Chickens or Ducks

We recently were given some chickens and are enjoying their ability to eat zucchini and lay eggs. The kid also likes to feed them and watch them eat. He sits on top of the enclosure and tosses handfuls of corn down to them. His previous exposure to winged animals has been a farm game on the fridge that involves a duck, a farm book about ducks, and the occasional duck that flies into our yard and hangs out for a bit.

For the last week, ever since the chickens arrived, the little bugger has been calling the chickens ducks. In the morning, first thing, he wants to go look at the ducks. When we drive into the driveway he wants to go see the ducks. After lunch, he wants to go see the ducks. Upon further questioning, since we don't have any ducks, he points towards the back door or directly at the chicken coop.

Time and again we let him know that they are really chickens and he still calls them ducks. He won't even say the word chicken. Hopefully he learns about chickens soon because its hard not to call them ducks when he is so persistent. Like many in our society, he thinks that if he truly believes that it is a duck then it will be a duck.

In case you were wondering, chickens like apples, zucchini, pork bones, zucchini casserole, cracked corn, and scratching up weeds. So far they have reduced 60 square feet of weeds to dust and are working on their next 60 square feet. What useful creatures!