Note: I am now alternating bird & poultry tales with stories and information about my lizards.
A little over a week ago, I sold my Buff Goose pair. I also sold SuperDuck’s parents and aunt. (One drake, two hens). Frankly, when you deal with geese on a daily basis, it’s easy to see that they are descended from velociraptors. With the gander and his mate out of the chicken/duck coop & run, and my other three Roman Tufted geese now in their own pen (a trio of ladies), I felt safe to let SuperDuck out into the run to be a real duck.
SuperDuck hatched last year, the only egg in his clutch of duck eggs to hatch. We kept him inside, and my mom enjoyed talking to him and telling him stories and in short, treating him like her grandchild. He became a house duck. He’d go out during the day, weather permitting, and come inside at night to protect against predators.
I certainly don’t mind having a house duck. The arrangement worked well, except he’s a toe biter. He’d love to reach out and nibble on my feet when I was feeding the parrots or checking the thermostat. Plus, ducks, like many birds, create a lot of feathers and dander. So I decided it was time that he can now go back outside and be with all the lady crested ducks. Ooh la la….
Drakes (male ducks) can be a territorial and hormonal lot, and still in the coop was Elvis, a male muscovy duck. After introducing SuperDuck, I finally gave him the free run of the coop. When I went to make sure everyone was in for the night, he’d be down by the door, quacking his little duck head off like “mommy, mommy mommy”. He wanted nothing to do with going into the coop. This went on for a few days, and then I looked out and saw that anytime Super Duck got close to his crested ladies, Elvis would beat him up. Grabbing his wings, even trying to “mount” him in a show of dominance. Alas, SuperDuck was being bullied.
By this time we had “Oops” a rabbit I’d purchased well settled indoors in SuperDuck’s cage, but after purchasing another dog kennel for his nightime returns to the house, SuperDuck is once more an indoor/outdoor house duck, and he is much relieved. Now, to get his back to heal.
