A lone box appeared one night by a dumpster at a New York correctional facility. In it: four baby ducklings. It’s unclear if whoever left them there was seeking a safe haven for the small birds or if they simply meant to throw them away.

Either way, the ducks likely would have died without immediate care.

Domestic breeds like these four—two Pekin, two Rouen—are unequipped to survive in the wild. Ducks raised by humans are dependent on humans; they don’t know how to find food on their own. The old adage that “birds of a feather flock together” is also true, as wild breeds tend to reject any newcomers tagging along in their group. And birds as young as these four are especially vulnerable to wildlife predation.

They needed someone to help them find a safe place to land.

The prison’s night watch found the helpless birds and brought them in out of the cold. For the next week, the officers fed and tended to their new friends. But ducklings grow fast—they would very quickly need more space to roam (and more care than the guards knew how to provide). True to their name, waterfowl also need regular access to water for instinctual and life-enriching behaviors like swimming, splashing, and keeping clean.

So, an officer brought the quartet—Dobie, Rad, Macka, and Milo—to Farm Sanctuary, where they embarked on their new life in freedom, in more ways than one.

In 2020, the United States slaughtered nearly 10 billion land animals. Roughly 22.5 million were ducks.

Pekin ducks, like Dobie and Rad, are commonly raised for meat. They’re also bred with Muscovy ducks to produce the (sterile) Moulard breed exploited for foie gras production. Rouen ducks, like Macka and Milo, are also commonly bred for meat.

Many spend their lives confined inside our nation’s factory farms. Domestic ducks can live between five and ten years—and even into their teens and early 20s. On farms, meat breeds are generally killed at just seven weeks old; foie gras ducks get about 100 days.

Some people keep backyard flocks to support kinder treatment of these animals. But these ducks have more in common with factory-farmed birds than many people realize. As with chickens and turkeys, ducks destined for backyard farms come from the same hatcheries that supply animals to factory farms. They’re also shipped through the mail at just one day old to feed stores and homes across the nation. Most are packaged without food or water—they’ll absorb nutrients from their yolk sac at first—but any shipping delays or postal errors can be fatal if transit takes more than three days.

Every year, come springtime, pet stores also boast a baby boom—bunnies, chicks, and ducklings galore. They’re irresistibly cute, which leads to many impulse buys. Some gift them to their kids to celebrate the season. But like the cats and dogs we welcome into our homes, farm animals are a lifelong responsibility. Unfortunately, few people keep their long-term needs in mind. Once these babies start to outgrow their living space, some will try to rehome them. Others might neglect them like unwanted toys. And still others might try “returning” them to the wild that they never knew.

Having survived that fate, Macka, Milo, Dobie, and Rad can now grow up together. And they’re growing fast! Within two months, they no longer looked like the fuzzy friends who first learned to swim by splashing in their water bowls. Now, they’re maturing young adults who enjoy gliding through our pond.

One thing that hasn’t changed is their unwavering friendship and devotion to each other. The group now lives with the rest of our flock but still spends much of their time together. And these jailbirds will never have to fear for their freedom again.