Duck n Donuts

Last weekend, we moved the ducks to a better suited home. With a pond. Technically, ducks don’t need water to survive. They need drinking water but not swimming water.

As a young girl, we had a pond in our backyard where we often had several ducks. I loved watching them waddle around and raise little ones.

So, when my husband and I learned that some duck breeds lay eggs like chickens do, we decided to give it a try even though we do not have a pond.

What adorable ducklings, we thought.

But…we soon learned that ducks away from swimming water, though adorable, are messy.  They also stink.

So…a year and a half later, the time came to find them a new home.

We loaded the car for a visit to my dad’s house, the place I grew up, and my husband made a duck carrier for the top of the car. There was no way we were putting them inside the vehicle. That would have been a long three and a half hour drive holding our noses.

One by one, my husband caught them and loaded them into their straw-stuffed crate. They chased each other in circles until we started the drive. Once moving, they calmed down and watched the world pass.

Partway there, though, we stopped for a coffee. The quacking started as the hens shouted their order for some Dunkin Donuts.

The next morning, we released them to their new home. They had not been swimming since  they were ducklings, so we hoped they would remember what to do.

No need to worry, they were only on the pond moments before they were preening away, splashing, dunking and diving.

So, even though ducks don’t need water to survive. In my opinion, they need water to thrive.

And who wants to simply survive?