Mrs Down's Diary

The goslings and the Aylesbury ducklings are now free to roam the paddock; the ducklings under the eye of the anxious banties that hatched them out.

Perhaps it is the lack of a parental guard that attracts the wild gander. Planning a wild night out with a young gosling. Tut tut.

In the big shed our mallard ducklings have nearly all gone out on to ponds.

Their growth rate was amazing. We had kept increasing the space available to them and before we went away assumed we had left them more than enough legroom/webbedfootroom to expand into.

Apparently not. Friends looking after them increased their pen space even further until the bulls started looking worried that they might be sharing their yards with a duck or two/three thousand.

Problems can arise if ducks start to feather-peck each other, so to nip that in the bud '“ or quill '“ they were moved at an earlier stage. To the ducks' delight. Much as they enjoyed creating an almighty mess in their water drinkers, it is so much more fun in a pond.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette June 25