When I let them out this morning, a few headed right for the pond and proceeded to do a cartoon-like reenactment of a duck skating on ice. Kind of funny. I attempted to break the pond at the shallow end so that they could get some water to drink and bathe (the greenhouse can get pretty dusty) but within ten minutes it had frozen over again. Then instead of heading out and foraging, they all went into a kind of hibernating state right there on my deck. So I filled some feed into a bucket inside the greenhouse, added a tub of water, then went about "waking" the ducks and trying to herd them back into the greenhouse. Some woke immediately and flew inside, others seemed unable to move due to frozen wings, and a few reacted in what I could only describe as "playing dead". They'd proceed to quack in alarm as I approached then literally fell over onto their sides as if they were dead. At least it made it easier for me to pick them up and return them to the greenhouse.
The good news is if the below temperatures continue, I may be able to build that ice rink for the boy after all. With the mild temperatures for most of the winter thus far, I feared we wouldn't be able to. Yesterday, I gave the local arena a call with this thought in mind to see about joining him up for their learn to skate program. Holly smokes, they wanted $230 for just one night a week for only 3 months, PLUS an additional $100 for fund raising (or raise the money in other ways). I just want the boy to learn to skate, for pete's sake! So my fingers are crossed the temperature stays cold.