Jemima, our white Call Duck, is sitting on a nest of fertile eggs so I hope she has some luck this year. This is her second season and last year she only had one surviving duckling. Puddles, her mate is standing guard on top of their hutch and warding off all comers.

We only have four call ducks now in the garden and things are much quieter and tidier. The second pair are Myley, Jemima’s baby and Rosie, one of the ducklings I hatched out last year in the incubator. They are living together and so far Rosie has six eggs in her nest.

It broke our hearts to let the other calls and the runner ducks go but they are all now living in lovely places with loads of space and plenty of grass. We shall probably have to sell the ducklings if they hatch but it all helps to pay for food and bedding and the ducks will be much happier and content if they are allowed to rear a brood of their own.

The ducks aren’t the only ones who are broody in the garden but as the chickens don’t have a cockerel with them there won’t be any chicks this year.

 This is one of my White Pekins showing off her lovely tail feathers.

Star one of our white Silkie bantams.

Bums up. Blue and Sadie, our two Orpington bantams.

Flower and Rosie, two of our Call Ducks.

Update – 26th March and Frank the duck has gone to live with a very nice couple from Halesowen so we hope she will be very content with her new husband.

The Runner Ducks hatched this weekend. Out of six eggs we got three beautiful ducklings. It looks like two girls and a boy, Libbie named the two girls Honey and Treacle and we decided on Francis Drake for the boy, Frank for short, in honour of our good friend and neighbour at the allotment.

We spent a good two hours at the plots on Sunday and came home with a good harvest of potatoes, beans, cucumbers, cauliflowers, cabbages, courgette and tomatoes.  An enormous amount of weeds were pulled but we still came away having run out of time and knowing we had much more weeding to do. Everything was very dry and this afternoon we are having a welcome shower of rain. I am sure the plants will be getting a much needed drink.

Indian Runners are a very special breed of domestic duck. When they were first imported into Europe nearly two hundred years ago they attracted attention because of their tall, upright bodies and their incredible reputation for egg-laying. They had been found in the East Indies, from which they get their present name, but were referred to as penguin ducks by Dutch explorers. Information from The Indian Runner Duck Association.

We had given up on any ducklings from Jemima and Puddles as most of their eggs have been infertile. However, this morning, to my great surprise one of the eggs had pipped and by this evening we had a beautiful baby duck. I have already bought some duck eggs from ebay and they should arrive tomorrow. The bought ones are mixed colours so we don’t know what to expect. Waiting for Libbie to come up with a name for the new baby now.

Today I have sown more beans in pots to start off at home. Runner Bean White Lady, Climbing Bean Blauhilde, Black Bean Delinel and some unlabelled small white beans sent to me by a forum member last year.

Yesterday I potted on some Tomatoes Sweet Millions given to us by a friend along with a Cherry Belle and an Alicante.

Puddles also seems full of beans as he waits patiently for Jemima, who is sitting on a clutch of eggs, to produce his offspring.

When he was settled I felt along his neck and was sure that nothing was broken. However he continued to have convulsions and was still having trouble breathing. My son searched for phone numbers to get some advice to no avail and in the end we found the answer on the internet. Limberneck. The symptoms matched perfectly. Apparently it is caused when a bird swallows a spore of a bacteria which causes a form of Botulism that call ducks are susceptable to. The only treatment advised was plenty of clean water and a weak solution of Epsom Salts to flush the poison through. We read that if we could get him through 48 hours we had a chance of recovery. I rang our vets and explained and they got an expert from one of their branches to call us a couple of times to help us through.

That night was like having a new baby in the house with two hourly drinks and nappy changes. We kept Puddles warm by sliding him into a woolly hat over the top of his nappy and securing cloths. He was a model patient and seemed to realise we were trying to help him. The following evening we watched him waddle a little then wobble a little as we allowed him to exercise before he was once more secured and though he wasnt eating yet he was drinking and breathing a little better so we were hopeful.

 

It is now 2nd March and Puddles is installed back in his pen with his lady friend Jemima who has been kicking up a right fuss whilst he has been away from her. With lots of care he has gradually become stronger and though not back to his old self is much improved.