MAUDY.
Each day, the animals offer so much
to our lives and one such instance happened, when one morning, whilst feeding
the flock, we found to our despair, one of our Indian Runner ducks dead and
mauled by an unknown predator and our favourite Maudy (as seen in photo below)
laying a short distance away unable to move. Maudy was given to us when we
bought our other Indian Runners, as she was unsuitable for showing, as she has
an uncharacteristic bent tail.
Maudy,
Anyway, upon checking Maudy, we found her
to be mauled quite badly, her biggest problem, two quite badly broken legs. We
always aim to be humane with our animals and putting her out of her misery
seemed the best option. Both my wife Karen and I felt we should try to save her,
but on feeling only fragments of bone where straight leg bones should have been,
I was not confident of a great outcome.
I tried to feel for the bones and put
them gently back in some sort of order, strapped her damaged legs and wings to
her body with Sellotape and laid her on the ground in a safe area. A sip of
Rescue Remedy completed the treatment.
She did not appear in extreme pain or
discomfort so we perservered.
Maudy lay in the same spot for about 5
weeks, being gently moved each day and fed and watered away from the other
animals. After about 5 weeks, during the night we had some heavy rain and upon
checking Maudy in the morning, we stood in awe at the will to survive shown
by this amazing bird. During the night, the sellotape had come unstuck and there
was Maudy, standing up on her slightly crooked legs and taking a few gingerly
steps. I will never forget that morning, I stand in awe of her and each day she
is with us is a huge bonus.
Maudy is special, she knows her
limitations and stays away from confrontation, but she has value of life and she
fought hard to be with us. We love her dearly.
GOLDY.
We found a lonely day old white Muscovy
Duckling sitting beside the pond by itself cold and wet, with no sign of a
parent anywhere. As no Muscovys were sitting, i have no idea where it came from.
I beleive that a Muscovy may have laid an egg (although incubation days are
different) in a Wild duck nest as there was a mother and 12 ducklings
nearby.
Because the duckling was so different to
the Wildys, the ducklings would have chased it away, mother nature in
action.
Mothered by Maudy, along with 6 Cayugas,
it has grown into a beautiful wee girl.
27 October 09, Goldy was found stuck under a fence with her throat/neck
eaten and a Khaki Campbell duck alive but with a ripped throat. A cage
trap was set, with Goldy (sorry Goldy) as bait and am happy to report that a
pregnant female Ferret was in the trap next morning. Rest peacfully
Goldy.
JACK.
Our Peacock Jack is another special
creature who has always taken it upon himself to introduce all new
additions to the property and to all of the other residents.
It is very noticable his antics and he is
not scared, in his own way, to dicipline anyone who steps out of
line.
At our previous property, Jack and Penny,
his lady, roosted in a large tree at the corner of the house and was always
quiet at night.
One night, we awoke to a raucous calling
out (as only Peacocks can). I went to the window, looked out into the pitch dark
of night, opened the window and told Jack who was down in the paddock to
%$#*&($%@!! and returned to bed.
With Jack still very upset about
something, i got dressed and went to see what the commotion was.
On going through the paddock gate, i
noticed Jack heading back past the Silkie bantam house to his roost and peace
was restored for the night.
I still wonder if it was coincidence or
not, that the next morning, a mutilated Weasel was found outside the Silkie
house, surrounded by several Peacock feathers and much fur.
Jack also takes it on himself to see any
cats that stray onto the property off as quickly as they arrive.
PARRY.
Our hand reared Paridise Duck finally found a mate about 2
months ago and could be seen around Benhar together. Sadly on the afternoon of
the first day of Duck shooting, she returned less her mate, possibly the victim
of opening day. She now appears to have no desire to leave and sits outside
our kitchen window and watches us. What is she thinking?? We are her family
now, or until she steals the drake from the duck she is hasselling from a
safe distance.
