Three Little Ducklings

Backyard Poultry

Ducks at Three Weeks

This is the story of three of the world's most lovable and good-natured ducks. They were pampered every day by their owner, my little sister, for almost two years. Tragically, they became the first victims of the infamous mink. This is the same mink which also destroyed almost half our chicken flock (see the story here).

It was Thanksgiving day and the ducks were free-ranging behind their duck house as usual. The cunning mink must have cornered one of the two smaller Khakis, Piney, in the greenhouse, and made its first casualty. We quickly put the other Khaki and Pekin safely inside their little house; but, alas, no one noticed the inch-wide crack running along the roof. This mink proved its ability to slither through tiny spaces as it made its next strike. We lost our entire flock of three ducks in one day -- Thanksgiving day.

Day-Old Khakis

The two Khaki Campbells came first, in early April of 2012. They were literally walking fluff balls, just bigger than a chick. I've never seen a platypus, but with the tiny bills and wing tuffs, I think this might be a pretty good replica. They loved slurping water, sleeping in their food, and making messes in general. We named them Pineapple and Coconut, both brown furry fruits, but they came to be known affectionately as Piney and Cocoa.

Pekin Duckling

Daffy duckling arrived two weeks later. Eventually this Pekin duckling would grow triple the size of the Khakis. But for the moment, two-week-old Cocoa and Piney thought this was their toy. They would not stop pulling on its bright-orange bill and feet! The "rubber ducky" was consequently separated by a piece of wire from its coop mates for its first few weeks of life. Lonely little Daffodil, or Daffy as we called it, cheaped so constantly that we put in a stuffed bean-bag duckling for it to cuddle with. It loved the stuffed duck, as well as having its water tub all to itself!