Chicks, and Guineas, and Ducks, OH MY!

Our chick and guinea order went in three weeks ago.

Youngest daughter and I spent quite a few hours deciding exactly what kinds of chickens we wanted. Well, mostly our daughter spent time trying to figure out what kind she wanted. I already knew that for my 3 chickens I wanted Black Austrolorps. I have been taken with the breed ever since I saw some at the state fair one year. After much deciding, youngest daughter settled on White Brahamas for her choice. She loved their color and the fact that they have feathered feet was an added bonus.

Guineas were easier: 6 lavenders and 6 royal purples to be split with friends of ours. So 6 chickens and 6 guineas seemed a good number. We are expecting our order mid-May, which gave us plenty of time to build the coop. Life was good.

Then we went to Tractor Supply.

They had ducks. Not just any ducks, mind you, but the exact kind that we wanted: the Pekin.

I have some experience with the Pekin breed. When my two oldest children were little we bought them a Pekin duckling at Easter. We named it "Rodney" and it acted more like a dog than a duck. It became apparent that Rodney was a girl one morning when we found an egg in her duck house. She was quite a character and would make her rounds to the neighbors houses and beg for food. Sometime later, someone gave us another Pekin, which turned out to be a drake and soon we had a flock in our backyard.

So, anyways, that morning in Tractor Supply, we picked out 6 ducklings and brought them home. Pookie wasn't as thrilled with them as we were, since he hadn't had time to build a chicken coop much less a duck house, but we convinced him that he would have at least 6 weeks before they would be ready to go outside. Right now they are in a large stock tank out in the garage. They are about 4 weeks old and we can't believe how fast they are growing! This afternoon we rigged a temporary pen in the yard so that they could be outside a few hours a day to stretch their legs. They seemed to really enjoy it.

Now, I don't know how many of you have ever had ducks, but they are a pure mess! They have just about wore me out trying to keep their container clean and dry and their waterer filled. Ducks love water and everything gets soaked within minutes. I tried putting a block of wood under the waterer to raise it, thinking that would solve the problem. Nope. Then yesterday in Tractor Supply (I am at Tractor Supply A LOT), I spied something.

*Lightbulb moment*

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the HOG PAN!

They come in different sizes and I picked the smaller one. I brought it home and put their waterer inside it on top of the block of wood. What a difference! The pan catches most of the water they splash out, and they have learned to drink the overflow from it. Their container stays dryer and it's a lot easier to clean out, so, GO ME!

Also, while I was in Tractor Supply yesterday it came to me that, at this point in my life, the only reason I still work is to finance my duck and chicken habit.

Can I get an Amen!?