Gosh, I haven't been here in a very long time. I feel it wouldn't be right if I didn't write this last post. When I first acquired my ducks I came here often to seek advice and read the experiences of other duck owners. Between this forum and my ducks as my teachers, I learned a lot as the years passed.
I started out with 12 Muscovy ducklings that I bought from a farmer in Oklahoma, in 2011. After the first year and several predator attacks I then got two livestock guardian dogs in 2012 to help keep bear, raccoons, skunks and fox off of our property. I couldn't afford adult dogs so I got pups and trained them myself. Kind of. Best piece of advice I got was, "keep the dogs from "playing" with the ducks and eventually their own instincts to protect will kick in." That happened when my dogs were 15 months old. And boy, did those instincts kick in. They were the best, absolutely, the best, livestock guardian dogs ever. Not only did they protect from the ground, but also the air. They were awesome. Their names were Maya and Tia.
Over the next 3 years I answered ads for anyone selling Muscovy ducks. I ended up with 25 give or take.
This was a duck paradise for many years, from 2011 to 2021, thanks to my dogs who were on duty 24/7 during the summer months. In the summer we had water for the ducks to swim and splash in and kennels and nesting boxes full of fluffy wood shavings set up all over the place. Moms were spitting out eggs like crazy. And my girls made the best moms for their babies. I used to call them fluffy golf balls. We loved seeing moms running around busy with their babies. Those tiny feet going so fast! Ducklings could run faster than I could! Those were the years. We would sit up on our deck in the mornings drinking our coffee and reading, often looking up and commenting on this mother or that duckling. Lots of laughter in raising ducks.
My dogs kept most of the predators out, but there were occasions. This is a high traffic spot for bear, raccoons, skunks, and fox. We have the natural fruits and water. The predators were wary of my dogs so they would grab and run with one of my ducks on occasion while my dogs were catching up on their sleep in the early mornings after being up all night protecting. it took many years before I was down to less than 10 ducks. Then 7, then 6 and lastly five before my dogs were put to sleep.
I lost Maya, last March, 2021 and her sister, Tia, followed September, 2021, 6 months later. Both were 9 years old. Each became terminally ill and I had to have them put to sleep.
Ducks, as you know hate winter and I live at 5,000 feet elevation in the Rocky Mountains. Winters can be brutal, and this one in 2022 was. Also I have developed health issues so it has become increasingly difficult for me to do my daily duck chores. Timing happens, doesn't it? I also noticed, upon coming here today that all members have to pick a new user name here as they upgrade their system. I won't be back so I won't need to choose a new user name. Again, timing...
So back in January, 2022, I made the decision that it wasn't fair to have my remaining 5 very old ducks survive the winter only to be a meal once the predators were active in the spring. But I kept stalling. Finally my husband unbeknownst to me, made a visit to our vet. He came home one day and told me he had made an appointment but if I wanted, I could cancel it. I shook my head and said, "No, this has to be done. Thank you." So we had all five remaining ducks put to sleep. As a side note, my vet had just lost her husband to covid so we were both in the room crying for our own reasons while euthanizing my ducks. What a mess it was.
So I come to the close of this post. I am not sad. This has been a happy time in my life. I can't tell you how much my duckies taught me over the years. How I loved them! Now they are all swimming and splashing in the Big Pond in the Sky happily continuing their duck lives.
I want to thank this forum for getting me off to a good start and all of you who taught me so much on how to care for my feathered kids. Blessing to all of you.
I'd like to close by listing all of my ducks.
Dotty
Barbie
Summer
Sky
Agnes
Emmy
Ethel
Rachael
Squeak
Ms Blue
Bella
Lilly 1
Lilly 2
Daisy
Rosie
Vanessa
Josie
Sophie
Black Cloud
Stretch
BenSam
Barney
Hercules
CC
Spot
I started out with 12 Muscovy ducklings that I bought from a farmer in Oklahoma, in 2011. After the first year and several predator attacks I then got two livestock guardian dogs in 2012 to help keep bear, raccoons, skunks and fox off of our property. I couldn't afford adult dogs so I got pups and trained them myself. Kind of. Best piece of advice I got was, "keep the dogs from "playing" with the ducks and eventually their own instincts to protect will kick in." That happened when my dogs were 15 months old. And boy, did those instincts kick in. They were the best, absolutely, the best, livestock guardian dogs ever. Not only did they protect from the ground, but also the air. They were awesome. Their names were Maya and Tia.
Over the next 3 years I answered ads for anyone selling Muscovy ducks. I ended up with 25 give or take.
This was a duck paradise for many years, from 2011 to 2021, thanks to my dogs who were on duty 24/7 during the summer months. In the summer we had water for the ducks to swim and splash in and kennels and nesting boxes full of fluffy wood shavings set up all over the place. Moms were spitting out eggs like crazy. And my girls made the best moms for their babies. I used to call them fluffy golf balls. We loved seeing moms running around busy with their babies. Those tiny feet going so fast! Ducklings could run faster than I could! Those were the years. We would sit up on our deck in the mornings drinking our coffee and reading, often looking up and commenting on this mother or that duckling. Lots of laughter in raising ducks.
My dogs kept most of the predators out, but there were occasions. This is a high traffic spot for bear, raccoons, skunks, and fox. We have the natural fruits and water. The predators were wary of my dogs so they would grab and run with one of my ducks on occasion while my dogs were catching up on their sleep in the early mornings after being up all night protecting. it took many years before I was down to less than 10 ducks. Then 7, then 6 and lastly five before my dogs were put to sleep.
I lost Maya, last March, 2021 and her sister, Tia, followed September, 2021, 6 months later. Both were 9 years old. Each became terminally ill and I had to have them put to sleep.
Ducks, as you know hate winter and I live at 5,000 feet elevation in the Rocky Mountains. Winters can be brutal, and this one in 2022 was. Also I have developed health issues so it has become increasingly difficult for me to do my daily duck chores. Timing happens, doesn't it? I also noticed, upon coming here today that all members have to pick a new user name here as they upgrade their system. I won't be back so I won't need to choose a new user name. Again, timing...
So back in January, 2022, I made the decision that it wasn't fair to have my remaining 5 very old ducks survive the winter only to be a meal once the predators were active in the spring. But I kept stalling. Finally my husband unbeknownst to me, made a visit to our vet. He came home one day and told me he had made an appointment but if I wanted, I could cancel it. I shook my head and said, "No, this has to be done. Thank you." So we had all five remaining ducks put to sleep. As a side note, my vet had just lost her husband to covid so we were both in the room crying for our own reasons while euthanizing my ducks. What a mess it was.
So I come to the close of this post. I am not sad. This has been a happy time in my life. I can't tell you how much my duckies taught me over the years. How I loved them! Now they are all swimming and splashing in the Big Pond in the Sky happily continuing their duck lives.
I want to thank this forum for getting me off to a good start and all of you who taught me so much on how to care for my feathered kids. Blessing to all of you.
I'd like to close by listing all of my ducks.
Dotty
Barbie
Summer
Sky
Agnes
Emmy
Ethel
Rachael
Squeak
Ms Blue
Bella
Lilly 1
Lilly 2
Daisy
Rosie
Vanessa
Josie
Sophie
Black Cloud
Stretch
BenSam
Barney
Hercules
CC
Spot
