Back at the end of April, I shared with you all the tale of Happiness, Heartache, and Hope. It was a little tale of two ducks, loss, and maybe, just maybe the chance at new life. So if you have been wondering what happened after that, well here is a peek at the ongoing tale of Fred the duck…..
When we left you last, we had two out seven of Ginger’s eggs developing in the incubator. It was so exciting to candle them from time to time and see movement. But then, sadly, the eggs stopped developing. I will never know what happened. And even though I knew in my heart they wouldn’t hatch, we left the eggs for the full time in the incubator. Hatching day came and went and we knew, there would be no baby duck from our dear Fred and departed Ginger.
Fred was still very depressed and something had to be done. Should we give him away to a home with more ducks? Never! Fred was my boy and we would get him through this. I went to the farm store, sat on the floor, and sexed every Rouen duck they had to find Fred the perfect little female duck, who I hoped one day would grow up to be his new mate. That night I brought baby Betty home and we started all over with the stinky duck in the house routine. Lucky it was later in the spring this time and with the weather improving she did not have to spend as much time in the house as last year’s ducklings.
Fred took little notice of the small peeping thing when I would take her outside. I wondered in those first few weeks, would he ever realize Betty was a duck!?!? Then, one day, as I lay on the ground with Betty exploring a few inches away, Fred and our two older hens came over, stood for a few minutes staring at Betty and walked away. Now if that wasn’t odd enough, a few minutes later the scene played out again, but this time with the three pullets we picked up this spring standing there watching her! Maybe it was an interview of sorts, because the next day, Betty joined the pullets wandering the yard!
Day after day, I would put her outside in the morning and she would spend her day with her chicken sisters. At night we still brought her in, but during the day, I swear she thought she was a chicken. The first night we let Betty sleep in the coop, it was by her choice. I went out to collect her up and she was already inside the coop. She was standing, staring at her three chicken sisters who had gone up to perch and your could almost hear her say “ummm why can’t I get up there!” She finally settled in the straw on the floor and I debated if I should leave her. Fred also slept on the coop floor and I worried he might hurt her being so big and mature. I check on her multiple times that night and all went fine. It went so fine, that Fred actually started to take notice of Betty!!!
During the days that followed Fred would split his time between hanging with the hens and following Betty and her pullet sisters. You could tell he was confused, torn, but interested. And then one day I caught Fred and Betty in the kiddy pool together!!!! They had finally connected as ducks!!! And while Betty still enjoys the company of her chicken sisters, Fred has begun spending more time following her around instead of our full grown hens!! Maybe love is in the air!!!
Such a cute story of loss turning to love. And they are just so stinking cute!!! Living in the "city" we can not have ducks or chickens so I enjoy hearing about your little creatures umm… I mean family members. My daughter e-mails me pictures of my grandchicks almost daily. She just received a batch of 14 more little beauties and watching her try to introduce the older girls to the youngsters is so heartwarming. Now maybe I can persuade her to get me some of those grandducks….maybe.
Haa haa Grandchicks! How cute!
What a great story! Made me teary 🙂 I have rescued many an animal over time, and things can work out if you're creative, which you were! Good job!!! I hope you get some eggs too!
I did find an egg in the yard that looked like a duck egg but it is waaaaay to soon for her to be laying!! Hmmmmm
I am so happy for Fred and for Betty!
Aww thanks!
At first glance of your title I thought it said, "Fried the Duck"
Holy smokes! I took a second look and was glad I did! lol
Ok, you are SOOO Funny! This could be a children's book. Really!
I went to the farm store, sat on the floor, and sexed every Rouen duck they had….
that sentence has got me on so many levels. What did the store personal think of you on the floor sexing, how exactly did you sexted? Just remember, this blog is as close as I have ever been to a chicken . Still laughing……
Oh this could so not be a children's book LOL There is death, sex, etc. I don't want parents getting mad when they have some explaining to do! LOL As for the store staff, the one lady was extremely interested in what I was doing so I thought her. You see male ducks have a penis. Really, I kid you not! See this is not a kid's book! LOL Anyway, if you press on the vent "it" will be a little bump at that age. So I vent checked every last one and separated out the girls. Of course then I did a personality test and beauty review LOL Only the best for Fred!
"I did a personality test and beauty review LOL Only the best for Fred!" Sounds like me 🙂 Personality is important…
Well I wanted him to have a smart mate, not some ditzy girl. LOL But I wanted her to be nice looking too. This is my Fred we are talking about…. he deserves the best. LOL
Loved your story…completely mesmerized! Looking forward to hearing more on the adventures of Fred and Betty 🙂
(stopping by from Inspire Me Monday)
Blessings,
Shari
I'll be having another "episode" this week 🙂
Thanks for sharing such a sweet story!
Thanks… Fred is our boy LOL
Such a sweet, cute story 🙂
Thanks. This weeks edition is filled with legal issues but happy endings…. look for it later today
Just found your blog through Blissful and Domestic's link up. This is such a cute story. We're looking to move out to the country right now, so I'm glad to have found your blog. Hope you can stop by and check mine out some time! anantisocialbutterfly.blogspot.com
Welcome Kim!!! Hope you enjoy hanging out here.
What a sweet story, enjoyed reading this post, thanks for sharing it! Found you at Show Stopper Saturday. 🙂
Aww thanks. Fred has many adventures LOL Not all of them great but he's our boy!
That is so cute!