She fit right in as house duck (Susanna wanted her to stay in the house permanently), but she went back outside & was happy to be back with her buddies. Last night we were all watching a movie & all fell asleep before it was done. So, no one went outside to herd the ducks in the henhouse & shut the door. This morning we discovered that 2 of the ducks were eaten by coyotes over by the stream in the woods. Tiny was one of them. We are all very sad. She was everyone's favorite duck, especially for Susanna, who is 6 and has been very upset all day. Tiny was the one that would let Susanna pick her up and carry her around. She would nibble on Susanna's hair and ears. We are all wishing we could go back to last night & go outside to shut the door. I don't know why the ducks insist on wandering around at night if we don't herd them in. It's a little scary that the coyotes were so close to the house. There were coyote tracks all over the place-the stream is right near the horse pasture.
So, we now have 3 ducks left. Of all the animals we have ever owned, ducks have the been the hardest to keep alive. This is our 3rd time trying to raise ducks, but this is the saddest...and we are to blame for it :(
Ohhhh, so sad. I hope she cheers up. Reminds me of Natalie's turkey incident. She was oh, so upset about that.
ReplyDeleteWe had been told by the farm store that turkeys did ok without shelter. But, the coyotes got them. And right close to the house too (although outside our yard). This year Natalie and Mariah are getting six turkeys actually (last year it was two). Their Dad wanted them to and he is making a shelter for them for night time and Natalie will lock them in each night. And he thinks it will be fine. We always lock the chickens in each night (but we don't have to herd them, they all go in). The worst predator we have for those are Bald Eagles. And they are so cheap and easy to raise that we don't mind a few losses when we have like 25 altogether.
Cathy
That is just too sad :( So sorry about your loss. At least you can say you have really good memories of Tiny. She was a good duck!
ReplyDeletethat is so sad, please give Susanna hugs from me.
ReplyDeleteI am catching up on your blog tonight. I am so sorry. Such a sad story. I hope Susanna is doing better.
ReplyDeleteBeing nature lovers is hard sometimes! My kids and I are sad this week that the robin's nest in our yard, containing five eggs, got ransacked by some predator. They've nested here two other years and we look forward to it. This means they won't pick that spot again.
Kids learns so much about loss from nature. I hope it helps as they grow older and have to face their own losses in life.
Thank you for the kind words on my blog this last week!