I never thought I would own ducks. Chickens? Yes. Ducks? No. It never really crossed my mind.
We bought some baby chicks in March. Our goal was to have a handful of them to lay us some yummy eggs. We didn’t know that we would grow to love them so much! We came home with 8 baby chicks: 2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Barred Rock, 2 Golden Sexlink and 2 Black Sexlink. We used a storage tote (without the lid of course) to keep them in in the shed, until they got too big and we split them between two storage totes. We had the little heat lamp on them, kept them fed and watered and gave them tons of attention (which is really easy because they are so cute, soft, and make adorable little peeps). My father-in-law, who lives next door, mentioned a few times that he’d thought about raising chickens but wasn’t set up for them.
One day when I came home from work and set about to check on the chicks, I was greatly surprised when I found a duckling sitting in the tote just staring at me.
I must say that someone really missed out on what would have been amazing footage of my reaction. You can imagine the puzzled look on my face as the following thoughts ran through my mind:
Duck.
Wait.
That’s a duck.
Did we accidentally buy a duck with the chicks?
No, we definitely had 8 chicks.
I’m sure we didn’t bring home a duck.
We couldn’t have brought home a duck.
How many are in here?
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 chicks, and...a duck.
We have a duck.
WHO got this DUCK?
I called my father-in-law. Maybe he decided he wanted to raise a duck alongside our chicks?
He denied it, then passed the phone over to Eric (brother-in-law...my second guess. Not because he wants to raise ducks, but just because he thinks it’s funny). On the phone, Eric wouldn't lie, but he was not saying he didn't do it. This clearly means, he did it.
I texted Jim, thinking he might know something about it. This was our conversation:
Me: We have a duck
Jim: WHAT?
Me: Not kidding. Call your brother.
Jim: Hmm. Ok
Jim: Did he want a duck or something?
Me: He’s not fessing up but I’m sure it’s him
Jim: Did you just discover him or what?
Me: It’s in with the chicks. He moved a yellow one out and replaced it with a duck
Jim: Well, I guess we’re duck farmers now.
I was actually getting really annoyed, because I didn’t want a duck! Lynnae (my oldest daughter) called Eric again and I could hear in his voice that he really didn’t want us to get rid of this duck. And since he was going to be moving to Africa in a few weeks, I couldn’t tell him no.
This story stretches on as we found out shortly that this little duck needed a friend. We tried to separate him from the chicks, but he made so much noise and was not a happy camper being apart from them. I had read online that when chicks are young they need a different kind of food than the ducks and it can actually cause the duck’s wings to develop wrong if they have the chick food. But we felt sorry for the poor little guy. He probably would have never stopped crying his little duck cry if we left him all alone. Pretty soon, he got a buddy and they were able to be separated from the chicks.
So, that is how we got our two ducks. We have named them Happy (Eric’s duck) and Ducky Lucky (he was rescued from the jaws of my deadly lap dog. He was unable to walk for weeks, then teetered around with a crippled foot, then healed up completely!). I am okay with having them now, although they are much messier than the chickens! They quack nonstop whenever someone is near them, and although it sounds friendly they awkwardly maneuver their boat-bodies away from any company (that is, unless a treat is produced!). They are inseparable and watch the sun go down together every night. No joke. When it’s time to shut the pen for the night, after the chickens put themselves to bed, you can always find Happy and Lucky side by side in the same place on the lawn, facing the western sky.
We bought some baby chicks in March. Our goal was to have a handful of them to lay us some yummy eggs. We didn’t know that we would grow to love them so much! We came home with 8 baby chicks: 2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Barred Rock, 2 Golden Sexlink and 2 Black Sexlink. We used a storage tote (without the lid of course) to keep them in in the shed, until they got too big and we split them between two storage totes. We had the little heat lamp on them, kept them fed and watered and gave them tons of attention (which is really easy because they are so cute, soft, and make adorable little peeps). My father-in-law, who lives next door, mentioned a few times that he’d thought about raising chickens but wasn’t set up for them.
One day when I came home from work and set about to check on the chicks, I was greatly surprised when I found a duckling sitting in the tote just staring at me.
I must say that someone really missed out on what would have been amazing footage of my reaction. You can imagine the puzzled look on my face as the following thoughts ran through my mind:
Duck.
Wait.
That’s a duck.
Did we accidentally buy a duck with the chicks?
No, we definitely had 8 chicks.
I’m sure we didn’t bring home a duck.
We couldn’t have brought home a duck.
How many are in here?
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 chicks, and...a duck.
We have a duck.
WHO got this DUCK?
I called my father-in-law. Maybe he decided he wanted to raise a duck alongside our chicks?
He denied it, then passed the phone over to Eric (brother-in-law...my second guess. Not because he wants to raise ducks, but just because he thinks it’s funny). On the phone, Eric wouldn't lie, but he was not saying he didn't do it. This clearly means, he did it.
I texted Jim, thinking he might know something about it. This was our conversation:
Me: We have a duck
Jim: WHAT?
Me: Not kidding. Call your brother.
Jim: Hmm. Ok
Jim: Did he want a duck or something?
Me: He’s not fessing up but I’m sure it’s him
Jim: Did you just discover him or what?
Me: It’s in with the chicks. He moved a yellow one out and replaced it with a duck
Jim: Well, I guess we’re duck farmers now.
I was actually getting really annoyed, because I didn’t want a duck! Lynnae (my oldest daughter) called Eric again and I could hear in his voice that he really didn’t want us to get rid of this duck. And since he was going to be moving to Africa in a few weeks, I couldn’t tell him no.
This story stretches on as we found out shortly that this little duck needed a friend. We tried to separate him from the chicks, but he made so much noise and was not a happy camper being apart from them. I had read online that when chicks are young they need a different kind of food than the ducks and it can actually cause the duck’s wings to develop wrong if they have the chick food. But we felt sorry for the poor little guy. He probably would have never stopped crying his little duck cry if we left him all alone. Pretty soon, he got a buddy and they were able to be separated from the chicks.
So, that is how we got our two ducks. We have named them Happy (Eric’s duck) and Ducky Lucky (he was rescued from the jaws of my deadly lap dog. He was unable to walk for weeks, then teetered around with a crippled foot, then healed up completely!). I am okay with having them now, although they are much messier than the chickens! They quack nonstop whenever someone is near them, and although it sounds friendly they awkwardly maneuver their boat-bodies away from any company (that is, unless a treat is produced!). They are inseparable and watch the sun go down together every night. No joke. When it’s time to shut the pen for the night, after the chickens put themselves to bed, you can always find Happy and Lucky side by side in the same place on the lawn, facing the western sky.