Muscovy are Back!

And with it comes another round of duck drama. I thought we were to be without that this year since it didn't start in February but it's here! First, is a photo of Brokewing. You can look at last spring's post about him but basically he had angel wing and could not fly. neighbor took him in and he's been living a semi wild/semi domesticated life since. He's very handsome and healthy because he gets food, shelter, and veterinary care. There are other Muscovy who fly in to hang out with him (including mating with females) so he still has his wild wide.

Well, yesterday a female with 8 ducklings showed up in the front pond (there are two in my neighborhood with one being by the busy road and the other being across from my house). Shortly after a neighbor boy brought a 9th duckling to the pond. Apparently she had them behind their house and the 9th was too young and weak to follow mom and siblings. These ducklings are very young.

I hear she was upper excited when the boy brought her 9th baby!

The drama restarted yesterday when a strange male showed up and grabbed one of the baby ducks. Brokewing's owner chased him till he let go and the duckling ran back to it's mama. Now today, I think they are in the pond near me. Or, there's a second mama and babies. Brokewing's daddy has been adding well water to the front pond and it turns out it drains down into ours so now the ducks have moved down here. The front pond is more shaded but by the road.

The Mysterious Female and Brokewing's New Home

This is BrokeWing (now "Handsome") shortly before the neighbor captured him. His girlfriend was at his side a lot even though she could fly. She was definitely not one of his siblings. Those of us who paid a lot of attention to the Muscovy could recognize an outsider - it's weird but true.

And this is Handsome at his new digs. They actually took him to the vet where his angel wing was clipped off. We earned that he will never fly and the wing will continue to grow back and much be clipped every year to make him more comfortable.

The set up he has is a small picket fence off of their regular fence so they can open the gate and he can see the outside world yet remain safe from a busy road. The neighbors have put mirror up at the corners of the fence so he can visit with himself, lol. He swims in their pool and is eating well. I can attest to that because I took him a cup of oatmeal, which he survived on for months, and he wasn't interested.

I think he recognized me because he wasn't at all afraid of me but he would not get off his patio furniture (footstool) to visit me. He's matured a lot (takes two years for them to become sexually mature) and he's going to look so much like his mama. I think his whole head and neck will be white and his carunckles are growing in too! His new daddy has been comparing feet colors to identify the family.

So this will likely be my last entry about Broke Wing the duck since he is now a pet named Handsome.