Raise ducks and have fun

MANILA, Philippines - Several of my ducks hatched their eggs recently that I now have 19 new quacking, waddling ducklings in additions to my brood of 20 ducks, a dozen chicken and three geese. Fertility seems to be the norm in my farm these days as one of my geese also laid its first egg, which means I will soon have another “first born” so to speak. A goose is also a part of the duck family although it is much bigger than an ordinary duck. It’s the intermediate variety between a duck and a swan.

The little farm’s chicken population includes a mix of Chinese and the native kind. Next month, I will have my first pair of turkeys. Would that turn my little farm into a zoo? I dont know but it sure is fun having feathery creatures around, especially on weekends.

I have been raising ducks and chicken for a few years and doing so has given me a boost so to speak. For one, I can claim before the world that I have a lot “chicks” without feeling guilty. In fact my wife and I have a modus vivendi. I promise to be with her on weekdays, but I go to my “chicks” on weekends.

And when I am really in playful mood, I ask my female friends “Do you want some of my eggs? You have four choices, fresh, soft boiled, hard boiled, or salted”.

Some people raise ducks as a business. I do it for fun. And its well worth it despite the cost I incur. As the saying goes, one does not measure the cost of happiness.

An added benefit too is that I get to have farm fresh eggs and duck meat and chicken for free.

Unlike chicken that keep running away from people, ducklings just prance around with their posteriors sticking out that one just can’t help but have fun looking at them. Watching ducks go about their merry ways give me a certain peace. And my family notices this that my youngest daughter Mariel tells anyone who care to listen “Don’t disturb Papa. He is medita-ting with his ducks.”

Joking aside, raising ducks does relieve tension and wash away the pressure brought about by office work and the worries that come with it. The quacking little ones, unbeknown to them, provide a therapy of sorts for tired bodies and sagging spirits.

I do not have any technical knowledge in raising ducks and chicken. I just allowed them to roam freely inside a fenced area, with a shed to protect against rain and too much sun; and a three-inch deep water pool where they can drink and wade to their hearts’ content.

Food consist mostly of cut grass, feedwheat and layer pellets for adults; and booster mash for ducklings and chicks. Occasionally, left over food from the kitchen is thrown in. The unconventional food mix seem to work as most of the flock grow fast and healthy. And mortality is negligible.

 Growing together in a confined space seemed to have turned these feathered species into friends and even more. In fact, I occasionaly see Muscovy ducks (pato) mating with Mallard (itik) variety; chinese chicken lovey-dovey with native ones; and get this: roosters mating with ducks. The result of the latter union I have yet to see, but I already have in the farm growing “sins” of a pato and itik which my farmhand calls “patik”.

And what should I call this unique little chick with a thick crown of a Chinese chicken but is the size of a native kind, an obvious result of a romantic liaison between a Chinese chicken and a native one. May I suggest “chicknoy”?

Unlike the Muscovy, the Mallard variety do not incubate their eggs. To hatch these, I mix them with the eggs of a Muscovy which just sits on the eggs to incubate it, caring not whether the egg is hers or some other duck’s. She just sits on them till they hatch.

It takes about three months for a duck to grow to its full size. So come December, aside from the usual fried chicken, my family and I can expect to having our fill of farm grown “Peking Duck” on Christmas Eve.