Fact of life # 1- We live in a fallen world. Been that way since Adam. Things happen that we do not like because of this fact.
Fact of life #2- Because we live in a fallen world things get hurt. People, animals. It happens.
Fact of life #3- Animals will eat other animals.
Now that we have that out of the way I will tell you about my duckling named Legoless.
Legoless is from the first batch of ducklings to ever be hatched on our farm. Their mother was a gift from a friend. Almost all of our ducks are to one degree or another wild. They do not get messed with by people that much. They are here to add ambiance to the farm. But of all the ducks that we have, this particular duck is WILD! The other day we were pleased to find out that she had hatched 8 ducklings. We were determined to give them the best chance of survival. So we got our largest rabbit hutch and proceeded to make it as predator proof as possible. We managed to get all 8 ducklings in the hutch but catching mother duck was a whole 'nother matter. When we got close enough to dive in and grab her she took to flight. We could NOT catch this duck!! So we decided to wait a couple of hours until it got dark and catch her once she went to roost. Then we would have ducklings and duck in a safe place were they could grow up fat and happy . Good plan right? We thought so. But mother duck did not go to roost. She hung around the general area but whenever we went out to get her it was the same story. She had absolutely no intention of being caught. At some time during the night one of our numerous farm cats decided that she/he wanted duck dinner. When Linnea and I went out to give the ducklings to their mother (we figured they had a better chance of survival "in the wild" with mom more then if they were cooped up in a cage without her, not to mention both parties were stressing out) we found a duckling without a leg. We brought it inside,cleaned the wound, and put golden seal powder on it. Some time during the process Linnea quipped that "well now we have Legolas." The name stuck. That was early on Tuesday morning. Legoless is now settled nicely in a box in my sewing room with two of his siblings that we managed to obtain for him as his companions. We have discovered that he does NOT like rollie-pollies or black caterpillars. He loves the green variety though and he'll eat flies when we can catch them. We kept him out of water until his wound formed a scab. We did not want him to get sick from the wound getting infected from dirty water. Earlier today we allowed him to go paddling around with his two buddies who we have named Gimli and Aragorn. Any one noticing a theme here? ;-) Legoless has a very healthy appetite and like most youngsters he finds the greatest enjoyment in messing with his boo-boo. We will see how he does with just one leg. As was hinted at gently by my mom we are not sure how he can live a very long life with such a handicap, while my brother was a little more blunt . "He's gonna die." Now I know that there are some people out there who are thinking "It would have been more merciful to put him out of his pain". This was also said to me by a member of my family. But we are told quite clearly in the Bible that we are to take care of the creatures, as well as of every thing that God has given us. The way that I see it is that if God wanted this duckling to die early on that Tuesday morning and thus end the duckling's pain then He (God) would have allowed it to before Linnea and I found it. And it is likely that Legoless might die in the near future. Due to complications appertaining to his wounds or from any other occurrence. Only God knows what is in store for this little creature of His. But in the meantime God has given me this charge to take care of to the best of my abilities. And I will.
I enjoy taking care of animals. This duckling is no exception. So this is the story of Legoless the one legged duckling thus far.
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| Legoless. |
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