Rossi....I am so very sorry...

[Suzie]

My beautiful and darling duck.... I am feeling so sad at your demise this afternoon...I have always dreaded the day that you would no longer be a huge part of my life...I never felt that this would be at the attack from one of your flockmates...Georgie the Goose is now in Freezer camp....this is so very hard for me to bear....I feel that I should have known what was to happen and to save you from such an awful fate...please forgive me my baby...7 years of fun ended in bitter feelings of a goose that was once a flockmate ,that has denied me of your beauty and loving companionship...

I will always love you and you have a very special place in my heart for the best ever duck I will ever have the pleasure to have known and owned...R.I.P; my darling...until we meet again! We will be together again one day!

 

[sourland]

Sorry, Suzie.

 

[Suzie]

Thanks Sourland! I am at a very low ebb right now..you are always there for me...it means so much that you understand and care....life has been so hard for me of late and this seems like the final straw...BUT I am strong willed and life goes on for my animals...while they need me I will be there for them...

 

[elly21]

I am so sorry for your loss!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Suzie I am so sorry to hear about Rossi

 

[Suzie]

Suzie I am so sorry to hear about Rossi

Hi Miss Lydia!

Thanks so much...I can hardly type through my tears...my beloved Rossi is no longer going to be in the house sharing the dog food and chatting to me...I have shared so much of Rossi with you in the past...when Stripes died last year I thought that Rossi would give up on life...she stayed with me and has given so much of herself to enhance my life.... I could do with a human hug right now...so...when are you coming to see us in France ????????

You take care!

Suzie
xxxx

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hi Miss Lydia!

Thanks so much...I can hardly type through my tears...my beloved Rossi is no longer going to be in the house sharing the dog food and chatting to me...I have shared so much of Rossi with you in the past...when Stripes died last year I thought that Rossi would give up on life...she stayed with me and has given so much of herself to enhance my life.... I could do with a human hug right now...so...when are you coming to see us in France ????????

You take care!

Suzie
xxxx

I wish I could be there now Suzie. Can you share what happened it may help someone?

 

[Suzie]

I wish I could be there now Suzie. Can you share what happened it may help someone?

OK so here goes...

I have two distinct flocks of geese...the original ones that Boss raised..one Toulouse Male and the others are Toulouse and Embden...all live together in complete harmony...

The second flock comprise of a female Embden ( gifted to us ) and the others are Toulouse that have been raised here by me...both flocks will mix together during the day but at night in their housing they have had conflict...so, the second flock were separated and have lived in harmony with my ducks without any issues...that is until recently.

The first problem arose a few weeks ago when Georgie (Toulouse male) attacked Bonnie a Runner Duck as she was sleeping in a field...Georgie was held down by me for five minutes and Bonnie moved off..she was injured as she had loss of feathers and was limping..she is OK now..I noticed that Georgie was paying attention to Rossi when they all came into their housing..Rossi has always been passive and would never react to an attack...A couple of days ago Rossi was reluctant to enter the housing...Georgie must have been bullying Rossi...I found a few feathers lying around and did not put two and two together...

I was horrified yesterday morning to find Rossi barely alive and almost completely stripped of her feathers...I will not go into details but I did all I could for her...I knew she would not survive..her injuries were severe...I am in shock that one of my geese could do this to a beloved duck...or any other of my animals for that matter...one of my dogs has been terrified of Georgie...Georgie would attack anything...I, on reflection, should have known that something dreadful would happen...

Georgie was always great with me...never a problem...I guess I live and learn...one man's meat is another man's poison...

If this reflection helps anyone else to look for signs...and it alleviates this dreadful situation from happening to another flock somewhere...then Rossi's death will not have been in vain.

Thanks for reading!

Suzie

Rossi and Hannah...

 

[Miss Lydia]

OK so here goes...

I have two distinct flocks of geese...the original ones that Boss raised..one Toulouse Male and the others are Toulouse and Embden...all live together in complete harmony...

The second flock comprise of a female Embden ( gifted to us ) and the others are Toulouse that have been raised here by me...both flocks will mix together during the day but at night in their housing they have had conflict...so, the second flock were separated and have lived in harmony with my ducks without any issues...that is until recently.

The first problem arose a few weeks ago when Georgie (Toulouse male) attacked Bonnie a Runner Duck as she was sleeping in a field...Georgie was held down by me for five minutes and Bonnie moved off..she was injured as she had loss of feathers and was limping..she is OK now..I noticed that Georgie was paying attention to Rossi when they all came into their housing..Rossi has always been passive and would never react to an attack...A couple of days ago Rossi was reluctant to enter the housing...Georgie must have been bullying Rossi...I found a few feathers lying around and did not put two and two together...

I was horrified yesterday morning to find Rossi barely alive and almost completely stripped of her feathers...I will not go into details but I did all I could for her...I knew she would not survive..her injuries were severe...I am in shock that one of my geese could do this to a beloved duck...or any other of my animals for that matter...one of my dogs has been terrified of Georgie...Georgie would attack anything...I, on reflection, should have known that something dreadful would happen...

Georgie was always great with me...never a problem...I guess I live and learn...one man's meat is another man's poison...

If this reflection helps anyone else to look for signs...and it alleviates this dreadful situation from happening to another flock somewhere...then Rossi's death will not have been in vain.

Thanks for reading!

Suzie

Rossi and Hannah...

Oh Suzie how horrible,

but I can sure relate and the main reason I made a separate fenced in area for my geese this past spring. They are okay with the ducks right now but last spring they would gang up on one my Muscovy's and it really made me aware of how serious this could be, so come breeding season they will have their own space. Or before if they become aggressive. Sharing your story has helped me realize how important these signs are and not to ignore them. I hope others will heed them too.

Thank you and Thank you Rossi your death will not be in vain, what a precious one she was and Hannah is beautiful too.

 

[Suzie]

Oh Suzie how horrible,

but I can sure relate and the main reason I made a separate fenced in area for my geese this past spring. They are okay with the ducks right now but last spring they would gang up on one my Muscovy's and it really made me aware of how serious this could be, so come breeding season they will have their own space. Or before if they become aggressive. Sharing your story has helped me realize how important these signs are and not to ignore them. I hope others will heed them too.

Thank you and Thank you Rossi your death will not be in vain, what a precious one she was and Hannah is beautiful too.

I could have understood if it was Springtime as all of my geese are fractious at that time of year...it is Autumn and Winter approaches...so out of character...

One good thing is that Georgie can never do such damage again...strange to relate but yesterday evening none of the ducks nor geese would go indoors...Georgie was there alone..I can only surmise that the witnesses were traumatised by his actions...he was swiftly removed and despatched..today has been strange...my geese have changed allegiance Freddie and Laura have sided with the original group...the three youngsters hatched this year are being ostracised...they were Georgie's friends..and they appear to be a little lost at the moment...not a bad thing in my opinion...I will have to see how things develop...

I love the photographs I have of Rossi with my dogs...Rossi enjoyed eating their food with them..it was a daily ritual...today and yesterday there are remnants of dog food that Rossi would have enjoyed eating...maybe some of my chickens will share the food with the dogs now...