Luke, our 4 yr old Brown Chinese was been determined to
perpetuate his flock. He’s been known in the past to raise orphans by himself,
even when his wives rejected them, so his “maternal” instincts are quite
strong. This year, he’s topped even that!
Frankly, I don’t want the noisy things any longer. Chinese Geese are annoying - so I chopped his flock down to himself and 2 wives – neither of whom will sit. So, Luke came up with some new strategies. First he tried to coerce a flock of Muscovy ducklings to become his. It seemed appropriate, afterall – Daddy Muscovy was a deadbeat, and with 8 of the little buggers, mom clearly had her hands full. Amusingly, for a week he nudged and herded them around. It didn’t go quite as planned. His geese wives were rather nonplussed and the ducklings were never quite as endeared to him as they were to momma Muscovy anyway, who needless to say, was not keen on the idea either.
Meanwhile inside, we had incubated and hatched some Indian Runner ducklings.
In time, our runner ducklings hatched.
and soon enough, they were ready to go outside into the 4X6’ grow out pen where
they could assimilate to temps and barnyard life.
Frankly, I don’t want the noisy things any longer. Chinese Geese are annoying - so I chopped his flock down to himself and 2 wives – neither of whom will sit. So, Luke came up with some new strategies. First he tried to coerce a flock of Muscovy ducklings to become his. It seemed appropriate, afterall – Daddy Muscovy was a deadbeat, and with 8 of the little buggers, mom clearly had her hands full. Amusingly, for a week he nudged and herded them around. It didn’t go quite as planned. His geese wives were rather nonplussed and the ducklings were never quite as endeared to him as they were to momma Muscovy anyway, who needless to say, was not keen on the idea either.
Meanwhile inside, we had incubated and hatched some Indian Runner ducklings.
Luke became entranced with
them, spending hours pacing back and forth, wailing, calling and poking at the
chicken wire, certain they were the answer to his problem. This time, he
convinced his wives too, that the orphan runner ducklings needed rescue. After
many hours, the panicky, trembling runner ducklings finally succumbed to their
hunger and emerged from the crate to eat and drink. This only fueled his tenacity.
After 2 days, tired of the hissing general chaos, DP decided to open the gate to see how the ducklings and geese might get along. Sure enough, the ducklings wandered off with the geese whose persistence had won out. However, it soon became clear that the task of managing those ducklings wasn’t going well. They would not graze. They would not follow. When Luke said, time enough in the creek, they would not listen. When he tried to put them down for a nap, they wandered off. Luke spent enormous energy chasing after his reckless new charges. At times he would seemingly throw his head back and shriek loudly at the sky in pure angst and frustration.
Welcome to parenthood!
Enough of this after a day or so, I replaced the ducklings back into the growout pen (no small feat, mind you) and went to the feed store for a couple of Buff goslings (a breed I’d been wanting to transition toward anyway). I made the big switcheroo, (put the ducklings elsewhere) and then watched and waited. Now these hulking buff goslings were 3 weeks old and approaching that ugly stage. They did not resemble his previous offspring, and they certainly weren’t the svelte little dainties that had been there earlier. In fact, I wondered if he’d accept these boot-head looking, square beaked troll babies at all. But it was love at first sight and better yet – they spoke the same language. Luke was back to pacing in front of the grow out pen with fierce anticipation.
After only a 2 hours, I let them be together and in no time, the new family was promenading through the barnyard honking and showing off. This was not lost on the Indian Runner ducklings however who, upon seeing their former parents strolling by, both volunteered to cleave off their wings in order to squeeze through the field fencing which held them captive. I had no idea the numskulls had even bonded. So, I helped them get free and they went clambering off toward the geese. At first, Luke was visibly perplexed. So the ducklings had not magically transformed into the new goslings, and look Maude, they’re back! What to do, what to do…well, we’ll just raise them all, I guess. And so he is.
In time, the ducklings, being ducks – will surely defect to the other camp, and his gosling son will grow to become a rival with more girth and size than he can imagine, but for now, Luke is quite proud and content with his hodge podge family, and all is right with the world.
After 2 days, tired of the hissing general chaos, DP decided to open the gate to see how the ducklings and geese might get along. Sure enough, the ducklings wandered off with the geese whose persistence had won out. However, it soon became clear that the task of managing those ducklings wasn’t going well. They would not graze. They would not follow. When Luke said, time enough in the creek, they would not listen. When he tried to put them down for a nap, they wandered off. Luke spent enormous energy chasing after his reckless new charges. At times he would seemingly throw his head back and shriek loudly at the sky in pure angst and frustration.
Welcome to parenthood!
Enough of this after a day or so, I replaced the ducklings back into the growout pen (no small feat, mind you) and went to the feed store for a couple of Buff goslings (a breed I’d been wanting to transition toward anyway). I made the big switcheroo, (put the ducklings elsewhere) and then watched and waited. Now these hulking buff goslings were 3 weeks old and approaching that ugly stage. They did not resemble his previous offspring, and they certainly weren’t the svelte little dainties that had been there earlier. In fact, I wondered if he’d accept these boot-head looking, square beaked troll babies at all. But it was love at first sight and better yet – they spoke the same language. Luke was back to pacing in front of the grow out pen with fierce anticipation.
After only a 2 hours, I let them be together and in no time, the new family was promenading through the barnyard honking and showing off. This was not lost on the Indian Runner ducklings however who, upon seeing their former parents strolling by, both volunteered to cleave off their wings in order to squeeze through the field fencing which held them captive. I had no idea the numskulls had even bonded. So, I helped them get free and they went clambering off toward the geese. At first, Luke was visibly perplexed. So the ducklings had not magically transformed into the new goslings, and look Maude, they’re back! What to do, what to do…well, we’ll just raise them all, I guess. And so he is.
In time, the ducklings, being ducks – will surely defect to the other camp, and his gosling son will grow to become a rival with more girth and size than he can imagine, but for now, Luke is quite proud and content with his hodge podge family, and all is right with the world.
Postscript - This is Lincoln, Spring 2014 - one of Luke's foster children, retained for his size and vitality -but not without evaluation over his parenting/protection skills. Clearly he has his hands-full - owing much to the learned skills of his step dad!
