Do you watch Duck Dynasty? Did you know last year that I met a lot of the cast members and that you can see My brush with Uncle Si here? We are totally going back this year, BTW and I have a goal to meet Phil and Miss Kay. Anyway, that isn't what this blog is about. It's about Ducks!
Most people on St. Patrick's day drink green beer. Me? I buy ducks. Okay, I may have had some green beer too but the ducks came first. Seriously, how cute are my little wobbly web footed friends? So, here is what I know about ducks, pretty much nothing except they will eventually swim and they like cracked corn.
So last Thursday we brought home the little ducklings and promptly installed them in our chicken brooder. They have no feathers so just like chicks, they must be warm (hence the light in the photo) and they must be inside until they are fully feathered. (Unless it were like 100 degrees in Texas already, it's close but not yet.) The argument discussion then began over what to name them. Finally my husband told me they are Daffy, Daisy, and Patty. I was fine with the first two but I was really pushing for Paddy and for her to be a boy but I lost. Why, you ask, not Donald? Well, we have only one boy and we decided that right now Donald is associated with a more negative person than the little duckling deserved. That and my neighbor's white duck who met a sad demise a few weeks ago, I called Donald.
Alright, you ask, "What am I going to do with ducks?" Well, we are going to keep them as pets, first and foremost. I miss the quacking my neighbor's ducks provided and having lost both in a matter of a few weeks made me sad. We got 2 girls and a boy because we wanted to take a try at duck eggs. I hear they are amazing. Plus, maybe we can breed a few ourselves.
You may also be asking, "Okay so you have more fowl friends, but what kind are they"? These ducks are Rouen Ducks and they are French. I don't know if that means my ducks will require special sauces on their food or an Eiffel tower painted home but I do know that when they grow up they will look very much (almost exactly) like Mallards but they will be a little bigger, produce a little less on the egg side, and apparently, they don't really fly.
You are probably asking "Where are you going to keep them and do ducks and chickens get along?" Well, the plan is for the hubs to build a little home near the chicken coop for the baby ducks and yes, the ducks and the chickens do get along. In fact, before my neighbor's ducks passed away/disappeared, we often let them in our backyard to eat with our chickens and waddle around for a bit. The only thing, so far, that I have managed to figure out that is different about the ducks and the chicks is that you do not give ducks medicated crumble food because it will kill them but with chicks you need to keep them on that for the first several months of their life to fight disease.
The dogs, by the way, are really annoyed that they don't get equal time in the blog. They look all tore up, don't they?
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| Ries can hardly sleep! |
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Sadie is packing her bags!
So I promised them that I would give them some blog space soon. Sadie hasn't posted a blog in 2 years and Ries hasn't posted one ever so maybe it's Doxie time.
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Final question: "What does this mean to you, my dear readers?" Well, obviously you can expect more duck and chicken posts in the near future. I have even made a section in my toolbar especially for my feathered friends. I can't promise you that you will become an eggspert (get it? Oh I am so funny!) on either but if you have any questions at all about ducks, chickens or dachshunds for that matter, I will be happy to try and answer.
Thank you for reading and as always,
Enjoy the ride!
Laura