This morning at work I got in a conversation with the girls I work with about ducks. One of them is in the process or selecting and ordering some ducks for her back yard and I thought it was so fun! Too bad my apartment doesn’t allow pets; I would love to have one of these cute little guys. We were looking at www.metzerfarms.com and they have all kinds of charts, descriptions, and pictures of the ducks. Some fly, some don’t, some are nice and some aren’t. Who knew all this about ducks.
Interesting facts about ducks:
1. Male ducks are called drakes, female ducks are called hens and babies are called ducklings.
2. Geese and swans are relatives of the duck.
3. Ducks have three eyelids.
4. A ducks feathers are waterproof. These birds have special glands called ‘Preen Glands’ around their tail that protects their outer covers from getting drenched. The inner part of this wing is stuffed with soft fluffy feathers that help them to stay warm.
5. When ducks quack they have no echo.
6. Some ducks can fly about 332 miles a day.
7. A ducks life span is 2-12 years, this depends on the species.
8. Did you know that a duck never walks but waddles? Ducks are born with webbed feet that act as paddles, which assist them to swim fast.
9. Ducks never have cold feet since they do not have nerves or blood vessels in their feet.
10. Ducks usually use their beaks to keep themselves clean. They often use their beak to preen themselves. Ducks line their nests with feathers they pluck from their chest.
11. Another most interesting fact about duck is that they sleep with half their brains awake. Ducks sleep with one eye open when they are located on the edge of sleeping groups. Ducks have an extremely special ability to detect predators in less than a second.
12. Duck eggs have tiny pores that help draw in respiratory gas as well as water vapor to assist breathing.
13. Baby ducks are born with their eyes open and a warm coat and do not rely entirely on their parents for food. In fact ducklings are ready to leave the nest within hours of hatching.
14. A duck lays more eggs in daylight. In the months of July to December when daylight is short, they slow down their production of eggs. Sometimes, ducks stop laying eggs completely during these months.
If you have a minute check out this Duckumentary:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hht4m5nIDp4]
