The waddle of ducklings look wide-eyed at a nimble, yet slow-moving giant. The babies, just 3 weeks old, feast on a jumble of ground-up beans, squash, corn, tomatoes and zucchini. As a gentle breeze moves over the shaded lawn at Arbor Acres United Methodist Retirement Community, Bo "Duck Daddy" Bowers, tends to the small fowl like any parent caring for a newborn.
Bowers and his partner, Steven Dunn, have cared for the hatchlings of 54 ducks since May 2010. The hybrid ducklings are a mix of white crested, khaki Campbell, black and blue Swedish, cayuga and Indian runner ducks.
"When I moved out here, I wanted to take care of the ducks and the pond so they wouldn't get eaten up," Bowers said.
Dunn considers himself more of a helper. The care of the animals is more Bowers' forte.
Dunn is amazed at how the ducks have impacted the retirement community.
"I think it's interesting how the ducks have united a lot of people. Some people who have never talked to each other before will begin a conversation because they will be standing there looking at the ducks and start talking about them," Dunn said.
Bowers picks up many of the eggs before they hatch to protect them from predators like turtles, fish, crows, hawks and even a coyote. They raise the eggs in a guarded incubator in his home, as well as keep them outside in a cage.
Leaning over the small enclosure, Bowers waters a small pool within the cage. The ducklings inside wobble to the call of their caretaker — "Here ducky ducky! Come on, babies!"
When the small ducklings get their feathers, he takes them back to the lake where they can mostly take care of themselves.
Bowers said he is sometimes criticized for taking the eggs from the mothers before they hatch.
"Many people worry about me stealing the babies, but I tell them it's not like a mammal that gives milk or nurses them. With a duck, or any kind of bird, (if) you take their babies, they could care less. Thirty minutes later, they are going to be laying eggs again."
All of the ducks at Arbor Acres are named after residents and staffers. Bowers said he is able to tell each fowl apart.
"The different types will have specific markings, and I've been working with them since they were born, so it's not hard for me," he said.
The ducks are beloved by residents, like Liv Lewis, who especially loves the duck named after her — "the prettiest one," she said.
"I got a call the other day from Bo, who said that I was a grandmother. I have 14 babies. They are the only grandchildren I have," and they are all doing well, she said.
The process of caring for the eggs takes about 28 days.
The ducks and their eggs would overrun the community's relatively small pond, so the caretakers have found good homes for the ducks.
Bowers has sold 30 of the ducks, with the money going into the residents' assisted living fund.
Many of the buyers of the ducks are friends and family members of Bowers and Dunn. Some keep them as pets, or as producers of eggs for eating.
The runners weigh up to 5 pounds and the rest will top the scales at 9 to 10 pounds.
"We don't eat the ducks, but we do give the eggs to residents to eat and bake cakes with. A duck egg has everything a chicken egg has except more of it and the yoke is not yellow; it's orange."
Not all the residents have warmed up to the ducks. From time to time, a resident complains that the ducks are eating and picking at the flowers.
"I'll just ask them whether they want the ducks or the flowers. Tell me which one do you want?" And Bowers said that person never complains again after that.
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