Wife #2 Has No Sense

I probably should not be so hard on her, but I can’t help myself. I miss Wife #1.

You see, for the last 9 years, we have had a duck build a nest every spring at our house. The first wife was an experienced mother, and wisely built her nest under the dryer vent safely behind the clematis trellis. It was completely hidden to all but those who knew where to look. Each year, she would take the ducklings down to the pond in the back yard, where they would get their sea legs. Then, we would watch her take them to the creek, where they prepared for their journey to the lake.

Last year, Papa Duck brought a new wife to us. I knew it was Wife #2, because she looked different, and was smaller. He tried to tell her where to put the nest. We saw him strutting up and down the sidewalk, just steps away from where his previous families were born. But no, Wife #2 had her own ideas about keeping house, and placed her nest in the back, under the open stars, but against the house. Amazingly, and to her credit, we had 14 ducklings hatch, all of which safely waddled away to the pond.

Above:  Two years ago, Wife #1's Brood

This year, she built her nest in the same place in the back, wide open to the elements, not to mention the critters from the woods. About 1-1/2 weeks before hatching time, a predator got into the nest. It appears that she put up a good fight, as evidenced by the few feathers she left, but she did not return. I was sick, and cried about it, buy my husband said that was Nature, and told me to get over it. The next thing I knew, there were 7 duck eggs in my laundry room with a lamp over them. He’s a softie, too. I knew it wasn’t like him to leave them there. They were so close to hatching.

          Right:  Wife #2's Family, Last Year

I called Benne, THE best authority I know on ducks, who held my hand throughout this ordeal. I made sure the eggs were at the right temperature, spritzed them with water daily, gently turned them, weighed them daily to check on their progress, and said prayers over them. I had become discouraged and was about to tell my husband to dispose of them, I can’t take it anymore, as their retrieval was probably fruitless. But on the other hand, I still had a feeling that we shouldn’t do that. When I held the eggs, I felt life inside. Finally, two days ago, three eggs began to hatch. We could see tiny little pip marks on the shells.   The most phenomenal thing to me was that they would chirp from within.  The eggs would move.  I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but Benne had already told me what to expect.  One duckling didn’t make it out of the egg and two others were born, with our help with the shells. The rest of the eggs were not viable. The littlest duckling died a few hours after birth, but the big guy made it. He is two days old now, and like I was telling Benne, with my being a nurse and mother, it thrills me to see him eating, drinking, pooping, chirping, and snuggling with the Beanie Baby I put in the box with him. I bought a water dispenser and a nice little ceramic dish for food. I finally got to use my expensive digital thermometer, which is useless for food, but worked perfectly in keeping tabs on the air temperature in the box for the baby. My husband, the softie, bought a huge 50# bag of unmedicated chicken mash. If anybody needs any of this, please let me know, as I only used about 4 ounces of it.

This evening, we took him to a local nature center, where he was greeted with nine other one-day old ducklings. The nature center has about thirty ducks there right now, of all ages. They raise abandoned or found ducklings for a couple of months, and then release them to local ponds with other ducks where they are monitored for progress. Little Chippee, as my youngest dubbed him, has his own number which we can reference when we call the nature center back to check on him. He is doing great, although we were told he was small. He won’t be small for long, the way he eats and drinks.

Last night was the first night in three days I got uninterrupted sleep. I had to keep checking on the baby duck to be sure he was warm and alive. I know it’s only one little duck, but I couldn’t help myself. I have saved orphaned baby ducks before, after they were born, and even helped to hatch some when I was little, but this was a whole new ball game.

Thanks, Benne! I could not have done this without your guidance and gentle words, which is more than I can say for some of the people I spoke to about rescuing him. I got bad vibes from a couple of the places I had called trying to find a home. I don’t need to be scolded for breaking the law by taking mallard eggs into my house. Hey, don’t lip off to me! I’m an adult, not a wayward child. I saved this duck, who would have died if I left the eggs alone. Please. And I’ll do it again, too, if I have to, but Wife #2 better get her act together and build that nest somewhere else next time.

Comments

[Marie]

I remember you mentioning this on Elann, and had wondered what happened (or maybe I missed your followup). I'm so happy this has a happy ending! You did great! There was no way he could have made it without your help.

[Minnie]

That. Is the cutest story I've EVER read!
Pat yourself on the back, substitute mommy ducky!
What a brave and courageous thing to do, leaving yourself open to all that heartache, and doing it anyway. Hopefully that little baby duck will send you photos as he grows up, write letters to let you know how he's doing, inform you when he finally meets Mrs. Chippee, invite you to the wedding, etc.

[Li_B]

You are a lucky duck! Love your feathered friends.

[Joan]

Wow, shades of benne! What a sweet earth mama you are to care for the duckling so well. Don;t you have room for a little lake in your yard? ;-p

[benne]

Look at that little guy! He's beautiful and you did the right thing, and a fine job of it, too. Good for you and soft=hearted husband, what a guy. :)

[Joanne]

How heart warming this story is. I am happy to hear that you found your duckling a happy home. I like you would have brought the eggs inside to watch over them.

Take care.

[Vivian]

What a beautiful story! What a lucky duckling!

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