Ducks are social creatures so when, earlier this year, out of a dozen bought in hatching eggs
only one actually hatched
we had to find her a couple of friends from up the road
She is a Cayuga and her adoptive siblings are Muscovies but they have got on ok together
although she has preferred to watch
at bath time
When Cagney, our dependable Muscovy, went broody
we installed her in a safe house and had another go, this time with our own eggs.
First to hatch was indeed a Cayuga
but because Cayney was also sitting on Muscovy eggs, which take longer to hatch, she has to be taken into temporary custody
from which she immediately tried to escape
successfully
earning the name Houdini.
No other eggs did hatch so for the second time we had a solitary duckling. At least this time he had a foster mother
as long as Cagney would accept a seven day old reintroduction.
Which she did
They set up home together
Soon they were given a bit more space
from which Houdini immediately escaped
and went off to fraternise with the flock
Spying some fellow Cayugas
she tried to introduce herself
but they weren’t interested
Life would be easier if all our ducks were like this one
Gribin Isaf 