breezy acres tips and tales

Learning about ducks

By CHELSEA GRASSE
Posted 4/7/21

Greetings and happy April!

This last month, our most recent adventure here at the farm was getting ducklings. Raising chicks in the past, I imagined how easy it would be also to raise ducklings. …

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breezy acres tips and tales

Learning about ducks

Posted

Greetings and happy April!

This last month, our most recent adventure here at the farm was getting ducklings. Raising chicks in the past, I imagined how easy it would be also to raise ducklings. However, there are many things I did not know beforehand. If you plan on raising ducks, here are a few tips:

Ducklings grow at a much faster rate than chicks do; they are fully grown in about a month. Right now, our ducklings and chicks are about three and a half weeks old, and the ducklings tower over the chicks, almost tripled in size. As many people know, ducks love water, and when the ducks were inside the first two weeks, I was constantly swimming the ducklings in our deep-sized kitchen sink twice a day. We are going to provide small pools for them at the farm. I learned that ducklings enjoy chomping down on peas, green beans and romaine lettuce. Ducklings also love to cuddle with each other, and not just for warmth. When it comes to duck eggs, they tend to be at least 50 percent larger than chicken eggs, and the yolks are a more vibrant color.

The ducklings and chicks are now at the farm with their very own hutch and fenced-in area while they are still smaller. When I pull up in my car to take care of them, they run up to their fence and start peeping at me. They know when I am there to spend time with them and feed them breakfast or dinner. When the chicks and ducklings are bigger and able to defend themselves, they will move in with the adult chickens that have their own shed and will be free-range.

ducks, farm

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