We decided to cull him using the most humane way that we thought of: a lethal dose of carbon monoxide. He went peacefully. There was no way that he could have survived. He would not have been able to eat, drink, and his siblings would have probably pecked him to death. Not to mention the probable multitude of problems that were hidden inside of the egg. We will plant him under our apricot tree, that way he'll be a part of the first tree to bloom in our yard this spring. We want to thank you for all of your help Lori. You are the reason that we have three healthy ducklings! I hope that we can continue to come to you for advice. We have one last picture we would like you to look at on number three, who I believe we will call 'Lucy', to make sure that she is healing properly.
To all who took part in hoping for our ducklings, we also thank you! Hatching baby ducks was nowhere near as easy as we first believed, and at the end, it was was everybody's wonderful support that kept us positive through each scary situation with each duckling. We wish it had ended a little happier, but perhaps one of the reasons that we all partake in this is to bring us closer to our roots with our natural world. It has been wonderful to see how great our ability to nurture can be. Unfortunately, we can't always nurture every animal we love to make them better. So with both elated and heavy hearts, we want to again, say thank you to all of those who participated in our little miracle ducklings early drama. We think all three will grow to be very special ducks.
-Ryan & Vanessa
