Forgive me for a moment while I stray from all topics health and share my new obsession with you. Ducks!
When we bought the chicks almost 3 weeks ago, they had ducklings as well. My daughter asked if we could also get a couple of ducks. Never thinking anything would come of it, I told her I wasn’t sure how to take care of ducks, but I would read up on it and if they didn’t absolutely need a pond I would get two ducks.
It turns out that for two ducks we don’t need a pond. They need a place to swim, but a kiddie pool will work just as well as an in-ground pond. So… off to TSC for ducks I went. I didn’t research duck breeds, so when I bought these two I had no idea what I was getting.
Here they are in the box they came home in:
These two little bundles of fluff have been with us for almost 2 weeks now and they are HUGE. Both ducks are easily as big as the biggest chick, even though the ducks are over a week younger. The kids named them Daisy and Daffy. Daisy is the yellow one, and she is a Pekin, Daffy is most likely a Rouen. We don’t know if they are male or female. I’m hoping they are both females, so I can get lots of duck eggs out of the deal.
They are simply the cutest little things. I’m completely enthralled by Daisy. She (wishful thinking.. ) does this adorable little duckie butt wiggle when she’s happy or excited. Daffy is cute, but Daisy is by far my favorite. If we ever add more ducks to the flock, I think I want Pekins. Daisy is more friendly than Daffy and is much more likely to come to us. Daisy happily sits in our laps, and is less skittish than Daffy. Granted, Daffy will probably outgrow the uncertainty given time, but right now Daisy is by far my favorite duck.
I am surprised at how quickly they are growing. When the ducks came home with me 2 weeks ago, they both easily sat in my hand. Now they are HUGE in comparison.
You can’t see it in the picture, but Daffy is starting to get her feathers. She’s developed a white layer under her baby fuzz. One of the things I love about Daisy is her expressive eyes. We have a couple of chicks who seem to have facial and eye expressions, too, and I love watching them. Both ducks get along well with the chicks. The ducks and chick live in the same coop and the same pen and are doing well.
Before I go, here is one more picture of Daisy. This one with some of the chicks. Keep in mind that Daisy is more than a week younger than the chicks.
Comments
Cathy
Love this blog entry! I feel your enthusiasm through your words! I am reminded of when I was a child, about 12, I think. It was spring time and at the five and 10 downtown they were selling chicks and baby ducks in pastel colors for Easter. I bought two ducks and a chick. The ducks were for my brothers and the rooster was mine. I haven’t thought of that in a long while. The ducks ended up at my step-grandmother’s farm. The rooster ended up on my uncle’s table for Sunday dinner.
ydavis
I’m glad you liked it, Cathy. I’ve never had ducks or chickens before, so this is a learning experience for us. I’m sorry to hear about your rooster, and I hope the ducks were happy at the farm. Our birds are strictly for eggs. When I bought the chicks, I bought 12 “pullets” (sexed birds that are girls), and 6 “straight run” (unsexed birds.. could be male, could be female) hoping for 5 girls and one boy. I’ve since learned that a good majority of straight run birds turn out to be roosters. I only want one rooster in the flock, so we’ll have to replace birds if there is more than one rooster in the mix. We’ll see.
I thought about raising meat birds, but both my daughter and my husband were very much against the idea. My teen-aged son wants to process birds for meat at least once because he wants to learn how to do it. I’m not so sure that’s going to happen, but we’ll see.