Some animals (not all) have a strong desire to be a parent. Delia, my sweetest duck, was one of those animals who wanted to be a mother.
One day she disappeared and I found her hiding by the pond. She was quietly sitting on 15 eggs. I left her alone but checked on her daily. The ducklings developed well until severely cold weather moved in and they died days prior to hatch.
Delia moped a lot and seemed to mourn her lost motherhood. She stayed away from the other ducks and barely had an appetite.
A couple weeks into this I went to a friend’s farm for a cookout. One of their ducks had a large number of ducklings that were a few weeks old walking around the farm. The mother duck was solid black and all of her ducklings were black, except one. One duckling was completely yellow and followed far behind his mother and siblings.
Upon closer look I could see the yellow baby was missing down in areas and had sores all over his little body. Periodically the mother and her other ducklings would turn and attack the little yellow duckling and he would run for cover into the woods only to come back out and quietly attempt to join his family again.
My friends told me they felt awful for the little duckling because its mother and siblings had been hateful towards it since hatching and they were unable to catch him to save him. They said if I could catch him I could have him.
With a few people and a little effort we caught the squealing duckling. The poor baby was dirty and covered in sores from his moms attacks.
I had no idea what I was going to do with him or if my ducks would accept him. I was worried he may experience the same attacks and more stress.
Back at my farm Delia was in the pen alone just sitting there while the other ducks were at the pond. I brought the crated duckling into her pen but she didn’t even look up. As soon as I reached in to retrieve him the duckling loudly protested the contact. Delia immediately perked up at his little squeaks. I put him in the pen with her and stepped back to watch. I was hopeful but concerned for his welfare.
Delia ran to him and he ran from both of us. She cornered him and instead of attacking him somehow calmed him down. Within minutes she had him sitting quietly next to her, snuggled up under her wing making soft sounds to him and gently sifting through his down.
The duckling panicked easily for the first days but Delia soothed her new baby and fussed over him constantly. She was proud of her oversized baby and he healed quickly under her watchful care.
In less than a week Delia had her adopted baby swimming on the pond with the other ducks. The entire flock had welcomed him. He looked nothing like the others but this ugly duckling finally found a family of his own. The End.
I’m Jake Keiser, a former city girl seeking self-reliance and a fabulous farm life in Oxford, Mississippi.