Whenever people are having the obligatory conversation about what pets they have and it gets to me, I usually get a wide variety of reactions when I say, “I have ducks.”
In the spring of my seventh grade, I told my mom I wanted chickens. I tried to convince her that it would ultimately benefit us because we wouldn’t have to buy eggs anymore. Surprisingly, she wasn’t completely opposed to the idea, but instead of chickens, she suggested getting ducks. They are smarter and cuter, and their eggs are better for baking (a little-known fact), something we do a lot of in our household.
So, we began our research into what type of ducks we wanted to get. I asked my uncle if he had any suggestions because for some reason, since he had chickens, I figured he would be well-versed in all areas of poultry farming. He gave us some good advice for breed recommendations, which turned out okay. He also gave us horrible advice and told us to get unsexed ducks, which meant we wouldn’t know if they were male or female until they were grown up. Ultimately, we picked the ducklings up in April, and they were the cutest things I have ever seen in my life.
We first got five and named them very unique names that came from all of the members of my family. My mom, the AP history teacher, named the only female Vicksburg (after a civil war battle). I named one Rubber Duckie, my brother named one Groot, I named another Freckle (as a duckling Freckle would bite the freckles on my leg because he thought they were bugs), and the last boy didn’t really have a name.
Going back to the unsexed duck thing, it was a very stupid decision, because now we only had one duck that laid eggs. So to remedy this, we purchased five more female ducks to join the flock. My days while taking care of the ducks would consist of waking up very early in the morning, usually to the sound of them quacking bloody murder to be let out of their house for the day. During school, waking up so early was especially brutal, but it was worth it when the ducks ran out of their house and into the grass, greedily eating bugs and coming up to me to ask for food. In the mornings they would sometimes eat out of my hands. After I gave them a little free-range time, I would fill up their pool and their other water containers and put them in their smaller enclosure for the day while I went to school.
When I got home from school, I had to refill all of their pools again because of how dirty ducks are. They literally eat mud and then put the mud into the clean water buckets. I would sit outside and watch them after school; sometimes if I was feeling daring I would attempt to catch one.
You would think that the ducks would be used to me (after all, I had taken care of them since they were ducklings), but you would be wrong. Picking one up was a very difficult task that involved a lot of chasing and diving onto the ground. I have many videos of failed attempts. Their eggs were great for baking, as duck eggs are bigger and fattier in flavor.
Ultimately, having ducks was a lot of hard work, but I am so glad that I had them and I learned a lot through the experience. I also discovered that I definitely have a passion for farm animals, and I might want to pursue that hobby later in life. In the end, what I hope you get out of this story is if you have a weird desire to do something, just do it because it will pay off in the long run and you will get some great memories out of it.
Can’t get enough of HC UMass Amherst? Be sure to follow us on Instagram, listen to us on Spotify, like us on Facebook, and read our latest Tweets!