Thank you, dear friends for your kind words of condolence.
You reaffirm that there is so much good in the world.
As I have said before... today is better than yesterday and tomorrow will be better still.
I catch glimpses of Oakley in my periphery... just out of reach.
I have to believe that that is where he remains... right there, but out of physical reach.
Today, we march on to happier subjects...
like...
crazy, teenage Indian Runner Ducks!
When considering housing a flock of ducks in one's barn,
it is important to first ask that age old question:
"How much duck poop can I live with? Or, how much poop is too much?"
This, my friends is too much poop.
Definitely.
When one walks through one's barn and one's feet go out from under
after slipping in gooey poo... it's too much.
In the back of my mind, I knew we would have to find a better long term solution
to our duck housing issue...
especially in light of the fact that our duck population has increased exponentially.
Here is the solution we came up with:
The runner ducks and Ancona ducks are now living comfortably on a
beach-front property.
This is the pen that formerly housed the young guineas.
The guineas are happiest roosting in the tree above this pen,
so we will stop trying to (somewhat unsuccessfully) herd them in each night.
After several weeks of getting used to their new home,
we will allow the ducks to free-range during the daytime.
While the baby mallards (who have quadrupled in size in less than 2 weeks)...
have moved into a lakeside condo.
Everyone has ample room.
Everyone is happy with their accommodations.
And, I am happy to have a clean barn once again.
Saturday morning was moving day.
After making some changes to each of the properties,
we felt confident that each flock of birds would be better off than in the barn.
The duck hut is rather dark, so we installed a lightbulb that works on a timer...
coming on after sun-up and going off after sun-down.
This provides light without interrupting the natural cycle of the sun.
(That radio you see hanging inside the door plays at night to keep the foxes
away from the pond ducks.)
When the mallards are full grown, we will begin to open the door to the duck hut
to allow them access to the pond.
We are hoping that this gradual introduction will help to assure that the ducks
view this as home.
When rescuing wild animals, I feel that it is important to keep them as wild as possible.
This is why we don't handle these ducks.
We want to assure that they retain a healthy fear of everything...
hopefully helping their survival in this dangerous predator-filled world.
We do keep food available at the pond at all times...
just in case they don't learn to find food naturally.
Meanwhile, after several days of showers...
the perennial garden is looking so beautiful.
Comments
Liking their new homes . . . and plan . . .
Bright colored perennials does help with some cheer . . .
Very pretty!
There is so much to caring for animals. I admire your thoughtfulness with each new acquisition.
I was intrigued by the radio to keep predators away...because we sometimes hear coyotes at night, and the neighbors have seen a bobcat, a radio sounds like such a good idea. Silly question...music or the human voices of talk radio, is one more effective than the other?!