Daffy Duck

Backyard Poultry

Duck Trio

Daffy grew up so quickly. The Pekin liked to herd the two Khakis around, alternately looking after them and bossing them around. It was a funny sight to see Daffy waddling around the yard. As it was growing up, one of Daffy's wings became lopsided. We were afraid it would not correct itself. But we learned from experience that Daffy liked our small patch of comfrey in the herb bed. (It could devour the whole bed if left unattended.) We fed it several leaves almost every day and by the time Daffy was full-grown, its wing looked perfectly normal.

Daffy

Daffy was a beautiful duck. Its full array of feathers were such a pure white. Each one lay in place despite Daffy's constant waddling. However, the duck loved to use its big bill for digging mud holes in the yard. Of course all the mud did not stay in the hole, and Daffy's perfect color was soon messed up with brown spots. At this point, Daffy would stand in the yard and quack for somebody to fill the pool with fresh water so it could take a bath. A half hour and much splashing later, Daffy would emerge with feathers almost as white as before. After preening its feathers to a shine, the duck would go looking for more mud holes to dig.

On the Nest

Daffy took egg-laying very seriously. It insisted on having a giant pile of fresh straw before settling down to business. The duck created an amazing nest with its webbed feet - even a chicken would be impressed. It was always exciting to find a large white egg in the middle of the straw!

We really miss our trio of ducks. Nothing can replace the unique combination that adorned our yard for the last two years. Piney, Cocoa, and Daffy brought so much happiness and excitement as they grew from furry balls to beautiful ducks. It seemed they had a new adventure or discovery every day. My sister wants to give a special thanks to our brother for his dedication and help with caring for our ducks. This project was my brother's and sister's and they proved to be excellent duck keepers.