No. 10 is hacked away by the rest

I started the duck run in the enclosure with the 9 little ones this morning.  I couldn't see the 10th from yesterday at first, but when I was filling their water containers I suddenly saw both Billie-Jean and Gertie pecking at something dark on the ground, it was the new baby.  One or two of the older ones pecked at it, too, it looked quite vicious.  I scooped the poor wet thing up and set it into a box in the sun lounge while I finished feeding and watering the rest of the ducks and drakes.

 

Well, I did think the best place for the baby would be with mum, and kept putting it back into the nest box as often as it came out again.  It insisted on following the others never mind how often they hacked at it.  It went into the pond, managed to get out again, and once it followed Billie to the far side where it certainly looked as if she was trying to drown it.  They all seemed to treat the poor wee thing as if it were a stranger that would not be tolerated in their midst.  If I hadn't stood guard I'm sure it would have been drowned, hacked to death or died of cold.

To save it from harm while I was busy I put it back into the box and went to clean out the hut.  Gertie had gathered 5 eggs in the far corner which I took out - we don't really want any more hatching.  Billie-Jeans leftover 2 eggs I put back into the cleaned nest box, she'll probably throw them out before long.

Having shut the baby safely inside the hut I went and called Bjoern [author of my favourite and best duck keeping book] for advice.  After my description of how the baby had been treated he confirmed my own thoughts: keep it separate under a warming light until it's big enough to stand up against sibling attacks.  So now it is in the sun lounge in one of the drawers we initially kept our hatchlings from last year in.  I've given it one of Petra's felted "Wichtel" to cuddle up against:

My efforts to enlarge the duckling run yet again and to enclose the pond with some bird netting so they can swim in there without supervision had to stop as an almighty thunderstorm broke loose - doesn't look all that fierce in these photos .......