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Published on 04/09/03

Baby Easter animals don't stay cute forever

By Mike Isbell
University of Georgia

Baby animals and baby humans are a lot alike in one sense: they're both cute -- well, except for baby buzzards (those things are ugly).

Baby chicks and ducks, especially, are cute -- for a while. But they grow into large, mature animals fairly quickly and lose their cuteness even quicker.

Hundreds of baby chicks and ducks and even baby rabbits are bought this time of year and given to small children as Easter presents. And I can tell you from personal experience what happens when a child gets one of these Easter pets.

Lindsay's duck

My oldest daughter, Lindsay, was about 2 years old when her Papa Bill gave her a baby duck for Easter. Lindsay loved it. As a matter of fact, she almost loved it to death.

"Lindsay! Don't tote the duck by its neck!" we would tell her as we pried the poor duck out of her tightly clasped hand.

For the first week, the duck was small enough to stay in a big box in the house, and everything was fine. My daughter loved that fuzzy little yellow ball with a head and two feet. And I must admit, I kind of liked the "cheep, cheep" sound it made.

Occasionally changing the paper bedding in the box and making sure the duck had plenty to eat and drink was about all we had to do to keep it.

Ducks grow

But as time went on, the duck wouldn't stay in the box. And if it did, I sort of wished it hadn't because of the mess it would make in the box. I guess it was a whole lot better to have the mess in the box than all over the house.

Give a duck enough time, and nature has a definite plan for it. It wasn't long before the fuzz changed to feathers, the "cheep" changed to "quack," the cute changed to ugly and the duck went outside.

An Easter duck outside creates other problems. For one thing, I must have been firmly imprinted into the heart and mind of that duck. It thought I was its mama. I couldn't go anywhere outside without that stupid duck following right at my heels.

Finding a home

I carried it to the pond in the pasture behind our house, where it swam contentedly until it realized I'd left it there. A duck in a big hurry can waddle really fast. It almost beat me back to the house.

And I didn't dare go outside barefooted. I didn't like cold surprises on the bottom of my bare foot.

By now, Lindsay had all but forgotten about the duck. So I put it with other ducks in a friend's pond several miles away. It stayed this time.

If you're thinking about giving a baby animal as an Easter present, please consider the parents. Ask if they really want one and if they can and will take care of it.

Consider the animal itself. Far too many of these animals are cruelly abandoned. They deserve better than that.

Yes, baby animals are cute. But they don't stay that way.

Mike Isbell is the Heard County extension coordinator with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Experts/Sources:
Mike Isbell
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