Getting Lucky!

Last week I got Lucky.  So did Tony and the kids.

     Lucky is a four month old Indian Runner from Malanda.  She was the sole Indian Runner on the small acreage and unlike Pepper, she was lonely and sought out the company of other white poultry.  Sadly, she was never truly accepted as one of the chooks or Muscovies and Lucky embarked on an eternal search to find a friend.  Lucky’s parents, Eddie and Sam felt, quite rightly, one of any species is not a good thing and that every creature deserves a mate or pal. 

     A fortnight ago the kids and I took Pepper to meet Lucky.  We hoped they would immediately become BFF and then we would transition Pepper to Lucky’s home with all the other birds and everyone would live happily ever after.  As much as we all loved Pepper, we knew she needed a friend and two ducks in our backyard was out of the question.

     There was one problem with the visit to Lucky’s home.  Pepper had no idea why she’d been dragged to a pen full of feathered creatures who made strange clucking and sqwawking noises as they scratched on the ground for food.  She was oblivious to Lucky walking to and fro behind her making desperate attempts, honk, honk, honk, to get her attention.  If anything, Pepper was unsettled by the commotion and stayed close to us humans never having been around so many birds.

'Why are you doing this to me?' said Pepper.  'Get me out of here.'

     ‘Lucky is very noisy,’ said Eddie.

     Noisy?  Lucky didn’t shut up the whole time, but on two and a half acres, noise is no issue.  Except for Pepper.  She wasn't happy.

     There was no way I was subjecting Pepper to a life in a fenced enclosure, a crowded coop, tubs of water and grain and having to make up calories by pecking at wet earth.  Pepper doesn’t eat duck food.  She likes, in this order, thawed frozen peas, cashews (not walnuts or almonds) and banana. 

     Eddie must have seen the separation anxiety on my face.  I wasn’t letting Pepper go.  We needed to adopt Lucky, to rescue her from this palaver, but I couldn’t ask Eddie for her duck.

     ‘Perhaps you could take Lucky to live with Pepper,’ said Eddie as if she was reading my mind.

     A week later, Lucky was with us.

'Oh, for God's sake,' said Pepper.  'She is not staying.'

Pepper walked off and Lucky followed like an adoring little sister.

      Where Pepper was quiet before and Lucky a chatterbox, things have changed.  Lucky is near mute and Pepper talks all the time.   Lucky isn’t used to being talked to and cuddled, but we are working on her.

We are conditioning Lucky to affection by giving her lots of it.

     Tony has built the girls a snake-proof enclosure just for night time and during the day, they roam around the yard or splash in their blue shell.  So much for Pepper coming inside at night, something she hasn’t taken well.

     I have slowly substituted Pepper’s diet of peas and cashews with duck grain, showbird breeder pellets and shellgrit.  Yesterday I found Pepper, for the first time, tentatively picking at the bowl of sunflower seeds and corn.  She didn’t look happy.  I now buy cheap soft bananas for Pepper and Lucky has developed a taste for them, but she doesn’t always get to eat them.  Pepper has been nothing short of a bitch, hogging the bananas and water and food bowls, even when she is not eating duck food. When I have put down some treats such as rice or steamed sweet potato, Pepper sidelines Lucky who, happy to have a friend, accepts graciously her status as the under-duck.

     Lucky feels lucky she has finally found one of her own.  Pepper feels decidedly unlucky and is waiting for Lucky to leave and peas to be back on the menu.  I believe Pepper’s endless quacking is a plea to me to rescue her from the terrible mistake I’ve made – condemning her to a life of living like an animal.  But I have embraced sleep-ins.  Sorry, Pepper. It might not be a happily ever after for you, but I've got lucky with an extra hour of sleep each morning!