I saw this Sail Tarp (Triangle Shade) online for a great price. Marked down a lot, I'm assuming, because it's probably not purchased a lot? Instantly I loved it, because I could see great potential of using it for the ducks. They would be able to hide under it quickly to get away from the hawks and owls that swoop over our field, looking for food. While I don't think they would ever attack my ducks, I know that those predators really scare my ducks. The ducks quickly scamper into their coop to hide. I wanted to give them another option, while also giving them some shade, which would allow them the option to keep an eye on things without running into their coop.
My tallest stakes are four feet, and no amount of "taunt" is enough to keep the center of the tarp from drooping. At the lowest point, the tarp dips to 2.5 feet from the ground. My ducks are all about 2 feet tall. I honestly never thought that they would hang out under the tarp with it being so close to their heads. But, nonetheless, I put the tarp up inside their pen to at least get them accustomed to the tarp as a non-threatening object, until I have the taller stakes to lift the tarp higher.
So, today, after about a week, the ducks have proved me wrong. They will and do go under the tarp for shade. First I saw Indigo, then shortly after that, I saw Diego and Sparks, and then finally saw Toast hanging out under the tarp, in the shade. Today is not a hot day, by any stretch of the imagination but , yah, they are using it. Wish they had been braver earlier when we had temps in the high nineties, but, hey, that's just the way animals are.
I started most of my garden pretty late this year. So, I have been really thankful that our hot days didn't burn the plants. We are getting some quick growth from our little crops. Corn, the most. I need to take a moment to really weed around them, but the stalks have really grown a lot in the last few weeks of warmer weather.
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