Citytransplant
Chirping
I heard that raising chickens and ducks are a calming, enjoyable, and fun activity. That may be true....Someday. I have 2 Indian runner and 5 assorted chicken babies that are about 4 weeks old. When we first brought the newly hatched home, we placed them all in a clear plastic tote and smiled. Although I have had chickens in the past, I never had ducks. Kept reading that ducks were messy, and oh boy it didn't take long to for me to believe that. Everything was constantly wet. I couldn't believe how quickly they were all growing, I swear you could almost see them grow by the minute and messier by the second. Although I wanted to keep them together ( for bonding purposes) It wasn't fair to the chicken to be I such a mess all the time. So, I placed the ducks in a large galvanized tub about 2 feet away from the chicks. They were very upset. Although they could hear the chicks, they could not see them. 2 days later they grew enough to have their heads over the side of the tub and could see the chicks in their clear tote. But I digress. Found out the ducks were not the culprit, their tub remains clean and fairly dry except for the occasional water mishap, it is easy to maintain. The chicks...OMG. I have tried several waterers and feeders. The spill the water, poop in the water, scratch bedding in the water and do the same with their food, all day long. I realized they are like newborn babies and need constant care and really I don't mind, but geeze they are messy. Sooo…...when they were about 3 weeks old, it was a nice day, thought I would take them outside everyday for playtime to use all their energy an be clean and calm when brought in. I have a raised garden bed for them to scratch in and they all really liked it. It was a fun time for all. When it was time to bring them in, Oh, headache of headaches, it was worse than herding feral cats. Won't do that again. In the meantime, hubby and I are working hard to retro fit previous chicken house that became a potting/storage shed, back to a hopefully improved chicken shed. We are both 77 years old, so it takes us a good deal longer to do things that were simple and quickly done in the past. No matter, the weather will be too cold for the next week to take them outside or to their new home. The temporary homes are in an attached sun room to the house. I control the temperature by opening and closing doors and windows, it works great except our home is starting to smell like a barn, just another reason moving day is eagerly anticipated. A few days ago while cleaning the chick area, one of the chicks ( Pansy) escaped. Recalling the outing experience and knowing she was safe, I let her stay out until hubby could help me get her back in her tote. Later when I entered the room, she was in the tub with the ducks, it was so cute. When the ducks saw me, they placed their bodies in such a way as to protect little Pansy from me. My heart melted. Guess the bonding did work. Now I don't want anyone to think I am complaining ( well I guess I am) or regret my responsibilities ( I am not) just thought it would be nice would let people know that no matter how much you plan, try new ideas, or party in your head, things don't always go the way you hoped. Some days you just have to shovel the poop. Which I am going to do right now.
