Ducklings &
Goslings
Early in the year we received
two dozen Aylesbury duck eggs from Scotland.
We placed half under a broody hen and the rest in an incubator. Unfortunately,
nothing happened. In early July we obtained four ducklings and two goslings,
from a local supplier. We placed them in one of the empty rabbit enclosures
with a large container of water. We decided to place them there on
a temporary basis until they had become a little bigger, so that the cats
would leave them alone. They started to grow quite rapidly and doubled
their size in two weeks.
We then decided to move them into the pond
enclosure within the cottage garden. I built a wooden ramp to help
them into and out of the water, however for the first week or two they preferred
to climb up and down the steep banks to get into and out of the pond. Nowadays,
they take either route. They
ate all the bind weed within a day - saving me the job of removing it every
fortnight. Unfortunately they have also started to eat away at out lovely
six foot reeds. As for the cats they view them with curiosity, but
never go near them.
Only two of the ducks have names. One was called "Tiny
Tots", because he was so much smaller than the others, however this was short
lived, as all the ducks are now the same
size and we have no idea which one is "Tiny Tots". Another duck is named "Lone Star" because he has a white
spot on his neck. One of
the geese is called "Curtsy", because
her bottom features stick out as though she is performing a curtsy. The
geese are very protective of the ducks and themselves and will approach
you squawking and hissing, however its all show with no malice as they have
never attempted to attack anyone.
Presently, the geese have got so
large that I am in the process of building another goose/duck house. On the 18th September, in broad daylight, a mink
enter the pond area, via the drainage pipe and attacked and killed
the goose with no name. This goose had
developed into a beautiful looking bird and had become the leader of the
goose and duck entourage. She probably died trying to defend the others.
The next day the poor ducks and Curtsy did not enter the pond and Curtsy
kept a fixed eye on the spinney throughout most of the day. I
bought Jasmine into the pond area and through
her sniffing traced how the mink had got in and its movements. Jasmine immediately went to the outflow drainage
pipe and traced a track around the duck hut and back to the bridge - where
I had found bloodstains. The goose's body was in the pond nearby -
with its head and neck eaten away. Jasmine
then continued sniffing into the spinney. However she didn't find anything
- so I assumed that the mink returned the way it came in. I placed
chicken wire either side of the drainage pipe. Tomorrow I am going
to a local neighbour who makes mink traps. Another neighbour states
that there are a pair of mink in the locality.
During the last weekend in October we left our
farm to attend Laura's wedding in Spalding, U.K. A neighbour was left
in charge of caring for the animals and as we hadn't caught the mink we thought
it might be a good idea to place the ducks and goose in one of our vacant
rabbit enclosures. On our return we found that an animal had got in
and killed Curtsey, our goose and there was also a duck missing. Twice
we have come close to catching it - the last time it left a scrapping of biege
fur on the trap door - making us believe that it was a stoat. The hole
was too small for a fox and most mink are either brown or black. The
ducks have been returned to the pond area but have never entered the pond
since the first goose was killed.
