Bye Bye Birdies

Tonight I gathered my boarders and crated them for returning to their proper human caretakers in the morning Makes me feel sad- I've grown inordinately fond of them all.

Rounding up the Duck Brigade was the hardest part as I had to use deception and be faster than a worried duck. If you've ever chased a duck then you know it's not a simple task. They will be returning to a better pond, most certainly one better suited to a duck who may be going broody, but who will be my daybreak alarm or demand feed by telling bad jokes until I give in to the demand?

I will miss the little red hen who joyfully joined the Daybreak Chicken Mafia- the hens who have figured out how to make their own pop hole and exit the coop at leisure. She is exceptionally friendly, the sort of bird who enjoys being held. Then there are the Orpington roosters who crow so sonorously. Both leaned toward aggressiveness when they arrived but were soon converted by feed bribery to console themselves with being aggressively hungry and friendly. Yellow Rooster still likes to give a ritual chase but he turns tale (back to the food) the moment I stop and smile at him. I'm glad to be able to live up to my promise that he'd reform his bad boy attitude before he left the farm.

So, dear, poultry-loving readers, by the time most of you read this missive some time tomorrow, I will be bereft of four funny white ducks, thirteen extraordinarily sociable hens, and two beautiful -and reformed- roosters.