Mother and babies. Domestic ducks have a bad reputation for motherhood but some of mine seem pretty good at it. Perhaps it is because they live in very natural conditions.
	Freda and some specklies pausing in a slug hunt.
	Zoshka [call duck] sitting on nest in back garden. Zoshka was named by Barbara, a Polish visitor, who felt one member of the livestock family should have a Polish name.

 

	Two call drakes [Zoshka's children 1987].
Alyosha with Hooligan in the background.     Below - Apricot [Alyosha's wife] with babies. After sitting faithfully but fruitlessly on eggs three years running, in 1999 she hatched 3 and being as surprised as me at this event, she allowed one to die in the wet weather before I realised. These two I saved by drying them with a hairdryer and then keeping her and them in the greenhouse for several weeks. Once she got used to the idea she was a wonderful mother.

 

Back to Daf's homepage

Back to thumbnails