I know this isn't model boats but it is .. almost!
Any of you chaps out there ever had to care for a duck?
One has set up residence in the flower bed, up against the house wall and right under our window. She has built a nest which is nicely hidden in the plants and has now laid a clutch of eggs, not sure how many but we know they are there. She leaves the nest early in the morning and goes over to my friends place opposite, crossing the road to get there. As they have wild ducks on the water there and also keep chickens, she goes for a swim and gets fed, then she's back on the nest for the rest of the day.
I have become quite protective over my new 'baby' and want to make sure the ducklings get hatched successfully. I am thinking of building some kind of pen to keep out rats, cats, foxes etc and also to stop her continually crossing the road. She has full access to the garden from where she is and in fact has been seen wandering around in the early hours of the morning with a drake keeping station on her.
Any advice from anyone who has experience with this kind of situation would be greatly appreciated.
As a footnote, there was a conversation on here many moons ago about caring for a bird with a broken wing. My friend who keeps chickens has a cockerel, he thinks it might be 'Gay' and it has been attacked by another and now one of his/her wings is apparently hanging down in an abnormal fashion...apparently damaged. Any ideas/ advice on this one, apart from bashing his brains in!
I know the comments about aromatic duck and duck egg omlettes will start rolling in so I am ready for you men!!
Cheers... Chris