The Babies Have Doubled in Size!

We've had the birds for seven days now, and they truly have doubled in size. The ducks used to fit in the palm of my hand and now they are spilling over! We have to get the coop built soon. The ducks are almost too big for their container, so next weekend, we will move the birds to the garage.

We have several exercise pens (x-pens) that we use for the dogs when we go to dog shows or for separating them in the yard. Wednesday, I was feeling bad for the ducks and wanted to give them so space to run around, so I decide to set up an x-pen in the room. I laid garbage bags on top of the mat on the floor then set up the pen in a circle on top of the bags.

I thought that the ducks were too big to fit through the bars of the x-pens. Well, I was wrong, partly. After I put the ducks in the x-pen, all three of them made their way straight to the edge of the x-pen and proceeded to go through the spaces between the bars. They got their head, neck, and wings through, but couldn't get their fat little bodies through. They couldn't go forward, then they couldn't back out because of their wings! I was in a bit of a panic worried that they were going to break their wings.

Thank God Nick was in the room with me. I yelled to him to help and he rushed to the outside of the x-pen and helped me wiggle them all back in the pen. We would get one out, then proceed to get the next, and the previous one would go back to the edge of the x-pen and try to get out and get stuck again! We finally got all three away from the edge, and I scooped them all up to put them back in their container. I had them almost there when one duck started squirming, and I dropped her!

Thankfully, she was only about four inches above the floor when she fell, but the dumb duck ran into the open x-pen (instead of going around it) and tried to get through the bars again! She is officially labeled the "special one."

They are keeping us entertained!

Till next time.

YIC - Christel

Escape Artist in the Making

It's Tuesday and the chicks are learning how to jump. Nick walked in the office this morning saw one of the chicks had jumped on top of the waterer. That's only about an inch lower than the edge of the container we have them in. I'm glad the waterer was away from the edge as we would have had one chick making a huge mess in our office.

I asked Chris to put one of the dog excercise pens around the tubs for the time being. After I got off work, I got some screening to clamp over the tops of the tubs. All the birdies are secure now.

I've posted some pictures that Nick took of me hand feeding the birds. They're pretty gentle, and I enjoy this daily ritual with them.

Here is a video of the ducks eating from my hand.

By the way, we did not speed up the video. That is how fast they really eat.

YIC - Christel

The New Family Members

I still can't believe we have them in our house!


Saturday started pretty much like many other Saturday's we've had since we got married. We slept in a little, took care of the dogs, made waffles, had breakfast, then decided to go see my youngest nephew play soccer.


We stood out in the cold for an hour with the other family members; our ears and noses numb from the cold. We were relieved to get back into the car for only the sake of being warm again.


As we pulled out of our parking space, Chris asked me and Nick what we thought we should do next. I piped up that we should go to Jax Farm and Ranch to take a look at the new delivery of chickens and ducks they received the day before. Chris knew that I had been there earlier in the week to look at what they had and that I was disappointed they only had two ducks. One of the Jax employees told me they would get another shipment in on Friday, so I was eager to see the babies.


We made a stop at the local video store, stocked up on a few movies to "winter in" at home, then headed to Jax. As we walked in the store, I was so excited to see the new babies that I could barely contain myself from speeding down the aisle.


I immediately said "Awww" seeing all the baby chicks and ducks in the pens. Chris seemed somewhat interested in them, but walked away after a short while. I figured he was bored looking at the babies and just wanted to pass time until I had my fill. He back a little while later, but upon seeing me still enthralled with them, he soon was wandering the store again.


I was finally about ready to leave when Chris came walking back and started asking me a whole bunch of questions like what we would do with ducks and chicks (insect control and eggs), how much is the feed ($15 for a 50 pound bag), what about the dogs (we'd keep them separated), etc. I answered as best as I could from the little knowledge I had.


Then to my delighted surprise, Chris next said "I think we should get six chicks and three ducks." I blurted, "Today?" To which he replied, "Why not?" So that's how we ended up with our new members.



Today is day three at home, and the babies are thriving well. I'm estimating their birth dates, but saying that the ducks were born on Thursday, April 23, and the chicks, Thursday, April 16. It's really had to know how old they are, so let's just stick with those dates.



I've attached some pictures of them and will keep posting them as I can. Wish us luck.

First Day at Home

We survived the first night!

Six chicks (Harley & Emo named)

Three ducks (Gracie & Chris Jr.? named)

We found some shelving on the property that we will use

for nest boxes in the coop.

More to come later!
YIC (yours in Christ) - Christel