So as promised, here is my post about our new little flock! We are super excited to welcome them to our family and to take care of them! They have been the talk of the neighborhood! We love them so much!


So maybe you are wondering what possessed me to ever think of raising chickens and ducks. That's a good question! For a few years now I have wanted to and have talked with my husband about it, but at our last house, we really didn't have much of a place to keep them, unless we cut out half our garden space. I'd rather have more for fruits and veggies than chickens!


Now that we are much more property and have so much more space, we are so very excited to raise these cute things! We decided to get laying chickens and so my mom's friend ordered my mom 20 chickens, but they didn't want that many, so we are getting laying chickens, they will be here in May. In the meantime, we time to the IFA nearest us to look at fertilizer for our lawn and of course as you walk in, they have all their chicks and ducks and turkeys right there. So being excited, I started looking around. I came across the ducks, which are super cute and just fell in love!


Not only are ducks so cute and fun, but there are some that will lay eggs that you can eat! I was even more excited for that! I've never had duck eggs before and am curious if they are as good as everyone says they are. So we bought the supplies to start our ducks and chicks but didn't get ducks, since they only had one layer. That gave us time to come up with how we would take care of them.


The guy at the IFA was very helpful and said to put them in a Rubbermaid type tote. I emptied a tote and started to get it ready. We have a Tractor Supply Company that is much closer to us and we went in there for something, not sure what, but they also had chicks and ducks. They didn't have any laying ducks but would get some in sooner than the IFA, so I went back a few days later when they would get some in. They also had the lights and bulbs cheaper there, so I got some there.


When I went back to get our ducks, I decided that we should get some meat chicks as well as laying chicks so we could have some fresh chickens in our freezer. One thing about the Tractor Supply that I don't know is the same with the IFA, is they require you to buy a minimum amount of birds. Minimum for chicks is 6 and ducks is 2. I wasn't planning to get that many meat chicks, but that just means more meat in the freezer. Plus they were only $2 each to buy and I'm ok with that. Ducks are more, at about $5 each, but the Tractor Supply was less cost on their ducks.


I got a little crazy at this point and was so in love with those ducks that I ended up buying 5! They had 2 layers and then I got 2 Mallards and 1 White Pekin. They are super sweet. The non-layers were about 2 weeks or so old when we got them, but the two layers that just came in, had just hatched! They told me that one still had part of his shell on him when they got him. They are so precious, and I am so in love! It has been fun to see how fast they are growing! I have loved having them so much!

These are our chicks and ducks today! A few things I've learned in this excursion in our lives:

• Our garage has smelled like a farming store!
• Keep their cages and bedding clean so they don't smell so bad!
• Make sure to check food and water morning and night!
• Ducks love water and will splash and play and make a huge watery mess!
• Kids love to hold the little cuties

They have grown so much in the almost week we have had them. We had to move them from the Rubbermaid tote to a larger box, which we were so fortunate to have! My brother in law works for the former governor Huntsman at the airport. They were getting rid of these 3 foot square boxes that used to store and ship landing gear in. He asked if we would want them for anything. I said yes, not really knowing what we would do with them, but figuring we would somehow use them.


When we realized the totes were going to be too small, my husband thought of these and they have worked out perfect! They have plenty of room to run and stretch and then we fashioned these tops from the lid that have hardware wire on them so they can't get out and other animals can't get in. I did have to line the duck box with some plastic under the bedding, since they love to make everything wet and I don't want the wood on the bottom to start splitting and hurt them. Here is what the boxes look like, and my husband also fashioned a thing to hold the lights, since we found out when they are attached to side of the box, it gets much too hot.

So this has been our new adventure so far! I will share updates on these little cuties and how they are doing  time goes by. In about 6-8 weeks, we start to move them outside. Until next time!