So, what’s a homesteader’s biggest challenge?

Frozen water buckets? Nope.

Cost (and sourcing!) of feed and hay? Nope.

Storage for all the equipment, feed, animals, building supplies, and miscellaneous stuff that you need around?

Not even that, I think.

It’s the “what’s one more…” mentality that fuzzy feathers and woolie faces triggers.

What’s one more mouth to feed?

What’s one more bucket to empty?

What’s one more noisy inhabitant clamoring for food, water, shelter, and attention every day? {smile}

Last year we did an Easter event and had a couple ducklings around for a few days (we bought them for display at the event because we had already made arrangements for them to have a new home afterwards) and they. were. adorable. Then, of course, we spent all that time visiting Bluebird Gap Farm over the summer and noticed that they’re just as cute when they grow up!  And then one of the Ladybug’s egg customers mentioned that they like duck eggs too…

Mr. Fix-It was even enamored with the idea, but we knew we definitely wanted runner ducks and egg layers (thankfully runner ducks are egg layers!) and that’s not really something you just run across at the local hardware store. (Um…regular white ducklings, yes. Egg-laying Khaki runner ducklings, no.) So the idea just sort of floated out every once in a while.

We’ve learned our own lessons about the dangers of giving in to the “what’s one more…” {grin}

Until last Saturday.

Speedracer and I had to go a little far afield, alone, for a load of feed and Tractor Supply was having a “chicken swap” (which is actually just a chicken, and stuff, sale).

And there they were–at the very first vendor we stopped at! And she only had 8 left (supposedly of 50!). It was meant to be!

Now, I did restrain myself and managed to only scoop four of them into the box.

But yes, I admit that I caved.

They are just so darn cute! They’re adorable! And they’re getting along fine in the brooder house with the other chicks. (I didn’t completely throw caution to the wind, they were about two weeks old, so they were of an age and size to fit into our current brooder flock. Under a week would not have been a good idea.)

And when I explained to Mr. Fix-It that they were right next to a pen full of 7 week old German Shepard puppies and he really should be congratulating me on my self-control, he totally embraced the idea! (Although he was a bit bummed to discover that the “case of Girl Scout cookies” Speedracer brought home didn’t actually include any cookies.)

I’m sure I’ll be sharing more of our adventures in duck rearing as the summer goes on. In the meantime, can I just tell you how much I appreciate and adore the book Barnyard in Your Backyard?! That book really does have everything you need to safely get started with just about any basic barnyard animal. I’ve read over it several times over the years as we’ve started a new adventure and it’s just perfect for starting out! (It would also be the perfect book for your homeschooling research shelves to teach your kiddos a good practical lesson on any farm animal!)

Of course, there’s always more to any enterprise, so the kiddos and I are supplementing our read-loud time right now with Storey’s Guide to Raising Ducks–and I can’t recommend this series higher for the homesteader! We have a volume for each species on the farm (plus a few that are in our future–oink, oink!) and they are the most dog-eared and highlighted books on our shelves. (If you’ve got a kiddo doing any research on livestock, these are the one-stop-shop books they need!)

But if you’ve got any other recommendations, let me know. We love growing our farm library!

What’s new around your place so far this spring?

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