My baby girl is all alone in the pond, but every day we spend quality time communing. She’ll eat vegetables and mealworms, but now eschews oatmeal and Cheerios. Here she is nomming some defrosted frozen peas:
I’m worried that if I keep feeding her, she’ll stay when she should be flying away and doing Duck Stuff. But I can’t bear to cut off her rations.
Yes, she does have to leave and do Duck Stuff eventually, I’m sorry to say.
Why?
If she goes off and does frog stuff she won’t be a duck any more.
I think it would be a good idea to get some expert duck advice. These animals in an urban environment are different and the behavior is different.
maybe she considers herself to be your duck, free will in water fowl.
You’ll need to build a flying machine to lead her off, the way that guy did with the Canada geese.
Agreed. 😊
Preferably one with pedals, like the one Woody Allen had in Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy.
Who is going to play PCC in the inevitable movie adaptation?
I’d recommend capture using a trap or a net. Stuff her gently into a gunny sack and give her a swift ride to the country side. Find a nice pond with other mallards to play with. Maybe a reserve or park. She’ll be free to do ducky stuff without the risks of living in a city.
Did you give her a name yet? If I had a duck I’d name her “Lookout.” Then if someone asked me her name I’d yell “LOOKOUT DUCK!”
No, no, no.
She should be Jeraldine.
L
A friend once raised two turkeys from chickhood. She called them “Thanksgiving” and Lunch Meat”.
When we moved from the Bay Area to a little (very little) farm in Oregon, Our kids made the mistake of calling our pig “Baby”. It broke their hearts when “Baby” made the great transition to freezer wrapped packages of food.
So, later, when we got a cow and calf they were named “Chuck” and “Roast”.
That’s one really good thing about growing vegetables in that you don’t develop a relationship with them. (Except for giant zucchini which one learns to hate!)
Your duck is so cute.
“When I was a duckling, I noshed as a duckling. But when I became a hen, I put away duckling things.”
I’ve told people my cat’s name is ‘Emergency Rations’ just to see how they respond.
Ack! I seem to have responded to the wrong comment!
Happens.
She is a cutie. It amazes me how quickly she seems to have grown. I guess we all tend to stay where we feel cared for, and ducks are no different.
Your duck is beautiful. Thank you for sharing the life cycle of your ducks with us. Since her experiences with her male siblings were so traumatic, maybe she doesn’t want to go off and do duck things.
I don’t see the primaries on the pictures. Perhaps she is late growing her flight feathers or suffers a defect and can’t fly yet ? Animal proteins (mealworms ?) may help.
Well, I’ve seen her fly–granted, across the pond when she was chased.
yes she is.
Everybody needs to google Far Side duck cartoon, like, right now! [This was the one I was looking for, but there are lots of great ones!]
Perfect.
Priceless.
She’s a pretty girl! 🐥
Do the males have green heads from the start, or does that come after more time?
Semi-never mind. I went back and found the July 4 post. Looks like they’re not green yet, but three may have darker head feathers. Is that right, and that = immature male? One subsequent duck post seems to possibly show green heads, so that would be a quick change. If that’s right, does green = ready to leave and sexually mature?
And soon enough, you’ll be going away to Poland. So there will have to be a weaning period, sad to say.
Until I was (and including) when I was 7 or 8, with the exception of one poor white Bunny, all my pets were ducks. We even took them in our car when we moved! Always offered a big tub to splash in and a creek or lake or pond.