Monday, April 29, 2013

Ducklings




We have four little Bantam ducklings.  
Ember, Shadow, River and Thunder.  
They are about a week old and came from an older woman that raises ducks and chickens.  Do you see those little holes in their feet?  She punches holes to sex them and to keep track of their breeding lines. (Not sure I like this idea....)

  She gave us two males and two females with no cross breeding so that we can raise duckling ourselves.  They do lay eggs but are not considered a top layer by any means.
They will stay small as like Bantam chickens.

We were hoping to get good layers, but these were all that we could come across this late in the spring without ordering from a mail order source.  And selling little ducklings may be a nice little side business for one of the children.

The primary reason we wanted to get ducks (well, really their cuteness is a major attraction!) but from a homesteading point of view, was to help get our pond in a more natural balance.   Right now we have huge populations of frogs with clumps of frog eggs all over.  And do you know who likes frog eggs?  Leeches!  Yeck!!  
So, ducks will eat small frogs and I am guessing the little tadpoles too.
I also read duck droppings encourage microscopic pond life that hold back algae.   How cool is that? 

They also forage in gardens, at least that is what I have read, and eat slugs and bugs.




10 comments:

  1. Ahh! True cuteness. I'm not sure I agree with the hole punching either, but having never been around ducks I guess my opinion is of little matter! :-). It sounds as though they will be of great help to you and the pond along with being cute. Enjoy!
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  2. And.. They are so so so so so so ADORABLE!!! What a sweet little addition to your homestead!
    Love, Renee

    p.s. you are on of the good good friends I was talking about :)

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  3. So cute! And beneficial to boot, what's not to like?

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  4. There is something simultaneously endearing and ominous about a duckling named "Thunder" - this, coming from someone who grew up running barefoot amongst free-range ducks.
    I think you are right to question that they may need their webs intact.
    It is the wings which will need clipping.

    Have been enjoying reading here. Thanks for the lovely posts.

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  5. We raised ducks a couple years ago and they were loved by the whole family. Very friendly and had such funny personalities. We never clipped thier wings, and they always stayed right around the house. The eggs were delicious too. Enjoy your new babies!

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  6. so cute...your suggestion about a business for one of the children reminded me of a wonderful book....20 Chickens for a Saddle; The Story of an African Childhood by Robyn Scott... a great read and lesson in living if you could get it at your library!

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  7. What sweet advatages of having cute ducklings for yourselves!

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  8. I wanted to take a minute to say hello and thank you! I appreciate and am honored to be listed in your favorites blog-roll. Your site is so precious. I love this post on your ducklings! How cute and fun! Lots of blessings, Kelly

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