I just have to give thanks to Jesus for helping me find our missing duck!!! Thank You Lord!!!
My first ducks were Khaki Campbells, my choice for their egg-laying reputation. Then I wanted Indian Runners, for their comedic & unique appearance. But my middle son kept asking for Pekins. At first I said no, saying "oh Pekins are so common!" but he kept asking and I finally gave in. Since he does so much to help me care for all our flocks, I felt he deserved the ducks he wanted. I got him 2 female Pekins, who looked like little rubber duckies when they were babies, so we named them Latex and Vinyl.
I have grown to love & adore these Pekins, they're really so endearing.
All of our ducks free-range around the yard all day, and are put up in their duck houses each night for their safety. For a while there was a bobcat preying on our poultry, often right before sunset, so we had to be diligent to be home by or before that time to put everyone away and do a careful beak count. It's been more than a few months since we've seen evidence of bobcat in our yard, and we've grown lax. Now there are many times when we don't get home until well after dark to put everyone away.
But tonight one of the Pekins, Vinyl, wasn't in her duck house when we got home after dark. I looked around the yard but didn't see her, although there were some white feathers spread in the grass. Our geese are molting right now, so I hoped those were their feathers. My son said they probably were, he noticed the shafts were rather long. Still, we went inside with heavy hearts, hoping for the best but fearing the worst. We said our usual nightly prayer for protection of the flock, with a special prayer for the welfare of Vinyl.
About a half hour later, while sitting here at the computer catching up on messages, I felt the Lord give me a message of His own. The thought occured to me "Go check by the patio", a place where I hadn't already looked, a place where the ducks do like to hang out during the day. Whenever I get a really good idea I figure it must be God who gave it to me.
So I grabbed the flashlight, dodged the spider webs spread through the hedges, looked under the palm tree, and...
...there was Vinyl! Setting on a nest with only one egg in it, silly girl! She seemed glad to get up and waddled across the yard to her duck house, to rejoin her flockmates there. So we're all thanking God for keeping her safe, for caring for her & for us, for letting me know where to look in time to get her safely in her house for the night.
Here's a photo of Latex & Vinyl when they looked like the rubber duckies that inspired their names:
And the beautiful ladies they've grown up to be:
My first ducks were Khaki Campbells, my choice for their egg-laying reputation. Then I wanted Indian Runners, for their comedic & unique appearance. But my middle son kept asking for Pekins. At first I said no, saying "oh Pekins are so common!" but he kept asking and I finally gave in. Since he does so much to help me care for all our flocks, I felt he deserved the ducks he wanted. I got him 2 female Pekins, who looked like little rubber duckies when they were babies, so we named them Latex and Vinyl.
I have grown to love & adore these Pekins, they're really so endearing.
All of our ducks free-range around the yard all day, and are put up in their duck houses each night for their safety. For a while there was a bobcat preying on our poultry, often right before sunset, so we had to be diligent to be home by or before that time to put everyone away and do a careful beak count. It's been more than a few months since we've seen evidence of bobcat in our yard, and we've grown lax. Now there are many times when we don't get home until well after dark to put everyone away.
But tonight one of the Pekins, Vinyl, wasn't in her duck house when we got home after dark. I looked around the yard but didn't see her, although there were some white feathers spread in the grass. Our geese are molting right now, so I hoped those were their feathers. My son said they probably were, he noticed the shafts were rather long. Still, we went inside with heavy hearts, hoping for the best but fearing the worst. We said our usual nightly prayer for protection of the flock, with a special prayer for the welfare of Vinyl.
About a half hour later, while sitting here at the computer catching up on messages, I felt the Lord give me a message of His own. The thought occured to me "Go check by the patio", a place where I hadn't already looked, a place where the ducks do like to hang out during the day. Whenever I get a really good idea I figure it must be God who gave it to me.
So I grabbed the flashlight, dodged the spider webs spread through the hedges, looked under the palm tree, and...
...there was Vinyl! Setting on a nest with only one egg in it, silly girl! She seemed glad to get up and waddled across the yard to her duck house, to rejoin her flockmates there. So we're all thanking God for keeping her safe, for caring for her & for us, for letting me know where to look in time to get her safely in her house for the night.
Here's a photo of Latex & Vinyl when they looked like the rubber duckies that inspired their names:
And the beautiful ladies they've grown up to be:
