It’s nearly 7.30 am another busy day ahead. Sheep feet today ( we hope ) Take care, keep safe, M
From the chicken brooder box came the cheerful cheeping of happy healthy chicks, from the brooder box hastily set up on Friday night, under the heat light the ducklings didn’t make a quack, not even a squeak. Peeping under the lid showed the ducklings weren’t in good shape and we weren’t holding out much hope for their survival…..but we weren’t giving up on them yet ! A careful eye was being kept on the pond, we were hoping that momma mallard had taken her one duckling back to the relative safety of the big pond. Around noon came the call and the weakened ducklings were very unceremoniously dumped in a bucket and raced to the bank. There was mom swimming around without a care in the world, one little duckling paddling along in her wake. We took the little ones who had so ungraciously refused to co operate with us and try to survive and we placed the ducklings in the pond where they gravitated towards mom like a magnet. Then mom disappeared…..Oh no !! the ducklings were swimming aimlessly with no purpose. Plan B…. we went into Lady and Quests field to try to have her swim into view. BIG mistake our duck rescue team crashing around in the bushes alerted Quest that something was going on. At the least people means a carrot or apple treat even if pockets are empty, people are always interesting. Quest came galloping over the crest of the hill in his field, the earth moved as his hooves thundered across the pasture, was he going to be able to apply his brakes in time….or was he going to take an unplanned swim with the goose family and momma duck. My bets were on the swim but I gathered the duck rescue team into a safe place, …just in case. I could just see the headlines, Mallard duck reunites with her ducklings... rescuers flattened. Quest was excited, Quest wanted to play, this was all too exciting and so many opportunities for a delightfully fun filled afternoon. I wasn’t so happy, Mom, Chief duck rescuer was trying to get out of the gate, but the gate was being opened the wrong way and it was jammed with her tightly wedged in the gateway. The rest of the rescue team all resembled a domino stack, rushing for the gate then piling into mom, still trying to extricate herself from the unforgiving gate. Quest, huffing and puffing at the sudden end to the afternoons activity joined the melee…it was one of those moments that you ask yourself…”how did we get here ?…and for that matter WHY did we get here ?!!!! eventually, all on the safe side of the gate with the exception of a disappointed Quest, we scanned the pond for the mallard family thankfully all were hiding in the bulrush and seemingly all together. Good luck momma duck it’s a dangerous world out there and Tiger apparently has developed a taste for duckling. Sorry mom, your duck soup just came off the menu !
It’s nearly 7.30 am another busy day ahead. Sheep feet today ( we hope ) Take care, keep safe, M
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AuthorIts me, Maureen, (the Boss) Archives
March 2018
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