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Kind of off topic...I'm just so bothered


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I'm so... sad, angry, frustrated.

 

We have a beautiful little flock of East Indie ducks that have turned out to be great for herding not to mention sweet pets. We had several four years ago but they were spooky of dogs and would fly so I didn't use them when Darcy was starting out. The flock had dwindled to three. Then last year our old girl, Jemimah, hatched a batch of five. These were extra special because the only two females were both born with tufted heads which are rare. This group isn't spooky at all so they don't fly and Darcy can move them where ever I want them. They flock tightly and march along at a good speed. And when we're not herding they'll eat grain out of my hand. I'm so happy to have them available.

 

We lost one of the tufted girls this spring so when we discovered Jemimah on a nest we were seriously thinking of letting her hatch another set. Last night Jemimah went missing. The best we can figure is that something must have really frightened her and she flew. She somehow ended up in with the two most nasty geese anybody here has ever encountered and they killed her. We found her poor torn and defeathered body after we realized she had disappeared.

 

These particular geese are already slated for the chopping block because they have killed ducklings, chicks, and even goslings. They had also ripped feathers out of several ducks and so ended up locked in an old box stall until they're ready to butcher. They had been let out to bathe in the pond one day and got hold of a Muscovy cross. I saw them pushing her under the water and when I got her out of the pond I had to hit them with a stick to keep them away from her; they kept jumping on her, ripping her feathers out and trying to beat her with their wings. They didn't care about me at all they were just intent on killing her. I was so glad when help arrived and we could chase them away. I didn't think the duck would live but she did.

 

My grandparents kept geese all the whole time my parents were growing up and we've had various breeds of geese over the years. My parents have never seen anything as disturbing as this pair. They are truly evil!

 

It's just so sad, Jemimah was such a sweet duck. Mom collected her eggs and has put them under a setty Muscovy. They'll still have a good mom, I just wish it was their own.

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Oh, that's sad, Shawna. I've never had a lot to do with geese, but I know when a friend's kids were growing up on their little farm, they were always warned to be very careful of the geese. My friend kept the geese out in the paddock to keep eagles and other birds of prey away.

 

Poor Jemimah - she does sound like she was a real sweetie. At least you'll have her 'children' - let's hope there's another one like her in this clutch.

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Yikes, that is so distrubing. Poor little Jemimah. She surely didn't deserve that. What a grim discovery. That must have been dreadful.

 

We had geese when I was little, and they were awful. They bit all of us at least once. I've had to repair goose bites on dogs - they don't happen very often, but they can rip dog hide right open, about as effectively as teeth can. :eek: My landlord when I first got up here had geese - they were intended as protection for the chickens, and I'll say they did a good job of that - not because they were protective, but because they were so nasty that nothing wanted to take them on, and the chickens very well knew it. They kept their distance until something threatening happened, and then they scooted over to the geese, who meanwhile were hissing and flapping and running toward the "threat". Unfortunately, the geese also were mightily inclined to attack every person who came around, and the chickens certainly didn't feel threatened by US - so the geese weren't protecting them, they were just being agressive. They got worse as they got older, too. Maybe it's a breed-related thing. Maybe there are sweet geese in the world. Ours were never that nice, even as babies. The ducks were much nicer. I've also met some absolutely darling chickens, to my surprise. I'd never thought of chickens as having particularly distinct personalities, but some of them really do.

 

Anyway, I'm sorry that happened to your sweet old duck. I hope her clutch hatches out successfully so you have some of her line left.

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My best friends dad had a goose as a pet and he wouldn't even let my best friend in her own dad's yard. She's always told me that geese are better than any watchdog when it comes to keeping the place safe. I thought it was just that one particular goose, but now I'm rethinking that idea.

 

Sorry for your loss. Good luck that the babies are born and carry on some part of what you lost.

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When I was around 15 we woulg go to a small coutry store for bread, soft drinks etc. The lady who owned the store had geese. The old gander always tried to attack me. I had to run for my life. I think they must all feel terrible when they are ill and they wake up with a headache every morning.

 

So sorry for the duck. What a horrible way to go.

 

Dogduck---I think every animal etc has some kind of personality

 

Gwen

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Thanks for all your kind thoughts. My kids were so upset when I told them what happened. My daughter cried and my usually very gentle son was ready to do the head chopping himself. My kids grew up in the barnyard, preferring to play with the ducks and chickens than toys. Jemimah would have been 11 this year and my children are 13 and 14 so you can understand how distressing this was.

