Hello, everyone, here’s an update on our surprise lone duckie that came out of a failed incubator project (because the cat sat on the incubator!). Yes, I know, the pitfalls of having animals on a farm!!
Just to give you a quick background on our duckies, of the mallard type, we had to incubate the eggs because these ducks refused to set. Aha…you might say (if you know anything about the duckie world)…Why didn’t you use the local broody ducks (of the Muscovy type) to set? And, Aha once again…the pitfalls of having animals on the farm…we have a dog with a ferocious appetite for muscovy ducks!
Anyway, to get to the point: we have, in the past, incubated duck eggs with success. However, we found ourselves somewhat at a loss in being duckie parents. We were inexperienced, young and ignorant of The Way of The Duckie Dabble. The result was a bunch of useless duckies waiting for corn mash at the end of each day with no knowledge of eating the good things in life like slugs, caterpillars, ants, creepy crawlies and grass. What a disaster!!
Anyway, we have spent many a day observing The Way of The Duckie Dabble and this is the All New Munchkin & Gnome Classical Duckie Education.
- It’s important to keep duckie in a safe, warm environment where he can freely survey the outside world. We used a fish tank with a 100 watt bulb.
2. Spend lots and lots of quality time with duckie. At Day 2, Start him on a diet of protein (we used boiled eggs) and lots of chopped greens. Let him splash about in a bowl of water like a duckie.
3. From Day 3, allow supervised walks so he gets used to pecking at creepy crawlies and eating green things. According to Gnome, it helps to wear yellow wellies so that he thinks you are just one of his kind!
4. Introduce Duckie to other farm members in a controlled manner:
5. It is of utmost importance in a Duckie Classical Education to introduce other animals (or cultures) into his everyday world as quickly as possible. From Day 7, take Duckie to the Piggie Creche (9am to 5pm) for pre-school education. This will enable fluency in a foreign language at a young age.
So far, Duckie is doing very well!!
