My Ducks

This is not a post about school but about my ducks.

I have 5 muscovy ducks. I have had them for about 8 years. 

I had 3 girls and 2 boys.

There was one duck, Emmy. I had a special bond with her.

She was my broody duck.

 I called her Emmy because her feathers looked like emerald green in the sun.

Here she is with some of her ducklings. 

She used to lay her eggs in the garden but I made her a box in the pen and then she started to lay her eggs in there where it was much safer.

Here she is sitting on a nest in the garden. I always hand fed her when she was sitting on her eggs.

My ducks would sometimes come up to the garden outside the house and forage for food through the day.

 

 

I live in a small city on the outskirts of town. I consider myself very lucky to live in town but in the middle of a large reserve with lots a very large gum trees, bush and ponds. 

But I also have a problem with a fox. 

Five years ago, after I had lost several ducks, my hubby made an enclosure where I  could lock my ducks up every night. Every evening the ducks are always waiting for me and follow me into the pen.

There was no way that fox could get in. It had a cement floor and the wire was bolted to the floor. 

Every morning, I  go down to the enclosure to let the ducks out for the day.

Yesterday, when I went down to let out my ducks, I could not believe what confronted me.

The fox had got into the enclosure!

It had somehow found a weak spot and got in.

It absolutely devastated me.

Two dead females and Emmy, still alive but injured. 

The two males are still alive but are very quiet. I know they miss the girls.

I took Emmy to the vet but sadly she had a broken leg and other injuries. 

As I stroked her head, she closed her eyes. 

I had to say goodbye.