My gift and I bought our first 2 chicks,mallard and blue swed,didn't know sex till mallard got older and of course she was a she,no curl on blue so she was a she,raised them in a room in a baby pool with bedding,it's a daily chore if u want them as pets,they grow fast and poop every 15 mins,lol.we let them swim n the tub and feed them starter feed and then corn green beans lettuce and they loved grapes,I build a pen about 300 dollars later,very nice I mite say.well they weren't as sociable as I thought unless u had a can of corn,lol,so I got 2 pekin chicks from watching videos and reading,just missed the part about there the 2 ne loudest and we r not even sure if we r allowed to have them where we live,but neighBors r cool with it.we were told we had to buy 2 at a time cause a siNgle duck will get depressed.well pen got bigger for all 4 and there was sum alpha issuses n the beginning but then mallard took command.well she started taking the roll seriously in the pool by mounting them aNd even to the point making the thrusting noise just like us humans when we get our toes curled,lol.so what the hell,asked a friend and got a male mallard,little rocky at first cause alpha mallard didn't want to b steeped in by.but a month later and there a flock,must have about 8 eggs in the fridge and 2 old ones n the pen,there not sitting on them but they do bury them,but there in the yard all day.i can't even come in the bk and crack a beer without them rushing to me thinking its a can of corn,we spoil them with nite crawlers and red leaf lettuce and of course corn.they eat plenty in the yard thou,and when it wet,say good buy to ur lawn if there's a puddle,it becomes mud,lol.if u want ducks for pets and don't have a lot of land,it's work,I work all week sometimes coming over one nite during the week to my gas and I don't even get to drink a beer,I clean the pen,drain the pool and vacuumed it out.wash all drinking bowls,it's work.but when were out here watching them or had a bad day at work,when they all fly over to u to want food,inside ur head u think they came over to say hi,makes it all better.all she has to say is " kids come here" and they all come to her,I have to whistle,plus I can imitate there calls pretty good.they r costly and a lot of work just like n e pet,but that's y we have pets,for the joy and love they bring us.
cross your fingers that I can find another one when the time comes. I thought about keeping an imprinted duckling and realized that I still have years of highschool and then 10 planned years of college and then my adult job. I couldn't leave an imprinted animal alone that much depending on how long it lives. 
