cuz i am not sure i am all that fond of them...at least tonight. colleen noticed edwina had a sore foot, i went and checked her and she had just laid an egg, which i think must hurt. so i thought, she is ok, she is just sore from the egg. but then colleen said she was gimping around earlier so i checked her again and yes she is lame on her left leg.
sooo..we grabbed the xpen and moved the babes night time crate out after i had herded them in, and set up a nice pen for edwina around the spare chicken house door. then laura helped me to catch her cuz edwina still did not want to be caught. ok, everyone was fine for the night, except floyd..he was alone, on the chicken side of the fence.
it is not that i speak duck or anything, but it is just common sense that when suddenly all alone and duck-less, he was probably upset. sooo...laura and i herded him out of the chicken coop and over to the duck pen. he can't get at edwina with her sore foot or leg (i think he hurt her by accident cuz he is an oversized and oafish, inconsiderate sex maniac and the males have sex by climbing up and balancing all of their considerable weight on the poor females back..and...i am also thinking too bad you can't neuter a duck)..anyway...while he can't get at her physically, he can visit her thru the xpen fence...he will be a less lonely duck.
of course now i have to decide what to do with those babies come morning, floyd is now loose in their day time baby duck or goose play pen...and whatever i decide, it has to be accomplished before i go to work. i am thinking now that edwina can't chase them, it is a perfect opportunity to put them in with her to keep her company...she can't hurt them, they won't hurt her...they could use her enforced immobility to all get used to each other....this might work.
but what if it doesn't?..what if her leg gets better with rest and a floyd reprieve and suddenly she is mobile again? what if she is a tricky little hag, and faked the whole sore leg thing to distract us away from her egg??? some birds do that you know to protect their potential babes. i will be at work and i won't know that i just messed up big time again by falling for the injured bird ruse...oh those poor, babies....edwina might chase them again.
plus if she is not faking me out and her leg is not better by tomorrow, i will have to catch her again and suck one of our vets into xraying our duck's foot or leg. (she is not a cooperative duck so they might not be happy with me after trying to work with her and i am unhappy when the vets are pissed at me.)
life would be way easier without ducks. they are a lot of worry.