Hi all!
I do NOT have chickens... Well, not yet anyway...
The story...A few - a very few - short weeks ago, as my wife and I, along with family members, were enjoying a cookout, we found ourselves the unwitting parents to a new family member. As we were sitting around telling stories, and enjoying steaks off the grill, our gaggle of dogs went nuts. Lots of woofing and barking preceded a racing herd of canines dashing across the back lawn in pursuit of "something-er-other." I could hear a squeaking, but couldn't see anything until the lead dog, a rescued cross Pit/Beagle, chased its prey almost into my lap. I reached down and scooped up a very tiny duckling. The poor thing could not have been more than a day old, and it was terrified!
So... anyway... My wife was moving backwards away from me, other family members were either skittish about it or just plain curious. My wife thought, based on the squeaking, that I had caught either a mouse or a rat. Every time I tried to tell her it was a baby duck she would shriek and run further away, yelling, "Get it away from me! Get it away from me!" Refusing to believe I was holding a tiny baby duckling. After a few minutes, and showing curious little grandkids, she settled down and exclaimed, "It's a duck!" First problem fixed.
The odd thing about this story is that we live in southwestern New Mexico. If I spat out my back door with the wind blowing, I could almost hit either Mexico or Arizona. There is NO water near us... Nary a drop! The nearest golf course is a couple of miles away, and it's a cinch a duck that tiny did not bolt all the way from a pond on the golf course anyway. I have a huge handheld rechargeable flashlight; the kind hunters use, and went in search of a duck family in the region. Alas and alack, no ducks to be found anywhere. My wife and family members who had been searching with me wanted to know what we were going to do with a duckling... Frankly, we had no idea... So we made up a large plastic box with water in it, fish food (we read online that fish food will work for a short period), and put clean hand towels in with it.
Day two... We read that ducks are social critters, and that the little guy might die with no company. A community member offered another baby duckling for company, which we accepted. We bought food from a Tractor Supply, and some pine shavings.
Day three through five... Minded baby ducks and made sure they got to swim (in our Jacuzzi) and dried them thoroughly afterwards. Built an enclosure with all kinds of mod ducky cons.
For the next couple of weeks we just watched them grow. The little guy that came to us stayed much smaller than the donated duck. We have no idea what kind of duck Duck #1 is, but suspect it's a Mallard. The other duck, Duck #2 we know is a Muscovy. The size difference became quite dramatic over a very short time, so ducks are now called Bert and Ernie (works for boys and girls). They are, and have been since day one, inseparable. They have a 10X10X6 foot dog enclosure, double lined with poultry mesh outside the chainlink. They have a kiddy-pool that is filtered by a small pool filter (the Walmart kind), and have a small covered pen, two other water dishes, and the top of the pen is covered for too much sun and inclement weather. Now, a few weeks later, the size difference is still remarkable, and we have found that ducks are incredibly messy. My wife now wants chickens. *sigh*
Anyway... Hi to you all... Did I say we have a couple of ducks?
I do NOT have chickens... Well, not yet anyway...
The story...A few - a very few - short weeks ago, as my wife and I, along with family members, were enjoying a cookout, we found ourselves the unwitting parents to a new family member. As we were sitting around telling stories, and enjoying steaks off the grill, our gaggle of dogs went nuts. Lots of woofing and barking preceded a racing herd of canines dashing across the back lawn in pursuit of "something-er-other." I could hear a squeaking, but couldn't see anything until the lead dog, a rescued cross Pit/Beagle, chased its prey almost into my lap. I reached down and scooped up a very tiny duckling. The poor thing could not have been more than a day old, and it was terrified!
So... anyway... My wife was moving backwards away from me, other family members were either skittish about it or just plain curious. My wife thought, based on the squeaking, that I had caught either a mouse or a rat. Every time I tried to tell her it was a baby duck she would shriek and run further away, yelling, "Get it away from me! Get it away from me!" Refusing to believe I was holding a tiny baby duckling. After a few minutes, and showing curious little grandkids, she settled down and exclaimed, "It's a duck!" First problem fixed.
The odd thing about this story is that we live in southwestern New Mexico. If I spat out my back door with the wind blowing, I could almost hit either Mexico or Arizona. There is NO water near us... Nary a drop! The nearest golf course is a couple of miles away, and it's a cinch a duck that tiny did not bolt all the way from a pond on the golf course anyway. I have a huge handheld rechargeable flashlight; the kind hunters use, and went in search of a duck family in the region. Alas and alack, no ducks to be found anywhere. My wife and family members who had been searching with me wanted to know what we were going to do with a duckling... Frankly, we had no idea... So we made up a large plastic box with water in it, fish food (we read online that fish food will work for a short period), and put clean hand towels in with it.
Day two... We read that ducks are social critters, and that the little guy might die with no company. A community member offered another baby duckling for company, which we accepted. We bought food from a Tractor Supply, and some pine shavings.
Day three through five... Minded baby ducks and made sure they got to swim (in our Jacuzzi) and dried them thoroughly afterwards. Built an enclosure with all kinds of mod ducky cons.
For the next couple of weeks we just watched them grow. The little guy that came to us stayed much smaller than the donated duck. We have no idea what kind of duck Duck #1 is, but suspect it's a Mallard. The other duck, Duck #2 we know is a Muscovy. The size difference became quite dramatic over a very short time, so ducks are now called Bert and Ernie (works for boys and girls). They are, and have been since day one, inseparable. They have a 10X10X6 foot dog enclosure, double lined with poultry mesh outside the chainlink. They have a kiddy-pool that is filtered by a small pool filter (the Walmart kind), and have a small covered pen, two other water dishes, and the top of the pen is covered for too much sun and inclement weather. Now, a few weeks later, the size difference is still remarkable, and we have found that ducks are incredibly messy. My wife now wants chickens. *sigh*
Anyway... Hi to you all... Did I say we have a couple of ducks?
) Please, no hissing with that one. As my daughter would say, that's two thirds of a PUN. Chickens are next. And then, chicken math, and soon you'll be just as chicken obsessed as the rest of us. I'm a chicken person and don't know much about ducks (although I've had a few), but I have to admit that ducklings are the ultimate in cute. If you have any questions regarding your ducks you should post them on our duck section at 
and Welcome To BYC!
