Below is from another duck group I'm in. Although I REALLY HATE to do it, I must give up my precious ducks. I have 2 male mallards and 2 pekins - 1 male and 1 female. They are 6 months old. I do NOT want them separated. It is important to me that they get a new home that is BETTER than I have provided them with, but MOST IMPORTANT of all is that they DO NOT go to someone who will kill and eat them!!!!! Even though my husband wants them to go NOW, I am standing firm that they are staying with me UNTIL I AM SURE THAT BOTH OF MY CONDITIONS ARE MET. There is NO WAY I would give them up otherwise. I DO WORRY, though, that they will get sick and die, because it is getting quite cold out and I am unable to protect them from the cold in the manner in which they should be. They are so cute , funny, and smart.........I have learned a great deal from them, as has my husband, my children, some of my grandchildren, and even some of our friends and neighbors. I did not know just WHAT I was getting into when we got them........but even so....... Yes, if I had it to do over again, I would.....even though it breaks my heart to get rid of them. I was one of those ignorant people who thought I could buy cute little ducks, and that they would just grow up and fly away sometime in the fall. I was told that sometimes they return in the spring, and I thought that would be really cool. My 14 y/o son had been asking to get ducklings every year since he was very little........and I thought that this year would be a great year for it. I had been off work for a while and didn't expect to return until fall, and my son was finally old enough & responsible enough to take care of them without a lot of help from me. Ha!! Shows how little I know........on all counts. I have a college education (5 years & 2 degrees) and I thought that EVERYONE KNOWS that BABY DUCKS GROW UP AND FLY AWAY. This would just be a good summer experience for my son (and my 16 y/o daughter and myself & husband) and would teach him more about responsibility and life in general. It sounded like a win, win situation.......the ducks would not be kept in very small cages or used for meat. We would give them a good start on life, and then they would be on their way. Win, win for both sides. Ha !!! Wrong again. Shows what little my college education did for me in THIS situation. I am SOOOO ignorant!! I live in Muskegon, Michigan, a city in southwest Michigan, located along the shore of Lake Michigan. My home is several miles east of Lake Michigan, and almost a mile north of the Muskegon River. I would really like if someone locally would take the ducks ..and maybe we could visit them at times if we are allowed to. We will certainly miss them. I could drive an hour or so to meet someone, but not much further than that. PLEASE RESPOND if you can take them or know someone that will. Thank you for all of your help. Jan If interested in my beautiful ducks, you can reach me either by e-mail: [email protected] or by phone at: 231-744-9239 Please a message if I cannot be reached. Thank you. Jan Bogue I tried to post pictures but they didn't come up.. you will have to ask Jan to send you pictures of them. (Christine(
Ah well. I hope she finds someone to take them. It's a shame that people get ducks thinking they'll "fly away", or that aren't prepared to take care of them. But bless her for not just dumping them and for trying to find them a good home. I wish her luck.
Message for Jan: I'm sorry your learning experience has turned out so negatively for you and that you have to give them up. However, I have to commend you for doing the right thing by standing firm and trying to find a good home for them. Too often people just drop off their domesticated ducks/chickens/geese etc at local ponds and think they will fend for themselves just fine which usually isn't the case at all. Good luck, I'll be rooting for you and your ducks. BTW you might want to post an add in craigslist in your area. I think you'd have success finding someone that way.
What did she mean by: "I am unable to protect them from the cold in the manner in which they should be" ? Maybe she doesn't know that they don't require as much as chickens do in the winter. My ducks have a pen with a large house my hubby built for them-----kind of like a large doghouse. All 10 fit into it at night---along with my 2 geese---I don't have any type of heat for it, but ducks and geese have natural insulation-----down. Maybe she could keep them after all? I do commend her for not letting them go to just anyone. Hope she finds a great home for them!
Quote:I think it's more of a situation that they didn't realize how loud/messy etc. that ducks can be and just don't want to deal with the hassle. At least that's what I got from the message. I also thought that maybe if we suggested a better way to easily house them/protect them from the elements she could keep them but then I went back and reread her post. I think her DH just wants them gone for whatever reason. I can honestly understand why many people wouldn't want to deal with the mess of ducks even though I am not one of those people. In fact I've got a plumber in my basement right now installing not only a utility sink but an extra hot cold water line with a hose reel installed on the wall by the window so I can easily access the hose through the basement window from the outside and not have to deal with frozen hoses or faucets anymore. Gonna cost me a pretty penny but the ducks/chickens aren't going anywhere soon so I'm doing it. Oops, I digress... Not everyone is meant to have ducks and I commend her for recognizing that and doing what's best for the ducks in the long run. Many people wouldn't.
How sad. I have been on other boards and a lot of people do ask duck owners-raisers about them flying away and coming back in the spring and some of the duck owners would say YES! I couldn't believe it! I always tell people that they won't and will be dependent on them for their food. I'm not saying that some ducks won't fly away and come back, but most domestic ducks won't. I know I'm preaching to the choir, but think about it, people, before getting ducks! Even if the ducks do fly away, there's something called "hunting season" and your precious little ducklings could die.
Let's don't judge her and the situation they are in. She admits that it was a mistake. Let's praise her for trying to find a good home and not just dumping the ducks on some lake. I hope there is someone in the area willing to take the babies in.
OMG, this is sooo tempting!! I'm less than an hour away from Muskegon. BUT we just got 3 new ducks from someone in a similar situation and we really shouldn't take more in until we get a bigger coop. I'm kind of confused, the post said she has 2 mallards and 2 pekins and that there's 1 male and 1 female. Does that mean 1 male and 1 female of each breed??
