Easter Ducklings Who Got a Second Chance
Breed: Pekin ducks | Rescue Date: April 23, 2025
The Easter Purchase
Gritt and Grizz’s story begins like too many others – as impulse Easter purchases. These two yellow ducklings were likely bought at a farm store on the Friday or Saturday before Easter 2025 (April 20th), intended as cute holiday gifts for young children.
What the purchasers didn’t take into account was that they were buying living animals who would need specialized care, proper nutrition, appropriate housing, and veterinary attention for the next 10+ years. Like most Easter animal purchases, there was no plan for what would happen after the novelty wore off.
The Attempted “Release”
Just days after Easter, the children who had received these Easter gifts took them to a local park with the intention of “releasing” them into the wild.
Fortunately, a concerned citizen intervened. Recognizing that domestic ducks cannot survive in the wild – they lack the instincts, physical abilities, and survival skills of their wild cousins – this Good Samaritan stepped in to prevent what would have been a death sentence for both ducklings.
The Well-Meaning Mistake
The person who initially rescued Gritt and Grizz from the park took them home with the intent to care for them at least temporarily. With the best of intentions, they went to a farm supply store and bought what they thought was appropriate food for baby ducks.
Unfortunately, they purchased a bag of chick grit instead of proper waterfowl starter feed. This is a mistake we’ve seen heartbreakingly often – chick grit is crushed insoluble granite, designed to help older birds digest food in their gizzards. For baby ducklings, it’s essentially like feeding them gravel.
The packaging similarity between crumble type feeds and chick grit has contributed to this dangerous confusion multiple times. We’ve even reached out to Tractor Supply Company and Dumor about making their packaging clearer to prevent these tragic mistakes, but the problem persists.
From Bad to Worse
After being fed granite instead of food, the ducklings were passed to another well-meaning person who didn’t have appropriate waterfowl food available either. Recognizing that the ducklings needed nutrition, this person fed them blueberries – certainly better than crushed granite, but still not the complete nutrition these rapidly growing babies required.
On April 23rd, the two very weak ducklings arrived at our rescue, both in serious condition.
Critical Condition
The first night was touch and go, especially for Gritt, the smaller of the two ducklings. She was so weak she couldn’t even open her eyes, and when she tried to eat, she would immediately spit the food back up. Her body was shutting down from malnutrition and the damage caused by ingesting indigestible granite.
We immediately began intensive care, mixing up electrolyte water with a small amount of molasses to act as a binder. The goal was to get some nutrition into her system while being gentle enough that her damaged digestive system could handle it. We also provided poly vi sol vitamin drops and began introducing proper waterfowl starter diet in very small amounts.
A New Emergency
Just as Gritt was beginning to recover from the nutritional crisis, we noticed something wrong with her left eye. The eye looked cloudy and concerning – something that required immediate veterinary attention.
Our veterinarian diagnosed the condition as a descemetocele, an uncommon but serious corneal condition where the deepest layer of the cornea becomes exposed. Without immediate and intensive treatment, Gritt could lose her eye entirely.
There are several potential causes for this condition, including severe physical trauma to the eye and vitamin A deficiency. We’re not sure exactly what caused Gritt’s condition, but we knew that without special treatment her cornea could rupture and she could lose her eye entirely.
Plasma Treatment
The treatment for Gritt’s eye condition was as intensive as her nutritional recovery had been. She needed special duck plasma drops in her eye every few hours, including through the night. For the first day, we were administering treatment every two hours around the clock.
The plasma drops came from a couple of donor ducks – first from a duck that happened to be at the veterinary clinic the day we brought her in, and later from Prada, a donor ducks from our own rescue. One of the wonderful things about waterfowl rescue is the community aspect – sometimes the birds already in care can even help heal the newcomers.
In addition to the plasma drops, Gritt received antibiotic eye drops to prevent infection. This dual treatment continued for approximately two weeks, requiring constant vigilance and care.
Recovery and Growth
Slowly but surely, both ducklings began to thrive. Grizz, who had remained relatively healthy throughout the ordeal, continued his steady growth. At just over a month old now, he’s developing into what appears to be a jumbo Pekin – much larger than his sister.
Gritt’s recovery has been remarkable. Not only did she overcome the severe malnutrition that nearly killed her, but she also kept her eye. While we’re not certain if her vision in that eye is 100% perfect, she shows no serious signs of visual impairment and the eye appears healthy and clear.
The Names Behind the Story
We named the smaller duckling “Gritt” for multiple reasons. Obviously, there’s the connection to her early diet of granite grit that nearly killed her. But more importantly, she demonstrated incredible grit – the kind of perseverance and determination that Angela Duckworth writes about in her book that served as their audiobook babysitter during recovery. (Anytime we had to leave them alone, we set up a special ducksitting system – propping up a stuffed goose and playing the audiobook of Angela Duckworth’s “Grit” to keep them calm and comfortable.
The name also honors our location and the Memphis Grizzlies’ “Grit & Grind” motto that embodies the city’s spirit of determination and resilience.
Her brother became “Grizz,” completing the Memphis connection while representing the protective, steady presence he provided throughout their ordeal.
What Their Story Teaches
Gritt and Grizz’s story illustrates multiple critical points about Easter animal purchases and domestic waterfowl care:
Easter purchases are impulse decisions with long-term consequences. These birds need specialized care for 10+ years, not just a few weeks of cuteness.
“Releasing” domestic animals is abandonment, not kindness. Domestic ducks cannot survive in the wild and will die of starvation, predation, or exposure.
Even well-meaning attempts to help can go wrong without proper knowledge. The person who bought chick grit instead of proper food was trying to do the right thing but nearly killed both ducklings.
Proper waterfowl care requires expertise that most people don’t possess. From recognizing proper foods to identifying medical conditions to providing appropriate housing, these animals need knowledgeable caregivers.
Waterfowl rescues are already overwhelmed. We’re seeing ducks from school hatching projects, Easter purchases, and other impulse decisions while struggling to find appropriate homes for the animals already in our care.
Looking Forward
Today, Gritt and Grizz are healthy, active young ducks who serve as ambassadors – or, “ambassaducks” – for our rescue. They help us educate the public about the realities of waterfowl care and the consequences of impulse animal purchases.
Their story has a happy ending because of intensive, specialized veterinary care and the generosity of donor ducks who provided healing plasma. But not every Easter duckling is so fortunate.
As they grow and develop, Gritt and Grizz will continue to be living examples of both the problems created by Easter animal sales and the commitment required to provide proper waterfowl care. Their survival is a testament to what’s possible with knowledge, resources, and dedication – and a reminder of what’s at stake when animals are treated as disposable holiday decorations.
How You Can Help
- Never buy animals as surprise gifts or impulse Easter purchases
- If you see domestic ducks in parks or waterways, contact local waterfowl rescues – they need help, not bread
- Support legislation that restricts the sale of live animals around holidays
- Educate others about the difference between wild and domestic waterfowl
- Consider donations to waterfowl rescues who provide the intensive care animals like Gritt and Grizz require