The old Barred Plymouth Rock hen is so old, she can barely leap onto the hen house ramp. She
lacks the strength to reach the sleeping perch above. Every day, we
expect to find her dead body, and she is high risk to be taken by a predator.
One of the matriarchs of the duck flock is also suffering from old age, although she is at least a year older than the hen. Maybe ducks have longer lifespans than hens.
Old Barred Rock didn't seem to care much about her eggs, but ducks passionately want to be mothers. Saraswati, the Welsh Harlequin, never had the opportunity to have ducklings.
Early on, it was predators. The human trapped many of them, but there were always more. Then the human built the Duck House with a removable wall to access cleaning. Every night, she locked the flock in, and we could finally get a good night's sleep. There was nice clean straw on the floor, and a nice big nest in the corner. Each one of us took turns laying our egg each night. Saraswati usually had first dibs on the nest, because she was well respected among the flock.
One night, a raccoon tore the removable wall off its nails and attacked Lakshmi, Saraswati's twin sister, who was sitting on the nest. The raccoon beat her to death to steal the half gestated eggs. After that, Saraswati became very sad, and never wanted to sit on her eggs in the Duck House.
The following year, someone left the gate open, and the drakes wandered across the street to the empty lot to hunt for bugs. Both drakes got run over, and then none of the eggs for the next 2 years were fertile. After that, not a single bird dared go out the gate lest they fare a fate like the drakes.
Then Prince Eric arrived! Even only a month old, we all knew he was going to be central in our lives. Once he reached puberty, Saraswati asked to be serviced every day, but the young drake still needed more practice to land his seed correctly. But then Saraswati's eggs became wierd, fragile or absent shells, and some were pre-rotted the day they were laid. Now, she lays eggs no more, just when Prince Eric has figured it all out. A case of bad timing, I guess.
Now Saraswati feels tired all the time. She will die unfulfilled never having hatched a clutch of ducklings.
One of the matriarchs of the duck flock is also suffering from old age, although she is at least a year older than the hen. Maybe ducks have longer lifespans than hens.
Old Barred Rock didn't seem to care much about her eggs, but ducks passionately want to be mothers. Saraswati, the Welsh Harlequin, never had the opportunity to have ducklings.
Early on, it was predators. The human trapped many of them, but there were always more. Then the human built the Duck House with a removable wall to access cleaning. Every night, she locked the flock in, and we could finally get a good night's sleep. There was nice clean straw on the floor, and a nice big nest in the corner. Each one of us took turns laying our egg each night. Saraswati usually had first dibs on the nest, because she was well respected among the flock.
One night, a raccoon tore the removable wall off its nails and attacked Lakshmi, Saraswati's twin sister, who was sitting on the nest. The raccoon beat her to death to steal the half gestated eggs. After that, Saraswati became very sad, and never wanted to sit on her eggs in the Duck House.
The following year, someone left the gate open, and the drakes wandered across the street to the empty lot to hunt for bugs. Both drakes got run over, and then none of the eggs for the next 2 years were fertile. After that, not a single bird dared go out the gate lest they fare a fate like the drakes.
Then Prince Eric arrived! Even only a month old, we all knew he was going to be central in our lives. Once he reached puberty, Saraswati asked to be serviced every day, but the young drake still needed more practice to land his seed correctly. But then Saraswati's eggs became wierd, fragile or absent shells, and some were pre-rotted the day they were laid. Now, she lays eggs no more, just when Prince Eric has figured it all out. A case of bad timing, I guess.
Now Saraswati feels tired all the time. She will die unfulfilled never having hatched a clutch of ducklings.
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