Rule Number One
Posted by Amateur Teacher on Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Under: ducks
... is never bring an animal home you aren't prepared for. Right? How many times does that rule get broken? We broke it this past Friday when we brought home four young ducks from the auction. The lighting at an auction must be bad for a reason. That way, you can't tell exactly what you're getting. The ducks spent the night in a small rabbit hutch and come daylight, well, I saw exactly what I had bought.
Those poor things looked rough. Really, that's an understatement. At least two had absolutely no feathers on their head. Where there was supposed to be feathers was a layer of crust. The other two, while they didn't look bad, definitely didn't look good. Of course, like any good pet owner, I googled it.
I couldn't find any reason as to why they would look "mangy" except that sometimes the female looks like that when she is mated. Well, these babies are waaaay too young for all that and I don't even know which ones are girls and which ones are boys... so... who knows. What I did find was a list of foods to feed them. This list consisted of fresh fruits and veggies and for the past three days I have chopped and mixed different goodies from the garden (except onions and garlic, they aren't supposed to eat those. I don't know why...). I moved them to our brooder so they would a have some more room to move around, bought them some feed and a legit waterer, and fed them veggies ever chance I got. (They LOOOOOVE tomatoes.)
Yesterday, when I got home, they were the first thing I checked on. I was shocked at what I saw. It was as if over night they had transformed. They were all bright yellow, calm, AND I could see the beginnings of soft yellow fuzz on the two "bald" ones. It looks like tender loving care is the most important ingredient in the recipe for a healthy animal. It almost made me mad. Why weren't they being taken care of in the first place!? Then, I thought, "Well, Heather, you aren't exactly super prepared for them, either." I know, but at least I took the time to find out what to do to care for them, right?
Oh well. They're ours now. Time to get building again, and SOON!
Those poor things looked rough. Really, that's an understatement. At least two had absolutely no feathers on their head. Where there was supposed to be feathers was a layer of crust. The other two, while they didn't look bad, definitely didn't look good. Of course, like any good pet owner, I googled it.
I couldn't find any reason as to why they would look "mangy" except that sometimes the female looks like that when she is mated. Well, these babies are waaaay too young for all that and I don't even know which ones are girls and which ones are boys... so... who knows. What I did find was a list of foods to feed them. This list consisted of fresh fruits and veggies and for the past three days I have chopped and mixed different goodies from the garden (except onions and garlic, they aren't supposed to eat those. I don't know why...). I moved them to our brooder so they would a have some more room to move around, bought them some feed and a legit waterer, and fed them veggies ever chance I got. (They LOOOOOVE tomatoes.)
Yesterday, when I got home, they were the first thing I checked on. I was shocked at what I saw. It was as if over night they had transformed. They were all bright yellow, calm, AND I could see the beginnings of soft yellow fuzz on the two "bald" ones. It looks like tender loving care is the most important ingredient in the recipe for a healthy animal. It almost made me mad. Why weren't they being taken care of in the first place!? Then, I thought, "Well, Heather, you aren't exactly super prepared for them, either." I know, but at least I took the time to find out what to do to care for them, right?
Oh well. They're ours now. Time to get building again, and SOON!
In : ducks