We have two new girls!
A phone call from son-in-law Tony yesterday morning offered me 2 additions to our band of runner ducks. Friends of his, farmers, had hatched these ducks almost two years ago and wanted to give them into good hands as they did not have the right facilities for them.
Not long after this phone call Tony drove up with his children Sam and Leah in the car, each holding a runner duck [their heads poking out of a plastic sack] on their laps. We put the new girls straight into the bottom hut to get them used to their new home, I put food and water in for them in the afternoon, and last night John and I returned from Sam's slightly delayed birthday party to put all the ducks to bed. Although I'd been very worried all day about Decibels - who hardly moved from her position under the elder next to the top hut - I was somewhat relieved to see her going in easily with the others, even hopping onto the ramp.
Candida and Anabelle were a little reluctant to go into the bottom hut with two strangers in there, but Captain went in very keenly to investigate his new girls!
This morning I can't wait to see how they get on with the others and to take photographs. They're very pretty, one a very light fawn and the other brown like Anabelle with white markings. As the farm where they came from is in Anchor Lane we were idly wondering whether to call these two Anke and Lane or - in honour of friend Pine's[Alexandra's] birthday Alex and Zandra?
Our new ducks were not welcomed or accepted by the group of four, here's a report on how it went this morning:
It was a beautiful, sunny morning [it's raining now], and I could hear the rumpus going on in the hut as I was walking down. Now, it could have been because one of the new ducks had just laid an egg [the three eggs of the others were already in the nest box], or the kerfuffle had been going on all night, I can't say. In any case, the new ones came last out of the hut, turned left immediately and disappeared among the cow parsley, went through the little bog garden and then behind the logs at the back of the pond. Here and there I'd see a little head popping up, and then both of them went on top of the logs, had a quick drink out of the pond, and walked the whole length of the logs both ways. Finally they slipped into the pond. I'd heard from Tony that they had not been used to a pond at the farm, and you could see they weren't much good at splashing or diving. When they came closer to the other four Candida jumped out of the pond in fright, then Hedda and Captain had a nasty "driving-away" go at the darker duck, and the two then decided to swim away to the other side of the pond, nibbling away underneath the patch of nettles and then jumping out of the water to investigate what lay beyond. I could see them half hidden by the patch of rhubarb, and the last sight of them I had before seeing to the other ducks at the top was under the archway behind the rhubarb.
These photos illustrate what happened:
Well, I did worry that they'd disappear never to be seen again, but I had to go back into the house to start the Sunday roast. Of course I looked out of the windows in between cooking, and ............. lo and behold, I can see the 2 new ones in the orchard and at the food container. Braith had joined them, and I thought that was really nice of her.
Because John had just come back from Church and I was busy with the dinner, John did a little tour round the garden to see where those two were hanging out. He found them, they were at the food!
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...... and a little later they went on a stroll with Circle:
They had quite a bit of bother with the two drakes from the top lot, several times, and under loud protest ......
... a little later again they almost followed the top 8 into their enclosure, but didn't quite dare.
When we hadn't seen them for a while John went off with the camera in search of them. He found them by the big pond:
As soon as he got close he scared up a few mallards, and that in turn scared our 2 new ones so much that they fled into the hut! I see that as a good sign; I had been worried that we wouldn't be able to get them in there tonight.
The last two photos for today of these two are from when they tried to join the bigger group near the stile.
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As much as I enjoyed watching our two new ducks, that joy was soured a lot because of Decibel's condition. When I went to clean the hut I found her lying under the ramp. She fled into the little pond as soon as I got closer.
She looked terrible. I put food and water as close as I could to her again, but I don't think that she ate or drank. It is now early evening, and just now John came in - he had lifted her out of the pond and put her into a carton in the shed, she didn't put up any resistence, he said. We don't think she'll survive the night.
I find it hard to believe that she deteriorated so fast from a simple limp on Friday night to this.
I find it hard to believe that she deteriorated so fast from a simple limp on Friday night to this.
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