Bunnies are really stinkin' adorable... and so are ducklings, chicks, and goslings. They're sometimes completely irresistible! And they can make wonderful gifts for the right person. For instance, your girlfriend has a flock of chickens and mentioned a breed she'd love to start raising so you buy her 3 to add to her flock. That's a nice gift! When you've done your research and have the equipment it's a wonderfully appropriate gift. But if you were charmed by chicks while shopping for veggie seeds at your local farm store and made an impulse buy that's a whole other story.
All these cute and fuzzy animals come with years long commitments. They make amazing pets if you're prepared with the proper brooding equipment and housing... they're really not hard to raise either but like every baby I've ever met, they require a lot of up front care and they tend to make a mess. So a little research and some inexpensive equipment will go a long way.
All these cute and fuzzy animals come with years long commitments. They make amazing pets if you're prepared with the proper brooding equipment and housing... they're really not hard to raise either but like every baby I've ever met, they require a lot of up front care and they tend to make a mess. So a little research and some inexpensive equipment will go a long way.
If you've already purchased these babies and have now realized you weren't set up to raise them, please don't release them into the wild. For the same reasons you wouldn't abandon a puppy in the woods, don't release ducklings onto a local pond or bunnies into a golf course. These are domestic animals that have been bred for hundreds of years to rely on humans for food, shelter, and protection from predators.
Domestic ducks have very low survival rates on wild ponds and a lot of folks also don't realize that baby ducks that aren't being raised by a mama duck can't swim. Well, they can swim for a few minutes, then their fuzzy down becomes water-logged and they sink underwater and drown. Additionally, who will warm them after a dip in the cold pond? Other mama ducks won't accept them into their little brood so don't expect to find an adoptive wild family either.
Duck dumping creates complicated problems for wild ducks and their natural habitat, often upsetting entire ecosystems of waterfowl populations. Domestic animals compete for limited food with wildlife and may even breed with their wild counterparts which reduces the genetic fitness of wildlife populations. There is also a real possibility of introducing domestic diseases to wildlife that have no immunity. This may cause die-offs, sometimes on a massive scale. Think of the first Europeans landing in American and spreading new diseases to the indigenous population... ugh!
Domestic ducks have very low survival rates on wild ponds and a lot of folks also don't realize that baby ducks that aren't being raised by a mama duck can't swim. Well, they can swim for a few minutes, then their fuzzy down becomes water-logged and they sink underwater and drown. Additionally, who will warm them after a dip in the cold pond? Other mama ducks won't accept them into their little brood so don't expect to find an adoptive wild family either.
Duck dumping creates complicated problems for wild ducks and their natural habitat, often upsetting entire ecosystems of waterfowl populations. Domestic animals compete for limited food with wildlife and may even breed with their wild counterparts which reduces the genetic fitness of wildlife populations. There is also a real possibility of introducing domestic diseases to wildlife that have no immunity. This may cause die-offs, sometimes on a massive scale. Think of the first Europeans landing in American and spreading new diseases to the indigenous population... ugh!
Plus it's against the law. "Any person who willfully abandons an animal is guilty of a misdemeanor."
So if you have any Easter impulse-buy ducklings, goslings, chicks, or bunnies that you need to rehome, here are some folks in Maryland (and one in Virginia) who are already raising farm animals and are more than happy to help. You can contact them through their facebook messenger:
So if you have any Easter impulse-buy ducklings, goslings, chicks, or bunnies that you need to rehome, here are some folks in Maryland (and one in Virginia) who are already raising farm animals and are more than happy to help. You can contact them through their facebook messenger:
Allegany/Mineral Co.: https://www.facebook.com/april.sheetz?fref=nf
Allegany/Garrett/Washington Co.: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004621561645...
Cecil Co. (also bunnies): https://www.facebook.com/jamie.cambardella?fref=ufi
St. Mary's/Southern Calvert Co.: https://www.facebook.com/felicity.nuscis?fref=ufi
Kent/Queen Anne's Co. (also bunnies):https://www.facebook.com/colin.caldeira?fref=ufi
Wicomico Co.: https://www.facebook.com/dandhmicrofarm
Anne Arundel Co.: https://www.facebook.com/suzy.provine?fref=ufi
Frederick Co.: https://www.facebook.com/brianna.howard.56?fref=ufi
Harford/Baltimore Co.: https://www.facebook.com/samantha.malamphy
Winchester, VA area: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mantis-Farm/492742044173818?fref=ts
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