Duck Sit In 2010

You would think that feeding ducks by hand and raising them from the tender age of 2 days old as little peeps would create some sort of human/pet bond. You would be mistaken. In general, the ducks want very little to do with us besides the fresh water and feed we give them. They do get excited for fresh greens, and as of a month ago would greedily eat it from our hands. But alas, the ducks have become jaded and wary in their adolescent age, and now won't come within a 5' radius of us (if they can help it).

So the other day we decided to let them forage out of their fenced area, as we tend to do when we are home enjoying beverage on the patio. For reasons only to be understood by the mind of a duck, Megatron decided to make a bee-line clear across the long dimension of our back yard, all the way to the gate at the far side. Keep in mind, the ducks have never quite strayed from the relative safety of the 15' proximity of the duck house. We were surprised, Callie (our dog) was surprised, and the ducks were terrified. But, lacking the astute intellect to run away from the unknown, they ventured toward it.

It was thusly that Megatron, the smallest of the ducks, squeezed through a gap in the neighbor's fence and trespassed into a yard with three large dogs who like to eyeball the ducks often through gaps in the fence... I quickly saved the day by getting into the yard before anything happened, and the dogs seemed more curious than anything else, but this was easily the most drama that the ducks had ever experienced. Or so I can only assume.

Domesticated runner Ducks seem to have almost no predatory defense besides running/flapping, and it is amazing that their species evolved to the point of being domesticated without becoming extinct. The whole episode made me re-think the perimeter defenses of the back yard, and resulted in a sweep to make sure any holes are wired shut.

But the ducks decided after the big scare, that they were better off staying in there their house for a couple of days, thanks very much.

Eventually they came out, but the episode probably only worsened their agoraphobia and lack of human trust. Morals to the story? Not sure but it is probably this: always wire any gaps in your fence shut if you are raising panicky birds.

The duck house extreme version

I thought that Brenna didn't do the duck house justice with the not-so-good phone pictures, so I thought I would take some nicer pics of the house, because I know everyone out there is dying to see it up close...

This baby is ~90% cedar construction! Notice the shade/storage nook for hay/food!

Duck door for easy predator-proof safety at night.

closed.
open.

And of course, cantilevered brooder box w/ operable roof for easy egg access.

In an unrelated topic, our front yard re-model is nearly complete. Here is a progress pic.

No, I didn't dress up the ducks, some other crazy person did.

But isn't the internet a wonderful thing?

I have no explanation for this image, so feel free to make up your own.

Spring is here!

Spring has definitely arrived in Austin, and the ducks and our garden seem to be loving it (we already have tomatoes growing!). 

At 7 weeks old, the ducks are nearing their adult size and most of their feathers have come in. We are listening carefully at every opportunity to hear their quacks so that we can determine who is male or female. Everything we have read says that females have a loud "quack" whereas males make a quieter sound that isn't what you think of as the typical duck noise. So far, we think we've heard 4 of the 5 quacking! It's hard to tell because their voices are still changing, but hopefully over the next few weeks we'll get a better idea of who is doing the quacking.

It's been surprisingly easy to have the ducks outside - definitely better than being in their brooder inside our house! They automatically go inside their coop at sunset, and we shut them in for the night. I typically let them out and give them some food first thing in the morning, and Chris will change out their water. They have learned to use their ramp to freely come and go (not without some pretty hilarious falls off of the side of the ramp - these are not graceful animals). The gang tends to be pretty skittish, and they haven't ventured very far out into the yard when given the chance. We're hoping they will get a little braver with time.


The flock has been outside for 3 weeks now, and we just cleaned out the hay in their coop for the first time. Adding a little bit each week seems to keep it clean for quite a while. Overall, the ducks seem to be adjusting very well to life outdoors. We still have to wait a couple more months for eggs, but I think it will be well worth it!

Duck Coop

The ducks were finally able to go outside last week. Their new home turned out great after two full days and some nights getting it put together. We just added the pool yesterday, and they absolutely love it! Fortunately, the weather has been amazing, so it has been fun to watch them play in the water and enjoy their new environment.

R.I.P. Veruca 2/19/10-3/28/10

Sadly, Veruca wasn't able to recover from what we now believe was a birth defect. We know that she's much better off despite her short time here.

The Lame Duck

So, at first we thought she was just the runt. Veruca has always been the smallest duckling, and during the two weeks we have had them we didn't really notice anything odd about her besides her slightly smaller size. However, things have recently taken a turn for the worst... Veruca started to crane her neck awkwardly while she walked, and she started to appear disoriented and dizzy all the time. After we realized it was only getting worse, we decided to seek professional advice... as in a trip to the vet.

Now, any pet owner knows that a trip to the vet office is expensive, and this one was no exception. At this point she looked pretty pathetic, and we realized this could be a life or death kind of thing, so while we definitely were not going to spend unlimited amounts on this duck we felt responsible for her and felt she deserved to live a happy duck life.

After a visit with the doctor and X-rays, it was determined that Veruca is having some sort of neurological issue between the wiring from her inner ear and her brain (hence the dizziness). This is a very serious condition and if there is no treatment it will get worse to the point where presumably she would not be able to eat. There are apparently a number of causes for this sort of thing: heavy metal ingestion, parasites, or bacterial infection. Because we didn't particularly want to pay for the necessary tests to see what exactly it is, the doctor was comfortable administering meds for all of the above. So poor Veruca has to take liquid meds twice a day. So far we haven't noticed her getting any worse, which is a good sign! He said we should know if she is getting better or worse by the weekend. Hopefully the diagnosis was correct.

The doctor also said she needed to be separated from the flock in case it is contagious. The ducks hate to be separated from one another and are quite vocal about it, so we keep Veruca in the brooder box next to the bigger cage where the other five now live. If it is warm outside and we bring the ducks out, Veruca has to go too in her box or they all get skwaaaaky.

This incident has raised a complicated ethical dilemma that any omnivore/pet owner has to come to terms with. Yes, I have eaten duck and other fowl, and there are probably hundreds of ducklings that are bred and die in captivity every day due to infection, trauma, or unsanitary conditions in general, and while we got the ducks partly for the eggs as livestock, they are most definitely pets also. It is tough to put a number on the lives of anything, but in situations like this that is exactly what you have to do. So far for us it was not too expensive, so hopefully she will get better and have a happy healthy life! Quack!