Thursday, May 07, 2009

Not the Best Items to Impulse Buy

The other day I was at our local Coop Country store to buy some peat pots for my squash starts when the saleslady came up to me and asked if I wanted any ducklings. They had recently gotten their shipment in and I guess were eager to unload them-perhaps so they would no longer have to take care of them. I had to go look at them.
 The ducklings early on

Earlier that day Moh had called and told me KIA was grumpy from teething and a cold. She told me to pick up a little treat, probably with something like ice cream in mind. I decided the ducklings were a better choice. We had been considering getting some chickens, but I wanted to build a coop first. I hoped the ducks may kick me into gear to start building.

So I picked out three. Nobody there knew the sexes or the varieties so I hoped for the best. I wanted a couple females so we could get some eggs and hopefully a variety that was a good layer. I don't care for duck meat, and after naming them I'm sure butchering would not be an option.
 Their first home


At home we set them up in a big plastic tub. I figured that would buy some time to finish the outside shed. Not the case. They grew much faster than I anticipated. Next thing I knew we were moving them into the cold frame I just built. The broccoli and brussel sprouts would have to wait.
 The cold frame home - Cheap entertainment

7 Comments:

At 11:26 AM, Blogger willow said...

Your KIA looks very pleased with them, I'm sure they cheered her up more than ice-cream.
Lets hope that you have some females and will soon be enjoying fresh eggs.

 
At 9:14 AM, Blogger BurdockBoy said...

Willow: She is very happy with them. The challenge is to keep her from chasing them around the yard.

 
At 11:46 PM, Blogger The Fool said...

Heh-heh...I used to keep pens of ducks back in the days when I trained hunting retrievers. You're in for a few surprises. I'm sure we'll hear more about your fowl friends in coming posts. Enjoy the learning curve. ;)

 
At 9:29 AM, Blogger BurdockBoy said...

TFool: I love surprises. First surprise is how fast they grow. I need to finish my house/coop for them and the (hopefully soon) chicks. They pretty much have outgrown their coldframe. They free range in the day, but I put them back in at night. We have a lot of wild animals around.

 
At 4:15 PM, Blogger Carla said...

Very cute...I'm sure they are a handful.

 
At 9:04 PM, Blogger Carla said...

How are the chicks? We have baby gosling around here. The make an appearance occasionally. Getting big fast, but oh-so-cute.

 
At 1:06 PM, Blogger Cheryl said...

That's so exciting, I'm sure Kia is thrilled with her babies! We were going to get some ducks too, but decided to stick to one kind of bird at a time.
Can't wait to hear more about them.

 

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