Need Help In Odell, Oregon

[DuckDuckJuice]

Someone posted these poor guys on Reddit yesterday. She said they are all living on a local pond in Odell, Oregon. She has room to try and take in one or two of them and is going to try and get the Welsh Harlequin tomorrow, as it seems to be injured. She’s contacted local rescues and animal resource centers and no one seems to be too concerned. Is there anyone near that area or within a decent driving distance that wants to save what seems to be an entire farm of birds someone dumped? She said several of the geese looked to be sitting on nests. I can try to get more information from her for anyone who wants to help out. I would, but I’m all the way in Ohio.

 

[DuckDuckJuice]

@DuckDuckJuice go here and post this
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/oregon.48/

They all need rescued

Will do. She said she put a post on a local Facebook group, asking for help, and got chewed out by several people. They all said the ducks are kind of a “local secret” and should be left where they are. Totally absurd.

 

[Ellyhutch]

Hi all! OP (of the reddit post) here! The ducks appear to be pretty well taken care of, as it turns out. They are on land with a pond adjoining a business park; however, there is no indication that they are being fed etc for me to think they belonged to the business. Additionally, when I went across the street to Ace Hardware, I asked the clerk and he actually suggested I take some (which I didn't). I then posted in some town FB groups, was pretty quickly corrected and removed my posts. Someone took a screenshot before I did, which they sent to the owner, who promptly called the police about it, then posted in the same FB groups my name, where I was from, the posts (that had been removed), and some pretty unkind remarks. These posts got literally hundreds of comments over the day. A few hours after I apologized and explained myself, both privately to the business owner and then to publicly to the groups when I saw he was still commenting but not responding to me, he finally responded and said I could take the injured duck and he would reimburse me for the vet costs. Now everyone's happy and treating him like the town hero for giving me a second chance.

All and all, very strange experience to be maligned on social media. I have many, many thoughts and feelings about these ducks and their well-being (owner told me himself they've had to bury many... Hmmm, maybe that's why they should be protected?), so I'll be keeping a close eye on them, townsfolk be damned.

 

[Miss Lydia]

@DuckDuckJuice go here and post this
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/oregon.48/

They all need rescued

 

[Miss Lydia]

Well those of us that have rescued domestic waterfowl know that isn't true. Hopefully, the members on the Oregon forum will help or know someone who will.
What would be ideal if people could adopt a few or many that way no one would have the whole lot.

Many years back there was a group of people who got together and rescued a bunch of geese someone had dumped. It was out in Northern Cal. I believe. They posted on BYC and they got them all. Formed human fences to get them loaded into large crates for transporting. People working together can do amazing things. I have only done this 2X and it was just a few thank goodness It would be overwhelming for someone working on their own to rescue as many as in that picture.

 

[ruthhope]

Yes, I’ve been messaging her privately. She said she got a call from the sheriff today regarding her concern for the ducks. This is the last thing she sent me.

Well, the Sheriff was kind!!! Better than the owner coming with guns.

As someone commented on Reddit: "so it's duck and run when you run with a duck..."

 

[Ellyhutch]

That is exactly my goal - to maintain a friendly relationship and be sure that he knows he can trust me to take care of the birds!

I am glad that things are resolving with an acceptable outcome -- but nice that you will keep an eye on the ducks and geese, Ellyhutch

That you are able to take the Welshie to a vet is the best part of this story: your local hero was probably shamed int allowing that and paying for it when there was so much publicity about there being an injured duck.

No matter how obnoxious the owner has been, it will be best for the ducks if you can maintain a relationship with the owner. If you gain his trust, you might be able to do more than take the Welshie for care. Good luck.

 

[ruthhope]

@DuckDuckJuice go here and post this
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/oregon.48/

They all need rescued

The all deserve to be rescued, but possibly the only practical solution is to take daily Mazuri to them -- feeding them on the water rather than having them gather on land when they will be most vulnerable to predators.

 

[Huntmaster]

what seems to be an entire farm of birds someone dumped?

They look at home to me not dumped. Sounds like the locales know and have known them to be there. Kinda looks to me like you will be stealing someone's birds. I would be making darn sure before I would remove any of them.

 

[ruthhope]

I've followed up on Reddit/Duck

The poster there is still engaged and is planning to catch the welsh harlequin with [likely] angel wing
The poster originally wrote " The guy at the Ace across the street said they'd been there a long time. I thought they looked pretty good other than the Welsh harlequin's wing. There were geese sitting on nests. I'll call the animal rescue and at least try to get the Welsh's wing figured out. They were not scared of me and I was able to pick a few up after coaxing them with cracked corn"

The Facebook people also wrote '... these ducks have "been there for decades," "are not abandoned" and "are very well taken care of."'

Several folks in the Reddit/ducks discussion are engaging with the original poster, who later wrote:
"I'm still going to get the Welshie to the vet and then I might just keep her for my flock. I'll keep a general eye on them but I'm afraid if I start rounding them up, I'll get the town after me. And this is rural Oregon. They got guns here."