 

There are significant differences in temperament in breeds of geese although they all make good ?watch dogs?. The milder of the two killers is a pure Embden, the other is an Embden cross. They are supposed to be some of the nastiest geese but we thought we knew what to expect since we had a flock of 12 when I was a teenager. A couple of the ganders would latch on to our clothes so we couldn?t get away and then beat us with their wings, that'll give you an adrenaline rush! Not nice at all, but they never, ever threatened the other birds beyond a peck to say, ?Get out of my space?. One was very good natured. She shared food out of the Anotolians dish and would stand for several minutes at a time plucking the tufts of undercoat off the dog when Ayden was shedding.

 

We have Pilgrims as well, not what you?d call friendly but everyone is safe with them. And we just lost our 3 old brown Chinese to old age and health problems (some of which were brought on by attacks from the Embden cross :rolleyes: ). They were as sweet as any ducks we?ve had; eating out of small children?s hands without ever pinching. They would also surround a momma with a new hatch and protect them as if they were their own. We used to call them the babysitters because they were so goofy about newly hatched anythings; like a trio of old grandparents cooing over a newborn.

 

This is Jemimah with last years little ones. It?s too bad old age had dulled her feather colour. Indies are iridescent so depending on the light you would see blues, greens and purples in the black.

 

IMG_4162.jpg

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Poor thing! That's horrible!

 

We've got a "watch goose" in the neighborhood. Down along a road my DH jogs on there is a house with a goose that is better than any pit-bull or rottie! And the goose trims the yard! But boy oh boy, you don't want to go walking by that house if the goose is out. Sometimes I wish it will stray too far into the road, but alas, the damn goose would probably win that fight too.

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I am so sorry for your loss, that is just plain awful.

 

Some geese really are just plain nasty. But those two do sound pure evil.

 

Well at least they won't be hurting any more animals. My condolences.

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That's very sad about your little "Puddle Duck". I have always loved geese, but they are more a one man kinda bird. I had a couple of African's. The first one had an abcess and (we didn't know it at the time) a broken leg. I had to hot pack her leg and she always put her head in my lap and slept while I did it. When we x-rayed and found out the leg was broken I had to put her to sleep and immediately got another. She was really great too, but got a little grumpy when she was laying. When I would go to clean out her pen she would nip at me. I had read that you must be the boss with them and keep them a little fearful of you or they will hurt you. I gave her a good whack and she never did that again. When I moved to Canada, I gave her to a friend and she adapted quite well. Both my geese lived with the chickens and thought they were one. They would never have hurt one. They both did tell me if a stranger came over and they hated me talking on the phone in my front yard. They would honk and honk until I had to go in the house to be heard.

Jenny

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I love Africans. We had an African gander many years ago and one of the Chinese girls we just lost was part African although you'd never know it when you saw her. Wally was a nice gander, very gentle. Mom would have liked to get some more, but they're nearly impossible to find in this area.

 

Mom's talking about eating all the geese we have now except the Pilgrim lady and looking for some gentler ones. We have one Pilgrim gander who is fabulous with the ducks and chickens, but treats the goose horribly. He was raised by the Chinese and for some reason has decided he's a duck! Strange, strange lot of birds we have. :rolleyes:

 

But some happy news, we have a new hatch of ducklings (no not Jemimah's, not yet). A Muscovy girl toddled out with 11 new little ones!

 

I had mentioned in another thread that Darcy had found a setting duck by smelling her through a tiny crack in the barn wall - that's this girl. Mom thought she was only going to hatch five or six max because she was sure the eggs had gotten cold. You can imagine her surprise when a small army of little ones came waddling out this morning. They are sooo cute!

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Not sure what happened with the picture - I think I need to find myself a photo-poster tutor!

 

But they are adorable and what's more is my daughter went out the back not to long ago and came running in saying there's another batch hatched/hatching I haven't seem those ones yet and can't take any pics because there in the barn and I can't go in there with my silly allergies. So far there are five and they tell me they're all yellow. With the four we have from last week we have a grand total of 20.

 

Unfortunately they're all Muscovies which translates to no herding ducks. But they make up for it in cuteness.

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