Hi all,
I am very new to ducks but I would love to join this club! I think the 2 ducklings we picked up at TSC are pekins. They are growing white feathers under all that fuzz anyways. I'll post some pics later. We have named them Howard and Lucille, although we have no idea what sex they are, and they are entirely indistinguishable right now. We got a half dozen chicks too, which are kept nearby, but separated. I have had chickens before, but never ducks so any advice is appreciated! Our plan is to house them together once they are ready to be outdoors (unless they both turn out to be males, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it), and eventually my husband wants to make them their own pad (they are his babies). So far they are delightful little things, but seem mostly terrified of us. You would think, after having been picked up and carried to and from the bath daily since they were a week old, that they would at some point stop behaving like they are about to be chainsaw-massacred, but maybe they just aren't that bright lol. The chickens also act like the apocalypse has come when we try to pick them up, but then settle down and cuddle after a few seconds.I see from reading this forum that most of them don't like being lifted, but will cuddle, so maybe we'll try holding them on our laps for a little bit every day. With a towel. They are poop factories.
I do have one question. We are about to go out of town for 4 days, and don't have anyone local who can care for our birds. We have done a few trial runs with feeding and cage cleaning to see how it would work out, and other than the mess I think it will be fine. They have a nice big waterer and hanging feeder, and we have switched their heat lamp out for a regular light bulb already, but I'm worried about them not having a bath for the 4 days. Thoughts?
