Windy Knoll Fowl 1989
Yesterday John brought a box in and set it down on the sun porch — it certainly contains a sign of Spring. One of the Muscovy ducks has been setting on a nest in the barn and John found 12 ducklings that she had pushed out of the loft. When he arrived on the scene the ganders were there and had already killed three, so the other nine came to the house in a box. Following fatalities over night, we now have eight little quackers, peeping and the mother is still on the nest trying to hatch the remainder of the eggs. These babies are so weak and they do not even know to pick at the bread crumbs and cornmeal we have to offer. How does one communicate with a duckling? The mother duck must take over soon or we’ll have more deaths on our hands.
When we moved back to this farm, there was one goose that I named Grace; however, it didn’t take long for an experienced person to tell me the name had to be changed — I named him Grayson! We found a wife for Grayson and named her “Blue” because of her color. Last year Grayson and Blue turned the flock of two into eight and now Blue and at least one of the girls are on a nest full of eggs again. What are we to do? Last Fall I had some pretty Sovoy cabbage plants growing and had a wire cage around each plant. Would you believe the geese reached through the cage and left only the stems standing. I vowed then that everything on this farm with a pecker had to go, but here we go again.
Our Mrs. Peacock died and her mate, who’s name was Prince, grieved himself to death. So we are now out of the peacock business, but chickens, ducks, guinneas and geese have we plenty! Seems to me that every farm should have some fowl, but I find it virtually impossible to have anything else. They scratch up my flowers, eat and/or scratch up the vegetable garden, they poop on the porch, steps and walk and want to roost in our grapevine just outside the back door. Now the aroma that comes from John’s cattle smells like money to me; but the aroma that comes from under the grapevine is not so pleasant. I am making a new resolution: the fowl at the Windy Knoll have to go — and now!! We have a large black snake living in the barn and I hope he will and can help do away with some eggs in the various nests. Enough is enough!!! This, too, is country living.