Darling ducklings or dirty little buggers?

When people think about or see ducklings, they usually go “awwwww.” I was no different then the rest of you. For some strange, unknown reason this spring I was bit by the “I want a duck” bug. I made a few trips to the various farm stores and looked at them, but each time I left without a duck. That is until our family went out for dinner one night and mama had a strawberry daiquiri. Let me just say this, I rarely drink and I am a LIGHT weight.

So in my one drink drunken stupor I say to my husband, I want a duck. So what does he do? He drives me to the store, HELPS me pick out two, grabs the food and pays for it all. What a sweet guy. Somewhere in the backseat of our car, I had left my better thinking passed out next to my “girl you know better“ subconscious. He enabled me to do what I wanted but knew I shouldn’t. The ducks are all his fault!

When I woke the next morning, there in my dinning room where two darling little ducklings. Maybe this was a good idea after all. I mean come on, look at them, they are darling! Days turned into a week and the duckling took their first swim in the tub. Awwww, they were so cute splashing in the water. How could this be a bad thing? One week turned into two and all of the sudden, may darling little ducklings had quadrupled in size and had become messy, STINKY, little buggers!

They splashed water everywhere, they stank to high heaven and back. I was constantly cleaning their pen, CONSTANTLY!!! Ughhhh. I began putting them in the bath to splash for what seemed like hours just so they would stop smelling so bad, but by night fall, it was back to being dirty little buggers. Thankfully we had a nice day here and there and could take them outside for some play time. When they were outside, pooping in the lawn and not my dinning room, they were once again darling duckling.

But then they doubled in size again, their pen was quickly becoming to small and the weather went south. Day after day of smelly, dirty ducks. I cleaned the pen again and again. I filled the tub over and over. I snapped and it was time, they HAD to get out of my house!!!! But this is April in Michigan and you never know what the weather will be like in five minutes. So I threw together a temporary pen for them to hangout in during the day and then at night they came in and slept in the pet carrier. But by morning, there would be water and food all over my floor and they would stink, again.

Thankfully their feather were coming in nicely which meant they could handle a little chilly weather now and again. So this past weekend I officially kicked the ducks out of my house, for good. I built them a nice enclosure with a kiddy pool and shelter. I now smile when I walk past the window and look out and see them paddling in the pool or exploring their pen. They have yet to go in their “house,” but hey, if they want to nest outside all night, so be it…. You can take a duck to a warm pile of straw but you can’t make them sleep on in.

Oh, did I say I had kicked the ducks out for good? It IS April in Michigan and the radio just said snow possible on Thursday. Crude, my darling ducklings might become dirty little buggers one more time……. I might complain about their stinky little butts but who are we kidding, deep down they will always be my darling ducklings!