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Author Topic: Tried to put ducks to bed......  (Read 2644 times)

jaykay

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Cumbria/N Yorks border
Tried to put ducks to bed......
« on: January 10, 2012, 06:23:50 pm »
Arrived home in the dark. Went out to put the ducks and geese to bed. Normally it's a hitch-free business, I shout 'ducks, ducks, ducks, geese, geese, geese' and they get out of the beck and go into their respective houses.

Something odd tonight - I find out as I am walking towards them, looking at them and not where I'm going, by falling into the 3ft deep trench  :D It seems the man has come to dig the land drain, two days early. Which is good  :) But there is now a 3ft deep trench, and the accompanying mound of soil, between the ducks and their houses.

I find some planks and build a bridge. And cut them a pass through the soil mountain. Some ducks are smart, see the pass, cross the bridge and go to bed. Other ducks climb the mountain, fall into the trench, flap about and shout and have to be caught and posted through the duckhouse door. The call ducks fly away and refuse to come to bed at all. The geese have to be herded out of the beck, which turns out to be deeper than my wellies but do finally go into their house, muttering quietly to each other.

Now I need a cuppa. Well actually I need a stiff gin, but there is still work to do  :D

Cinderhills

  • Joined Jul 2010
  • North Yorkshire
Re: Tried to put ducks to bed......
« Reply #1 on: January 10, 2012, 06:27:43 pm »
 ;D ;D  Poor you, and them.  But very funny too!

Sylvia

  • Joined Aug 2009
Re: Tried to put ducks to bed......
« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2012, 06:39:26 pm »
Have any of you read Joyce Fussey's books? I have them all and read them at least once a year. Some of the posts on here could be hers ;D ;D

lachlanandmarcus

  • Joined Aug 2010
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: Tried to put ducks to bed......
« Reply #3 on: January 10, 2012, 07:34:01 pm »
I did love the bit about posting them through their door  ;D :D

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Tried to put ducks to bed......
« Reply #4 on: January 10, 2012, 08:31:14 pm »
Brave face, jaykay  :thumbsup: and thanks for the laugh.   ;D

I hope your call ducks come home and/or spend the night safely.  And that your feet, socks and wellies are now dry and warm.  That you didn't bruise yourself and the ducks and geese were not too traumatised.

But good news that the drain work is at last underway  :thumbsup:

Hope you've done the rest of the work and had that stiff gin by now  :wave:
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

Brucklay

  • Joined Apr 2010
  • Perthshire
    • Brucklay Pygmy Goats
    • Facebook
Re: Tried to put ducks to bed......
« Reply #5 on: January 10, 2012, 08:43:40 pm »
I certainly know what you mean re the calls - mine are very suspicious of chance and although I can walk them home - if they get spooked doing that it's along evening!!
Pygmy Goats, Shetland Sheep, Zip & Indie the Border Collies, BeeBee the cat and a wreak of a building to renovate!!

jaykay

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Cumbria/N Yorks border
Re: Tried to put ducks to bed......
« Reply #6 on: January 10, 2012, 09:02:27 pm »
All in one piece thanks Sally - just a bit surprised! The runners were very stressed, I hope they're ok. The calls have just disappeared up the gill - hope they keep safe. It won't be the first night some of them at least have stayed out - Dad manages to spook them if he's shutting up for me. They fly well at least.

Nigel, the builder/roofer/digger rang - it seems the trench might be there a week, so I'd better find some bigger pieces of plywood for bridges and shovel some of the soil mountain away. Won't happen before tomorrow night though  :P

Now sitting drinking sloe gin and spinning  ;D

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Tried to put ducks to bed......
« Reply #7 on: January 10, 2012, 09:16:29 pm »
Now sitting drinking sloe gin and spinning  ;D
Perfick!
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

StephB

  • Joined Feb 2010
Re: Tried to put ducks to bed......
« Reply #8 on: January 10, 2012, 09:29:21 pm »
Hehe thats a story you may be able to laugh about in a few weeks time, but for now you will have to ease your strain with a strong gin.  :yum:

Steph x
Living on a 6 acre smallholding in Dorset.
Jersey cow, Aberdeen Angus cattle, small flock of Poll Dorset x sheep, Occasional weaner pigs, Geese, ducks and hens.
Polytunnel / Veg plot.

Penninehillbilly

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • West Yorks
Re: Tried to put ducks to bed......
« Reply #9 on: January 10, 2012, 11:09:09 pm »
Sounds fun, can you get someone with a night vision camcorder next time ;D

Hope you're all OK

jaykay

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Cumbria/N Yorks border
Re: Tried to put ducks to bed......
« Reply #10 on: January 11, 2012, 07:36:23 am »
 :D it would have made a good silent movie (as long as the sound recording was switched off, it wasn't very silent at the time  :o)
Round two tonight, I have found every piece of plywood I can to cover over the trench by the duckhouses at least.

northfifeduckling

  • Joined Jan 2009
  • Fife
    • North Fife Blog
Re: Tried to put ducks to bed......
« Reply #11 on: January 11, 2012, 11:40:45 am »
I can so imagine what you went through! Ducks are the most irritable animals I've encountered, anything ever so slightly different in their surroundingsand the get so confused, poor things  :D :&>

 

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