Our ducks favorite activities.
w/ realizing moments of bad advice from the internet.
DUCKS love to be entertained.Ducks are birds or Avians, and like most birds, my ducks love mirrors, all shinny items, they like bells, and strings to pull. I have many fun Parrot Toys in their duck house for them to play with and be entertained by. Jack Jack loves the mirror and her favorite toy is made of corn husk & wheat straw. Rocket loves to ring bells especially when he is upset.
Ducks LOVE WATER! They are natural swimmers. My ducks love the rain, sprinklers,and their kiddie pool. When you have ducklings it is said by many internet advisers, NOT to keep your duckling in water for longer than 20 minutes because they can sink due to the fact their feathers are not waterproof. I took that advice and pass it on to others. I am not 100% sure if a duckling will sink but I am not willing to test it out on my sweet baby ducks. QUESTION: is swiming or bathing important to your duck's life? I read on the internet from multiple websites that ducks are happy and content without having water to swim in. I believed this statement. Then I realized, THAT IS INSANE! One main reason is Ducks have webbed feet! They are natural born swimmers! My Ducks love to dive under, splash around, and clean their feathers, with WATER! My ducks get excited when it rains and they can splish splash in a puddle. DUCKS LOVE WATER!! Do not be fooled ! ! If you own a duck, they need and want water to swim and bath in. I just read a post on Facebook from a gal that stated, her duck would get eye infections due to her duck not getting the proper amount of water through its sinuses. That right there shows how important water is to Ducks. Sleeping & duck naps. My ducks are lazy! In the Morning my ducks are very talkative, I think they are saying, "let me out, wake-up Mom, wake up Dad!" They roam around the yard for morning bugs, they run and flap their wings for a morning stretch. This lasts for about 45 min and then the ducks take a nap! Jack and Rocket sleep or take several naps during the day. In the late afternoon they explore the garden for bugs and fresh veggies and then they take another nap. In the evening they catch bugs and take another nap. I have read on the internet that ducks should be very active. Well maybe your duck doesn't want to be active and that is fine! I suggest if your ducks are as lazy as mine feed them a little less duck food so they don't get fat. Please note, I always make sure the ducks have grass, wheat grass, dandelions, or lettuces. Despite all their naps, they do eat. Eat, Sleep, repeat. If you think your duck is sleeping too much because it is sick, it could be. Please note: Trust your duck parent instincts. You know your duck. If he or she is acting differently than usual they could be sick. Ducks do cover up their symptoms. So pay close attention to their "normal" routine. If it changes even slightly, they could be sick and need to go to the vet. For example: May 7th 2016. I have been noticing Jack Jack sleeps longer than she usually does, hours longer. She is pooping a different color. She was not standing on one leg like she always does. I took her to the vet. Guess what? Her leg is broken. Explains why she won't stand on the one leg (the broken leg) and why she is sleeping more and for longer periods of time because she is in pain. It didn't stop her from eating! She walked okay, but very slowly, "sluggish" you could call it. But I noticed she stopped doing her "normal" things. Ducks don't change their behavior unless they are sick or injured or both. You have to notice the changes and know maybe something is wrong. How did she break her leg?? WE HAVE NO IDEA! We went to Arizona, I had a friend 'duck sit" at our home. We came home. After two days of being home, I was like, something is wrong with her. My Brian, oh she is fine, she is eating. I went with my gut, sometimes you just have to trust yourself as a duck parent. I took Jack Jack to Dr. Yamate and I was right something was wrong!! My "friend" said she doesn't know how that could happen. So yeah, we have no idea how Jack Jack "fractured" her leg. Ducks, mud, & digging holes. Ducks love to dig holes in the mud with their duck bills. It is one of the things Ducks do naturally like swimming. They are searching for bugs/food. PLEASE make sure your dirt is free from: metal, plastic, and other harmful objects!! Get a metal detector and scan your yard. You can also make a sifter (that is what we did) and we sifted the dirt. YES we found many nails, bolts, and one belt buckle. Your ducks do have the potential to eat these items and get seriously ill &/or even die. One Vet, Dr. Nemitz recommended digging down one foot getting rid of that dirt and replacing it with "clean" dirt. Since we do not have the money to do that, we made a sifter, it was alot of work, but now we know, the dirt is safer. Metal, plastic and non-food items will kill your duck and surgery is very expensive!! Do your best! FOR EXAMPLE: Jack Jack somehow has a piece of thick metal in her intestines! Even doing all that we could to prevent this from happening, it happened. She has been a trooper, a fighter, and doing her best to fight the infection. Yet her little body is not doing as well as we hoped. We may have to put Jack Jack down. More on this topic when I can handle talking about it. Her last vet visit was April 17th 2017. UPDATE: March 10th 2018, It has almost been a year from when Jack Jack was xray-ed and it showed a metal piece in her tummy. Well, her belly is and has been a bit swollen, yet, she is alive and doing her daily things. Ducks need A LOT of attention! As I said before ducks need attention from their humans. Companionship and socializing is very important for Ducks. My ducks are happy if we are in the same room or in the yard together. I do not have to hold them or pet them, they are happy just to be near us. But luckily for them I LOVE to hold them, pet them, sing to them, and play with them. I can't resist their adorableness. Some time has passed and Brian hasn't been holding "his" duck, Jack Jack. They were a tight nit pair when she was a baby, yet now being 5 years old she has gotten used to Brian not holding her for days at a time. The moments when Brian does want to hold her, she runs from him, quacking, "wait... what are doing?? get away from me!" SO, if you as a duck parent never want your duck to run from you. I suggest that you hold your duckling and duck every single day for 10 to 20 min as a bare minimum, every day, for the rest of their lives. DUCKS NEED ATTENTION!! EVEN IF THEY HAVE DUCK SIBLINGS. THEY NEED ATTENTION FROM THE PEOPLE WHO RAISED THEM. |
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YOUR DUCK NEEDS YOU!
Even if your duck/s don't act like it. You are important to their safety, survival, and well being.
Something as a duck they don't understand.
Even if your duck/s don't act like it. You are important to their safety, survival, and well being.
Something as a duck they don't understand.
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