About year and a half ago we went to TSC to pick out chicks, but we also came home with four ducklings. Honestly, we didn't know anything about ducks, but they were so cute and we, of course, couldn't help it! The point of this article is to be a bio of they're lives and to give you some information on ducks, so here we go.
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1. Like I said earlier, we had planned on getting chicks so when we got the chicks and ducklings we already had a brooder set up. We didn't know anything about ducks so we just put them in with the chicks. Very soon we realized this would be a problem because of how messy the ducklings are. Our poor little chicks were getting rashes on their tummies from the ducks always spilling the water in the shavings and pooping all over the place. So we made a home for the ducklings in a spare dog cage we had, but the ducklings would spill the water all the time! After about a week we all knew it was time for the ducks to move into the coop, so we put a thick layer of shavings on the ground of the coop and installed a little plastic tub in the run to act like a pool.

When it was time for the chicks to move into the coop we knew they couldn't live with the ducks as they were still very messy, so we got a new coop for the ducks and let them free range during the day and locked them up at night. It was a great system and the ducks knew to waddle to their coop every night. The main lesson we learned from when the ducks were little was that they're extremely messy and it doesn't work that well to have ducklings and chicks living together.

2. The next mystery with our ducks was their gender. We had bought them as straight run and were pretty sure we had some males in there. Turns out we had two drakes (males) and two hens (females). So started the naming process, the males we named Wallas and Fatchops, and the girls we named Pink and Blondie. Each duck had its own special feature that assisted to name them, Wallas had a part of his wing that stuck out, Fatchops was really big, Pink had a pink part of her beak, and Blondie had a blonde mohawk on her head. Unfortunately the boys had a big interest in the girls (chickens or ducks, didn't matter) and we worried that they might injure the girls. We made the choice to have the boys culled, which was really sad but we really did worry the girls could get injured. The main lesson we learned from this is to not get straight run ducks or have only one drake for multiple hens instead a drake for each hen.

3. Our neighbors did know how to process the ducks so that we could eat them which turned out to be very interesting. I got the chance to try duck meat which I found very tasty surprisingly. I don't really know how to describe the taste but I remember it being tender and juicy. I would recommend that if you ever get the chance to try duck meat, you might be surprised, like I was, at how good it is.

4. Pink and Blondie lived an extremely happy life of waddling all over the yard all day long and snuggling close in the straw at night after the two boys were gone. Pink definitely turned out to be the sweeter of the two, but Blondie had her moments where she was really sweet too. About 10 months after the boys were killed Pink and Blondie fell sick with what we believe was the Duck Plague. Very sadly, both Pink and Blondie died on April 18, 2016.
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We're really not sure what we could've done, but its very important to just watch your ducks for any signs of illness. Ours fell sick extremely quickly and died within hours of each other, so like I said, just watch carefully.

Now, its time for pictures
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The four musketeers exploring the outdoors.


In their run basking in the sun.


Playing around their pools. Ducks love water!


Pink and Blondie waddling and quacking away.


Home Sweet Home!

I hope you've enjoyed the article and thanks for reading!,
henny1129
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