Make Way For... - Page 3 - Wildlife Gardeners

Equilibrium · 06-22-2010, 11:28 PM

I'm really starting to get into chickens. I'm learning a lot about them so friends are sending me info and pics. That photo came in an e-mail and I thought it was hysterical since another friend of mine had a chicken that went broody and she booted it to gather the eggs so her chicken found two duck eggs it sat on and guess what.... she hatched them. The ducklings are on their own now but their momma was a chicken. I about split a gut when I saw these two white lanky teenage ducks waddling after a chicken.

tineckbone · 06-23-2010, 03:45 PM

I am done with ducks, never really wanted a chicken. I am not sure how I got talked into taking care of these two...oh yeah, now I remember, two females vs 1 male. My daughter and my other half ganged up on me...I didn't stand a chance. I was just beginning to get the yarden back in shape after the three Indian Runner ducks left and now I have to tend with the two Mallards. Their names are Mack and Tosh. I hope they appreciate the sacrifice that I have made on their behalf!

dapjwy · 06-23-2010, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tineckbone

I am done with ducks, never really wanted a chicken. I am not sure how I got talked into taking care of these two...oh yeah, now I remember, two females vs 1 male. My daughter and my other half ganged up on me...I didn't stand a chance. I was just beginning to get the yarden back in shape after the three Indian Runner ducks left and now I have to tend with the two Mallards. Their names are Mack and Tosh. I hope they appreciate the sacrifice that I have made on their behalf!

LOL!

If they are two males, then you finally outnumber the females in your life, however, I'm guessing Mack and Tosh will vote to stay.

Cool names.

tineckbone · 06-23-2010, 06:06 PM

I think that even if I manage to outnumber the females in my life they will always win any vote counting. For some reason their votes count more than mine or any male's ever will.

dapjwy · 06-23-2010, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tineckbone

I think that even if I manage to outnumber the females in my life they will always win any vote counting. For some reason their votes count more than mine or any male's ever will.

...acceptance. That might be the final stage.

bridget1964 · 06-23-2010, 09:20 PM

Hey, I feel like tineckbone has done a little fibbing here! When I said I was taking them to the rehabber, he acted like HE wanted to keep them! So don't even try it, John!

bridget1964 · 06-23-2010, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sage

I wonder if a couple ducklings couldn't just be slipped in with another brood nearby... Just to have a mommy to follow around.

That's what the rehabber would do if he had gotten the ducklings! A mother mallard will accept other ducklings if they are around the same age as the ducklings she already has.

bridget1964 · 06-23-2010, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Equilibrium

Or maybe slipped under a chicken... just kidding.

OMG! What a cute photo! I am thinking the kittens are as confused as the chicken if they are asleep underneath her!

I love chickens! We always had Rhode Island Reds when I was growing up. They are such good moms! We had a pet named Sarah. She would come when we'd call her name. My sister Peggy and I would pick her up and carry her around the yard. She died of a bad cold at the age of 8. My dad buried her in the garden.

dapjwy · 06-23-2010, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bridget1964

Hey, I feel like tineckbone has done a little fibbing here! When I said I was taking them to the rehabber, he acted like HE wanted to keep them! So don't even try it, John!

LOL!

...the truth comes out?

tineckbone · 07-21-2010, 07:35 PM

Death comes for us all. It is as inevitable and unstoppable as the rising sun, the changing seasons, and the telemarketers at dinner time. For some, Death comes in a slow inexorable creeping, for others Death comes in a quick and sudden BAM!!! One second you are there, the next second you are gone.

