Quacked Up!

So much has happened today!

Went with Jaenne and saw The Hunger Games.  Loved it!  Wish it was twice as long so they could fit it all in.

Exchanged some emails with the local duck rescue.  Yes.  You heard that correctly.  There is a place here that "rescues" ducks.  She told me she has a few ducks available, and asked me what I'd be feeding and what kind of place I have to keep them.  I wrote her back and told her that I had just adopted three ducks from a gal in Caldwell (sent photos of them), and told her I'd be feeding the Purina Flock Raiser from D&B (about $18 per 50 lb. bag), oyster shell as necessary, the occasional corn, etc., and asked her what she recommended.  She wrote me back and asked me if the ducks I adopted were from (she named a name) and told me she recommends Mazuri feed (about $40 for a 50 lb. bag).  I told her I couldn't justify the cost of Mazuri, although I'm sure it's fabulous.  She wrote me back ... get this ... and asked me if I paid for the ducks I got, and if so, how much (because apparently the person I got them from adopted them from the rescue a couple of weeks ago).  I could not believe this woman was asking something so inappropriate.  So I wrote her back and said:  "Wow.  Really?  Are you afraid she's making a killing selling ducks?"  And this, ladies and gentlemen, is where it all came to light.  Here is her response:

"It would be very nice if the simplistic view of, whether (name) is “making a killing selling ducks” was our only issue. 

We have dedicated our lives to our non-profit and these birds and continue to witness great suffering and pain, as people continue to neglect, abuse, and abandon these innocent birds by the hundreds.  As stated clearly on our website; “Many of these birds, prior to their rescue, have lived in extremely brutal circumstances.  It is our sincerest wish that they live out the remainder of their lives in peace, comfort, and happiness.”

We adopt birds out under the premises that adopters understand this and agree to give these birds a safe and happy home.  When (name) expressed interest in adopting the five ducks a couple of weeks ago she stated clearly that she wanted all five as to not split them up.  In addition, if money did exchange hands it is unfortunate as it is our policy NOT to charge for adopting birds.  Our website clearly states, “Our birds are to be adopted only as family pets.  We DO NOT adopt birds out for the purpose of breeding, selling, human consumption, or training hunting dogs.”

As with any animal we own we can and always justify spending the extra money to feed them properly."

By the time I got done reading this, I had to remember, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT DUCKS!!!!

First off, I don't pay that much for a 50 lb. bag of DOG food, there's NO way I'm spending that kind of money on DUCK food.  My shuck ate table scraps and alfalfa all winter and he's fine.  I wanted to write her back and tell her that I use ducks as coyote bait during lambing season, that the ducks will quack to alert the sheep to run, and when I hear them quack, I go out with my .22, and if I'm fast enough, the coyote dies and the ducks live, but if not, it's the other way around ............. but I was afraid she'd believe me.

Rather than tell her the truth of what I thought, I decided to drop it.

I had an interesting exchange with the idiots that sit in front of my house taking photos of hawks day in and day out.  It's a long story, and my stomach hurts from laughing about it, so I'll have to write about this another day.

I've been using Echo to dog-break my older lambs, and she's doing a great job.  For now, it's just one ewe and her two lambs.  Mom's not real happy, but the lambs are sticking with her and moving off the dogs real nice.  I'll separate mom off in the next few days and work just the two lambs and see how they do on their own.  

Worked Reese in the round pen tonight for the hell of it, and quickly realized the core of an issue I'm having with her in the field.  It's SO nice to have that round pen to work in, and correct those issues close at hand.  She did some really nice stuff tonight, steadied herself real well, read the sheep better than I've ever seen, and it was a real confidence boost for her.  Afterwards, used her to put the non-dog-broke ducks away in the pen while I was on the phone.  She was awesome!  Again, read the stock real well, and rated everything accordingly.  Suddenly, "walk up" meant shift your body forward just a half step instead of blasting in at 90 mph, like I was anticipating.  It was awesome to see her! 

Well, I've been up since the crack of dawn and I'm headed to bed.  More later this weekend, I'm sure.

J