I got home early from work, and had the entire evening planned out. A chance to catch up on some garden stuff. Surround the new raised beds with chicken wire to keep deer out. Plant those potatoes. I was ready to start! While I was unrolling the chicken wire, I thought about Elise, a lady we met last year on the towpath, she too has
labradoodles although about twice the size of ours. She had given me the chicken wire last year to wrap the other raised beds I made. No sooner was that thought gone from my mind, and she pulled up on our driveway. Cooper our black
labradoodle was with me and excited to see them. Elise let Izzy her 95 pound dog out, he ran over jumped into one of my planter boxes and peed on one of its posts. She asked me where Milton was, In the house I said as I headed towards it to let him out, so they could all play together. As I walked up the driveway I realized our chicken and ducks were out, and as I turned to say to
Alese"is Izzy OK with birds" he spotted them and took off in hunting mode. I ran after him, but to no avail. He grabbed Gwen off the ground and ran around the barn with her. I chased him screaming to let her go, but I was no match for his maneuvering around the yard. He finally dropped her, but only to grab one of the ducks. I was in tears as I continued chasing him, while all the other birds dispersed around the yard trying to find cover. He quickly dropped the duck, and I lured him towards me while I held the other duck. Stupid dog, thought I was going to hand him the bird. I grabbed him by his mane, I was shaking with rage and I wanted to choke him.
Alese ran over and grabbed him from me . I spotted Gwen as she laid there on the lawn unable to get up her wings flapping . I picked her up and held her close to me, her heart beating so fast. I inspected her and found a small puncture wound on her leg, and her other leg was paralyzed. The rooster was so upset and very vocal about it, he took up refuge in the blackberry bushes, I gently tried coaching him out of the bushes and back to safety, it was so chaotic. Izzy was barking relentlessly in the car, and my dogs joined in from the kitchen. I wanted everyone to just shut up so I could calm the birds down. All the other
birds had gone into the coop, except for Elizabeth. I searched and searched for about 2 hours for her while carrying Gwen under my arm. She finally appeared after the rooster called for her. She had been hiding under the car, the only place I had not looked. Finally everyone was safe in the coop and I could turn my attention to Gwen. I t
ook her ins
ide, and as any good parent would do, put some
neosporin on her wound and a bandaid. After David came home we placed her in a laundry basket with a towel to keep her warm. We figured the paralysis was caused by the shock, and hoped it would pass. Unfortunately it has been almost a week now and she has not moved that leg. She is still laying eggs, so she must not feel to bad. I made a box for her today, for now that's her home,on the window sill.
As if matters couldn't get any worse, on Saturday I stepped out of the shower and heard all this commotion from the rooster outside. It had all the sounds of yet another catastrophe in the making, I ran outside and spotted the culprit, a fox with Josephine,one of our ducks in his mouth. I could not believe my eyes. There was nothing I could do, except gather the rest of the birds and get them inside their coop. My neighbor who witnessed the whole thing, came over to console me and said, "I've been trying to shoot that fox for years!"
I felt bad for everyone involved. I don't want the fox shot, he was doing what a fox does. It's spring, and I'm sure he has young ones to feed. Just have to be a bit more vigilant and not let the birds out unattended. I made their outside run enclosure bigger, but they love to roam around the yard. Hopefully we can get another duck, so Diane the surviving one wont feel so lonely.
