Rescued 2 unwanted easter ducks tonight ** Pics Added!**

[Bec]

I went and picked up the cutest little ducks tonight! One is a Pekin the other I am guessing is a Khaki Campbell. The people who had them lived in a neighborhood and had bought them for their kids for Easter. They said all the little girl asked for was a duck. They said that they knew when they got them that they would only keep them for a little while. They were gong to release them in the neighborhood pond, but were leery of the kids that lived there. So DH and I went over to pick them up.
Those little kids were sobbing because we were taking there ducks away from them. The mom was crying, the kids were crying...it was a mess. The little girl, maybe all of 3, looked at me and said "we are going to get new ducks and no one is going to take them from us again!"
The little boy was about 7 and he was so upset that he ran in the house balling his little eyes out.... It really was heartbreaking to see these poor kids have their pets that they had grown to love, be taken away from them

The ducks will have a happy home here with all the rest of our ducks, and we made sure to tell them that they were more than welcome to come visit. I did a bit of educating on the importance of not buying animals as gifts...they seemed receptive.

So as a result, I know have 2 happy 6 or 7 week old ducklings!

 

[monarc23]

YAY for the ducks getting into your hands than into a pond where they'd not be taken care of....and kudos to you for educating them some! Its no ones fault but the parents that the kids are heart broken. I have no understanding as to why some parents do that...*sigh*

 

[Bec]

The mother kept telling me that she didn't want to do it, but the DH was a sucker for the little girl so he go them for her. From what I could tell, they did take good care of them while they had them. During the day they freeranged around the backyard and at night had a wooden pen in the garage that they slept in. They were being fed un-medicated start and grow and had a full thing of water. BUT the point was that they were Easter gifts and that really bothers me.
I feel good that I at least told them the importance of not buying ducks or chicks for kids.
The mom was crying because the kids were so upset. Maybe this experience will make them re-think it a bit when their kids or someone they know thinks they might want Easter gifts...

I know I can't save them all, but I feel good that I at least saved these 2 from an uncertain future!

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
That's all that matters right now and I hope you're right. I hope that they realize to leave well alone..be prepaired for a pet to keep it perminantly not just for a "for now" thing. Im glad to hear they took care of them well!

 

[Bec]

Yes and now I have them and just love them to pieces! I can't wait to post some pics of everyone! The little Khaki is a girl and I believe the Pekin is a boy, judging off of their quacks! We got home and it was just about dark so we put them in their own pen with their own house so they can settle in. I can;t wait to see their little faces when they wake up to all this room...and friends too!!!

 

[mom2chicksandpups]

Maybe you could invite those children over to "visit" with the ducks some time. I'm glad they found a good home where they will be taken care of.

 

[Bec]

That is exactly what I did. I told them they are welcome over anytime to visit Ducky and Aubry. I told them that I had other duck friends and lots of room for them to run around and play. The little boy was ok with that..the little girl just kept looking at me like I was the most horrible person on the planet! I felt so bad, but we knew it was what was best for the duckies!
The mother said she would come over in a few weeks to visit, I really hope they do so they can see how happy they are.
They are neighbors to a guy that DH worked with, so he said he would bring them over anytime they want since he knows where we are!

 

[Lorettawyandotte]

when I was a kid my father had a produce delivery route in several neighborhood communities...he sold eggs and dressed out chickens and at Thanksgiving and Christmas, we were wrapping turkeys for him to deliver several nights in a row late into the night...Easter was lucrative with egg sales and then, about two weeks after Easter he would start bringing home the bunnies, chicks and ducks that people had bought for their children...our kitchen would be lined with boxes of various babies...some of them were in bad shape with broken bones and stuff from children mauling them...it always made me so sad...one of my fondest memories of that disaster was a box of half a dozen baby mallards...they must have been seriously confined as when my sister and I turned them loose on the tiled kitchen floor they tore around like maniacs having a blast...I can still hear the slap of those baby webbed feet on the floor as they ran and chased...we loved them...my father found homes on farms for most of them where he purchased the eggs he sold on his city routes...
I am still appalled by the sale/purchase of these precious baby creatures as gifts around holidays...especially for young kids who haven't a clue that these things are alive and have feelings
and can be injured if handled roughly...

I am so glad you got thsoe two baby ducks into a proper invironement...I feel bad for the kids but maybe they all learned something...I hope so...

 

[Bec]

I LOVE the sound of baby duck or goose feet on a linoleum floor!


Last spring I rescued 2 that had been kept in a small box and never let out. There was a TON of poop in there and the poor babies were so weak that they could only walk 2 steps and have to sit down. One's legs were out to the sides all crazy and the other just couldn't walk right. One died, the other made it, little Belle, and she now lives happily over at the pond with all the other mallards. It is very sad that people do this without understanding what comes with it and the effect it has on the animal.
But unfortunately, as long as there are ducklings, there will be easter gifts

 

[Cetawin]

aaaawwww maybe when the ducklings get a little older and the kids have had some time, you could give them a call or drop by and invite the kids over to see how happy the duckies are?