Saturday, February 23rd started out like a normal Saturday. Aaron was working& Nora had a princess birthday party to go to. She got all dolled up in her new Merida costume (the princess from Brave) & had a blast at the party. On the way home Aaron called & said he had surprise for Nora. Those words made me nervous because he sounded so excited & wouldn't tell me any thing about the surprise. We finally met him at his mom's (Grama) house & saw the surprise. They were 2 tiny baby ducks. They were so cute! Nora named one Daisey & the other Donald (get it...like Donald & Daisy Duck). I will say Aaron had a great idea getting them. They were White Pekin ducks which supposedly make good pets. We were going to raise them until they could live on their own at Lala's house in the pond. That's our kind of a pet...one that takes care of themselves but we can visit with treats often.
Ducks are gross to clean up after. Thankgoodness they weren't my idea so I got out of cleaning up their messes. Their cage needed to be cleaned at least every other day & that was probably skimping. Ducks poop a lot and use water when they eat so they spill a lot of water. Yuck! Good thing they were so cute & fluffy!
Fast forward a few weeks. We went out of town to see Paw Paw & Dee Dee in Georgia & pick up Aaron's new-to-us truck. Before we left Aaron quickly built a place for the ducks to live at Lala's house. We tried to put them in with the chickens but they freaked out so bad. The chickens were flying into the sides of their coop to try & get away from the ducks just walking around outside of their coop. It was crazy! Aaron make a little wire box for the ducklings to stay in with a wooden box inside it for them to sleep in to be protected. They needed so much water & food a day (apparently White Pekins are very quick growing ducks) that they couldn't stay in our garage for the weekend alone. We got plenty of water & food for them & even had a neighbor willing to check on them since they could spill their water & need lots of water to live. Unfortunately, they didn't make it. Some creature came & ate all three of them. It was horrible! We still miss them. Seriously. In case you're wondering, no, we aren't going to get any more ducks. It was fun while it lasted but the mess trumps the cuteness.
RIP Donald, Daisey, Minnie, & Willie
Sadly, Donald didn't make it a whole day with us before Nora played with him too hard. She is too young to really understand what happened or why. She now knows things 'get dead like Donald' but she never really got upset. It upset Aaron & I way more. We had a little burial service for him & Nora put flowers on top of him.
The one the most upset over losing Donald was Daisey. She became so loney. She chirped for company constantly. We tried to 'play' with her so she wasn't alone. This video, Meet Daisey, shows her playing in the sink. This one, Daisey Swims,shows her learning to swim.
Finally Monday came around & we bit the bullet & went back to Tractor Supply. Since Donald died Nora was dying to to go to the store & get her a Minnie. (Of course...Minnie IS Daisy Duck's best friend!) State law says you have to purchase at least 2 at a time, so we did. Meet Minnie & Willie. Willie has the 2 spots on his head. Aaron really wanted to name at least one after Duck Dynasty. They were exactly a week younger than Daisey.
They loved to play in the water & would go crazy. I call this the Duck Races.
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| Following Nora around the yard...so cute! |
Ducks are gross to clean up after. Thankgoodness they weren't my idea so I got out of cleaning up their messes. Their cage needed to be cleaned at least every other day & that was probably skimping. Ducks poop a lot and use water when they eat so they spill a lot of water. Yuck! Good thing they were so cute & fluffy!
Fast forward a few weeks. We went out of town to see Paw Paw & Dee Dee in Georgia & pick up Aaron's new-to-us truck. Before we left Aaron quickly built a place for the ducks to live at Lala's house. We tried to put them in with the chickens but they freaked out so bad. The chickens were flying into the sides of their coop to try & get away from the ducks just walking around outside of their coop. It was crazy! Aaron make a little wire box for the ducklings to stay in with a wooden box inside it for them to sleep in to be protected. They needed so much water & food a day (apparently White Pekins are very quick growing ducks) that they couldn't stay in our garage for the weekend alone. We got plenty of water & food for them & even had a neighbor willing to check on them since they could spill their water & need lots of water to live. Unfortunately, they didn't make it. Some creature came & ate all three of them. It was horrible! We still miss them. Seriously. In case you're wondering, no, we aren't going to get any more ducks. It was fun while it lasted but the mess trumps the cuteness.
RIP Donald, Daisey, Minnie, & Willie