I have been watching the duck's behavior over the last several days since my MIT-bound daughter left for home. I noticed that they would retreat to the pond when my dog was out and about. She knows better than to mess with various animals in the yarden. I would watch her as she would look at the ducks, then look at me, then back at the ducks then just wander off to continue her sniffing patrol of the fence. The ducks were smart enough to go into the water knowing that they had the advantage there. Mary observed them the other day when the neighborhood Red-tailed hawk flew through the yarden. They simply sat low to the ground, motionless and silent until the hawk was gone. I had been planning on taking them to the rehabber today since last week. I was running late this morning and was not able to check on them as I normally do but I did think to myself that they were a bit quiet. They normally would peep when they heard me and I would just simply call out and they would quiet down again. I should have known that something was amiss in the quietness...
Sometime during the night, Death came for one of the ducks. The smaller female, named Mac (as in Mac-n-Tosh). Death came quickly, flying silently down from above. Talons, sharpened by hunger and skill glinting in the moon light just before the hail of duck feathers marking the spot where Mac was probably sleeping. One second you are there, the next second you are gone. An owl family ate well last night. The cycle of life continues.

06-22-2010, 11:28 PM	#21
Equilibrium Official Plant Nerd Join Date: Dec 2008	I'm really starting to get into chickens. I'm learning a lot about them so friends are sending me info and pics. That photo came in an e-mail and I thought it was hysterical since another friend of mine had a chicken that went broody and she booted it to gather the eggs so her chicken found two duck eggs it sat on and guess what.... she hatched them. The ducklings are on their own now but their momma was a chicken. I about split a gut when I saw these two white lanky teenage ducks waddling after a chicken. __________________ "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

06-23-2010, 03:45 PM	#22
tineckbone WG Contest Coordinator Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Browns Mills, NJ	I am done with ducks, never really wanted a chicken. I am not sure how I got talked into taking care of these two...oh yeah, now I remember, two females vs 1 male. My daughter and my other half ganged up on me...I didn't stand a chance. I was just beginning to get the yarden back in shape after the three Indian Runner ducks left and now I have to tend with the two Mallards. Their names are Mack and Tosh. I hope they appreciate the sacrifice that I have made on their behalf! __________________ I am a long haired, tree hugging, dirt worshiping environmentalist.

06-23-2010, 06:06 PM	#24
tineckbone WG Contest Coordinator Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Browns Mills, NJ	I think that even if I manage to outnumber the females in my life they will always win any vote counting. For some reason their votes count more than mine or any male's ever will. __________________ I am a long haired, tree hugging, dirt worshiping environmentalist.

07-21-2010, 07:35 PM	#30
tineckbone WG Contest Coordinator Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Browns Mills, NJ	Death comes for us all. It is as inevitable and unstoppable as the rising sun, the changing seasons, and the telemarketers at dinner time. For some, Death comes in a slow inexorable creeping, for others Death comes in a quick and sudden BAM!!! One second you are there, the next second you are gone. I have been watching the duck's behavior over the last several days since my MIT-bound daughter left for home. I noticed that they would retreat to the pond when my dog was out and about. She knows better than to mess with various animals in the yarden. I would watch her as she would look at the ducks, then look at me, then back at the ducks then just wander off to continue her sniffing patrol of the fence. The ducks were smart enough to go into the water knowing that they had the advantage there. Mary observed them the other day when the neighborhood Red-tailed hawk flew through the yarden. They simply sat low to the ground, motionless and silent until the hawk was gone. I had been planning on taking them to the rehabber today since last week. I was running late this morning and was not able to check on them as I normally do but I did think to myself that they were a bit quiet. They normally would peep when they heard me and I would just simply call out and they would quiet down again. I should have known that something was amiss in the quietness... Sometime during the night, Death came for one of the ducks. The smaller female, named Mac (as in Mac-n-Tosh). Death came quickly, flying silently down from above. Talons, sharpened by hunger and skill glinting in the moon light just before the hail of duck feathers marking the spot where Mac was probably sleeping. One second you are there, the next second you are gone. An owl family ate well last night. The cycle of life continues. __________________ I am a long haired, tree hugging, dirt worshiping environmentalist.

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06-23-2010, 09:20 PM	#26
bridget1964 Butterfly Educator Extraordinaire Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Ventnor City, New Jersey, USA	Hey, I feel like tineckbone has done a little fibbing here! When I said I was taking them to the rehabber, he acted like HE wanted to keep them! So don't even try it, John!