Duck, Duck, Geese

While on the subject of cows, birds, and Easter I will recount another tale from the farm. In celebration of our first Easter living on a farm my oldest sister and her husband decided that it would be great to give their four kids and our three kids baby Easter ducks. Oh, what fun to see those cute little fluffballs waddle around on Easter morning. What fun to watch them paddle around in a tub full of water and to see them curl up together in a cardboard box padded with an old towel. Weren't they adorable?

What wasn't so adorable was the fact that ducks are little poop machines leaving their little trails everywhere they went. Our outside dog was not quite so taken with these tiny creatures so they had to be kept inside the house until they got a bit bigger and the weather turned warm enough to put them in the pen attached to the barn. So they lived in our kitchen for a few weeks. It was a lot to take care of, but they finally were big enough to move them outdoors. They were safely penned out of the reach of the dog and I thought the kids would be able to run down to the barn a couple of times a day to feed and water them. I didn't realize how the resident geese would react. These two geese somehow got confused and must have thought the ducks were their babies. They became very protective of the little ducks and would hiss and peck at anyone who came near that pen. My children, who were only three, five and seven at the time, were afraid to go anywhere near them so the feeding task fell upon my husband and me. It got so difficult to go near the pen that I would take a broom with me to swat at the geese as they came hissing with their necks craned, ready to attack. I couldn't wait for those little ducks to grow enough to set free by the pond.

One particular afternoon my husband and I stood watching the geese from a distance. A group of cattle had congregated near the duck pen. The geese went on attack mode and began hissing and pecking at this herd relentlessly. Though they were cornered by the herd the geese were ferocious in their attack, never waivering in their effort to get the cattle away from their adopted brood. I would not have bet the birds over the bovine but after suffering many beak blows to their faces the cattle backed off. The geese had won the battle. I was relieved in some ways, disappointed in others.

A few weeks later we were able to free the ducks and we enjoyed watching them swim around the farm pond with the geese. If you think about getting tiny farm creatures for your children, you had better think twice. And make sure you have some good farm friends!