Ducklings Week 2

Ducklings week 2. Let me say this first…ducks smell. There, I said it. I’m laughing out loud while I type this because I swear…I’ve never smelled such a distinctive smell in my life. No matter how much you clean their brooder, fresh pine, or clean water you give them…they smell.  All that to say, when we get ducklings in the future, it will be in the warm spring so they can be in the barn growing their little feathers out. 

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THEY ARE GROWING SO FAST

You can read all about the ducklings for week 1 here. I’ve always read that poultry grows really fast, but I think until you actually witness it, you don’t know how true that statement is. They have doubled in size, drink and eat constantly, and are the sweetest things. They got to spend some time outside this week and then taken inside to a warm bath. Our property is extremely muddy (a problem we’re determined to fix with cover crops) and so when the ducklings get done frolicking, they are a muddy mess. 

I sat and watched them outside with a huge grin on my face. They all immediately found a mud pit and went to town. 

THEY KNOW WHO THEIR “MOMMA” IS

Funny as it may be to say, they do know who feeds them. I took out some meal worms for them to try while outside and they went nuts! I think the most endearing thing about ducks is how they tilt their head to look at you. Obviously it’s because they can’t see you otherwise, but dang it’s adorable. You call them and they come running. Whatcha got us to eat momma?

TRYING TO CATCH THEM IS A WHOLE FIASCO

I need to get this on video, but my hands are usually waiting eagerly with a towel to get them to the bath. Wrangling 2 week old baby ducklings is the most hilarious thing to see. My kids are the ones trying to catch them and I swear I’m waiting for one of them to take a head plunge into the mud. 

WE HAVE ONE SNUGGLER

Charlotte is the only duckling who actually will relax while holding her. Now granted she did poop on me, but I’m telling myself that was out of love lol. Is she not beautiful? She is a Khaki Campbell and will end up this gorgeous tan/khaki color and produce quite a bit of eggs. One farmer notes that this particular breed laid 340 eggs in a 365 day year. Crazy right?

THE SMELL

Like I said above, they are smelly. I’m not talking about a tiny smell, I’m talking a big huge hit you in the face when you open the door smelly. We are currently cleaning out their brooder three times a day, but I’m counting down the days they can spend more time outside. Go free little birds lol. 

LIVE AND LEARN

If/when we add more to our flock, they will be purchased in the spring. Mark my words. They will spend a week inside our sunroom, then be moved to a safe place in our barn to grow. It will make cleanup a lot easier then too. What are we doing with all that poop? Adding it to our compost pile of course. I’ve given Scott plans for a 3 bin compost system from Off Grid World and the that’s our plan to build amazing compost for our land. 

We can’t wait to see how much they grow this week and how much they are going to thrive on our farm.