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Duck Tales The OFA for Kids | The Old Farmer's Almanac

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Duck Tales

The Editors
July 20, 2017
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More than 150 different species of ducks exist in our world, and they are found in the wild on every continent except Antarctica. Learn more facts about these funny creatures from latest edition of The Old Farmer’s Almanac for Kids!

Duck Tales

• The name “duck” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word duce, which means “diver.” In fact, not all ducks dive for their food. Mallards are part of a group called “dabbling ducks.” They feed on small insects and plants by tipping into shallow water, with their tails sticking up. Most barnyard, including Pekins, are “dabblers,” but mainly they just eat what the farmer feeds them—usually a mixture of corn, barley, and oats.

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• A duck’s webbed feet have very little soft tissue and a unique blood-flow system that keeps the feet from freezing. Ducks can swim year-round, even in winter’s icy water. Webbed feet help ducks not only to paddle in water, but also to walk on mud and in wetlands.

• Duck Designations:

  • Drake—male duck
  • Hen—female duck
  • Duckling—baby duck
  • Raft, team, or paddling—group of ducks in water
  • Brace or badling—group of ducks on the ground
  • Brood—group of ducklings
  • Flock—group of ducks in flight
  • Sord—group of mallards in flight

• Not all ducks quack! Hens quack. Drakes seldom do. They grunt, growl, and whistle. However, because ducks are social animals, if one is raised on a farm without the company of other ducks, it will begin to mimic the animals around it—cows, dogs, even chicken!

• A duck’s eye positions allow it to have full, panoramic, 360-degree vision, without turning its head. Because of its range of vision and the fact that no more than half of its brain ever “sleeps” at the same time, a duck is usually able to detect a predator in less than a second.

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Comments

Sandra Abercrombie (not verified)

1 year 4 months ago

I was given 2 Pekin ducks by a co-worker. (Think the 'Aflac' duck! Big white ducks.) It has been a learning experience. I named them Daisy and Dolly, but later had to change 'Dolly' to 'Dewhitt' when he developed to a drake. LOL, they have been a lot of fun for us, and we have gone through a lot of changes in the 8 months we have had them. Daisy did not start laying until 5 days ago on Jan 11th. Even after all the books, blogs, and neighbor farmers I have talked ducks with, that told me she should have started laying in October, she made her own schedule! That is the one major constant with my ducks! They make their own schedules. Never the same thing every day, and always fun to watch. Just a note to anyone who wants ducks though, they are very messy. Water is to be played with as well as drunk. Feeders must be heavy as they will step on it and fling it everywhere. And be prepared for holes, as they love to dig in the dirt for grubs, bugs and just dirt to eat, to help digest their food. It is winter here in Michigan, and as of right now, the ducks do not have a pool in their run. But they do have a heated bucket for water. Daisy is 12 pounds of solid duck and imagine the sight of this large white duck setting in a 3-gallon bucket when I went out to feed this morning. It is 10 degrees outside folks! She did not fit of course, nothing more than feet and bottom in the bucket, but boy was she happy. Ducks! You have to just laugh when you have them.