by Sharon LaVallee
I work at a small farm run by the school board. Everyday we have about 100 kids come through to see the animals.
i love ducks, so I enjoy incubating every stray duck egg I find. One morning I checked the incubator to find a little brown duckling. I worried immediatly because of an air bubble on her head. But by noon it was gone. Hence, the name Bubble.
When she was old enough to let loose Bubble had become a gorgeous Crested Khaki Campbell hen. But the way she moved bothered me. I thought that all too quickly she would fall prey to any number of predators. So, I took her home and moved her in with my pet duck Pogo.
Pogo took to Bubble and showed her around. But as i watched I realized that most of the time Bubble was off in her own little world. Something wasn't right.
The day came when she stopped eating. And she could not balance herself. We moved Bubble into the house where she was force-fed a high protein diet and wrapped in ace bandages and packed with towels in a box so she would stay upright. But I could see she wasn't getting any better.
I had so many "cyber-friends" that helped me stay sane. One in particular was a vet. When I asked him about the duck I was asked if I had ever felt her head where the bubble had been. No, but I went to check. It felt soft and I could see it bothered her a lot to have the area touched. Apparently here skull bones had not grown together properly, a cerebral hernia, and the atmospheric pressure was affecting her brain.
It was a long, long sleepness night for me. And knowing what had to be done I called a local aviary vet in the morning. By 10:30 AM, Bubble had been put to sleep at 6 months old.
This duck had not been raised as a pet. But she had won my heart over totally. I spent the rest of the day crying as I buried her and planted a vine over her grave. The little duck was now a star in Heaven. And will be waiting for me at the Rainbow Bridge.
Please feel free to visit my website and meet my Bubble duck.
http://www.angelfire.com/tn/Motherducker/index.html
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