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September 5, 2006

Babysitters for hire

Goosegoose, my pair of goose ganders, love babies. They will follow mama birds around all day and make sure the babies are safe, even if they deem the threat to be mama herself. You can say they are a little protective. Here they are checking out some baby chickens and their mamas.

Tonight I had to fend them off in the dark as they protected a new-to-mamahood muscovy. The hen, who had hatched out 6 ducklings earlier in the day, was now wandering around in the dark with one. I grabbed my spotlight and started duck hunting. I found one in the old barn, one chirping in a puddle behind the new barn, and 3 huddled together under a pallet. I scooped them all up and somehow managed to get the lone duckling away from mama and her goosegoose protectors, and brought them into the new barn. I made a nest out of a tarp (this is what mama used when she sat on her eggs all those 28 days) and tried herding the duck into the barn. Did I mention it was dark? I eventually got her in the barn and it was time to show her the babies. She paid no attention to me and wandered around the barn. She could hear the babies peeping and tried to find them on her own. When she finally found them, she made a sound that said to me "Babies! There you are! I am so glad to find you!" followed by a half-quack that sounded like, "If you EVER do that again..." I shut the barn door and went to bed myself.

Posted by roosterh at September 5, 2006 11:43 PM

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