I'm really struggling today.
I had six awesome little ducklings that were about three weeks old. I raised them in the house. They were just starting to show distinct personalities. This was one of the sweetest and tamest batch of ducklings I have ever raised.
They were getting too big to live in the bathtub. On Saturday I tried adding them to the large pen where four older ducklings live in the back yard. The older ones acted dominant (neck over the ducklings) but they did not bite or otherwise hurt the younger ducklings. I supervised for about five hours and everything was fine. The babies swam and they got out of the water. They walked away when the older ones came nearby. Everyone seemed to be doing well. I went to the store.
When I came back (after dark) there were no ducklings in the pen. I searched everywhere in the pen. Perhaps they had escaped the pen? It was supposed to be baby proof, but this was the first batch of smaller babies in that pen. Perhaps they found a hole? Sure enough, I did find a small hole in the middle of one side, big enough for a duckling. I searched the neighborhood, even downstream of a nearby little stream. Searched again Sunday morning for about three hours all over the neighborhood and down the stream till it reached a lake. They were not anywhere.
I searched the empty pen one more time, in the full daylight. And I saw, in the murky water of the swimming area... something. I pulled out a duckling. I searched, and found them all, one by one. They had all drowned.
I don't know if they drowned of not being able to get out. If that is what happened, it is my fault. The water was level with the ground and they exited fine earlier, but there was not a ramp. There was a rainstorm while I was gone. Did they get wet while swimming and just get cold and huddle on the water without trying to get out? That would be my fault too, for putting them outside too young. Did the older ducklings have a hand in it? If so, it is my fault for putting them with the older ducklings while they were still so young.
To balance things out (not really), let's also consider, this same weekend, my new momma duck who has been incubating six fertile eggs for 28 days. Two other ducks live in the same pen. One has successfully raised a baby before and the other is her daughter - the meekest and mildest of all the ducks I've ever had.
In the evening, I left the momma on her nest with six ducklings who were nearly hatched. In the morning, there were two new eggs in the nest (courtesy of the other mother and daughter). There were two live ducklings and four fully flattened ducklings.
The two live ducklings could walk and, I thought, could now easily escape any visiting feet. The mother had also become quite protective and I thought she would not allow the other two in her nest. Still, the next morning another baby was squished, although no new eggs were in the nest. Just in case I put the two other ducks in a separate pen. I left the mother with her single baby, just her and the baby alone in the nest. She loved that baby. She was so careful that she refused to even move her feet. When I pulled her off the nest to check the nest, she just dragged her feet, not wanting to step on anything.
Last night when I left them the baby was sitting on top of mom, looking happy. This morning the last baby was dead and squished. Had to be the mother this time. Did she just fall asleep and let too much of her weight down? She was still protective of her nest this morning, but she also looked sad. Well, the squished ducklings are the momma's "fault", thought I certainly don't hold it against her - she was obviously trying her best.
So... let's compare
Human raised ducklings: 0/6
Momma duck raised ducklings: 0/6.
This was just not a good weekend. Funny (strange) - I find it very easy to forgive the momma duck. Myself - not so much. I miss my babies too much.
I had six awesome little ducklings that were about three weeks old. I raised them in the house. They were just starting to show distinct personalities. This was one of the sweetest and tamest batch of ducklings I have ever raised.
They were getting too big to live in the bathtub. On Saturday I tried adding them to the large pen where four older ducklings live in the back yard. The older ones acted dominant (neck over the ducklings) but they did not bite or otherwise hurt the younger ducklings. I supervised for about five hours and everything was fine. The babies swam and they got out of the water. They walked away when the older ones came nearby. Everyone seemed to be doing well. I went to the store.
When I came back (after dark) there were no ducklings in the pen. I searched everywhere in the pen. Perhaps they had escaped the pen? It was supposed to be baby proof, but this was the first batch of smaller babies in that pen. Perhaps they found a hole? Sure enough, I did find a small hole in the middle of one side, big enough for a duckling. I searched the neighborhood, even downstream of a nearby little stream. Searched again Sunday morning for about three hours all over the neighborhood and down the stream till it reached a lake. They were not anywhere.
I searched the empty pen one more time, in the full daylight. And I saw, in the murky water of the swimming area... something. I pulled out a duckling. I searched, and found them all, one by one. They had all drowned.
I don't know if they drowned of not being able to get out. If that is what happened, it is my fault. The water was level with the ground and they exited fine earlier, but there was not a ramp. There was a rainstorm while I was gone. Did they get wet while swimming and just get cold and huddle on the water without trying to get out? That would be my fault too, for putting them outside too young. Did the older ducklings have a hand in it? If so, it is my fault for putting them with the older ducklings while they were still so young.
To balance things out (not really), let's also consider, this same weekend, my new momma duck who has been incubating six fertile eggs for 28 days. Two other ducks live in the same pen. One has successfully raised a baby before and the other is her daughter - the meekest and mildest of all the ducks I've ever had.
In the evening, I left the momma on her nest with six ducklings who were nearly hatched. In the morning, there were two new eggs in the nest (courtesy of the other mother and daughter). There were two live ducklings and four fully flattened ducklings.
The two live ducklings could walk and, I thought, could now easily escape any visiting feet. The mother had also become quite protective and I thought she would not allow the other two in her nest. Still, the next morning another baby was squished, although no new eggs were in the nest. Just in case I put the two other ducks in a separate pen. I left the mother with her single baby, just her and the baby alone in the nest. She loved that baby. She was so careful that she refused to even move her feet. When I pulled her off the nest to check the nest, she just dragged her feet, not wanting to step on anything.
Last night when I left them the baby was sitting on top of mom, looking happy. This morning the last baby was dead and squished. Had to be the mother this time. Did she just fall asleep and let too much of her weight down? She was still protective of her nest this morning, but she also looked sad. Well, the squished ducklings are the momma's "fault", thought I certainly don't hold it against her - she was obviously trying her best.
So... let's compare
Human raised ducklings: 0/6
Momma duck raised ducklings: 0/6.
This was just not a good weekend. Funny (strange) - I find it very easy to forgive the momma duck. Myself - not so much. I miss my babies too much.
