just never develop a need to fly then put on so much weight from contented grazing, and constant availability of food that they don’t. A little more than a year after Liza disappeared, we were visited by a solitary Mallard hen (Rouens are domestic Mallards) that seemed interested in our flock. She hung around for a couple days then flew away. Liza? We like to think so.
Soon after Liza disappeared, and about three months after getting Oli, our psychotic, ADHD boxer, we lost Nelson. Nelson and Salle were floating in the creek and Oli went to investigate. Nelson tried to run Oli off. Oli thought Nelson wanted to play, and it didn’t end well for Nelson. I scooped up the injured duck, and sequestered him in a cage. We thought he would be ok. He had only superficial marks on him and he seemed to be recovering from the altercation, but apparently he sucked a lot of water into his lungs and later that day he died. I showed Oli Nelson’s dead body and he responded by rolling over and peeing. To this day, he has never messed with the ducks again.
Now we needed a new mate for Salle. We didn’t know Nelson was a drake as a duckling, but I liked the dynamic between those two and Jessica agreed. We needed another drake. We found a couple about an hour away looking to get rid of a young drake, not an easy task I might add unless you are willing to butcher them. We have eight drakes now, and I’m thinking more and more about duck for Christmas, but the situation is manageable for the time being with five of the hens and five of the drakes teaming up as mates.
So, we got Louie. A handsome
khaki Campbell drake a bit larger than Nelson and more aggressive so to stand up to the dogs and other predators. Salle took to him immediately. The first spring they were together, Salle hatched six ducklings, two of which were young drakes. The next year she hatched two more hens, one of which passed away. We added Lestat along the way and a couple young hens hatched more little quacklings and a at least two have fallen victim to predators, but Salle and Louie endure. They are basically estranged these days. Not that they don’t like each other but rather Louie is still the Flock Daddy with responsibilities, and Salle just doesn’t want the drama of mating season and eight h***y drakes running around chasing hens. Salle has divorced herself from the flock spending her days in the barn or her own secluded part of the creek and coming back to the house at night to bed down in the garage. Still, on the rare occasion that Louie can break away and not have several drakes trailing behind him, he will spend tender moments with his First Lady. This morning was one of those moments, though I had to run interference to keep at least two opportunistic drakes from spoiling the moment. Salle was caught coming out of the garage this morning with the rest of the ducks eating Dog Chow on the patio. Louie spotted her and went to her immediately. Louie is the only duck Salle will let approach her. I ran the other drakes off and watched this Duck duo perform their ritual. No drama! No quacking! No chasing and flapping of wings! They dance in a circle around each other bobbing their heads and making subtle calls, more than a chirp but less than a quack, or “Mack” as the sound a drake makes. Then Salle planks herself, willingly submitting to Louie. Louie gently climbs on top of Salle, pinches the back of her head with his bill to balance, and their in*******se is underway. Louie hangs with his lady for a while after that, then made his way back to his duties with the flock while Salle disappears to her hide.
I don’t know if all duck owners have seen that kind of connection among their flock, but it is truly a joy and a blessing to be able to witness it with our two oldest ducks. It is a sweet moment to behold. 
