Part of homesteading is learning to take the good with the bad. On Friday, Steve discovered our female duck Mildred(aka Millie) had been killed by a wild animal. We made the choice to let our ducks pasture(free to roam the property.)  In making that choice, we knew this was always a possibility. It doesn’t make it any easier.

        We are fortunate though, some of her eggs were saved.  In 26 days we should have some little Millies to carry on her legacy.

RIP

Mildred (Millie) Wells

   Lost but not forgotten.

-Sara

Here at WellsKept Farm, we are all about learning through experience. Not too long ago I gave a few of our girl Millie’s eggs to a kindergarten teacher in Sylvania, OH. Well… they hatched and are as cute as can be!

I am told they have already gone to good homes. One of the homes will be parading them around in the duck pageant circuit (yes there is such a thing). I am hoping for pictures in the future.

What I learned is that our girls’ eggs are fertile. After speaking with the teacher that hatched our eggs, we too should have had hatchlings. After candling Mildred’s clutch, we discovered that she is still learning how to nest properly and we also learned that her eggs are delicious. She is sitting on them longer every day and we check them every so often, still giving her the opportunity to rear her own and let nature take it’s course. For now, we are still learning the way of the Cayuga duck.

Love those crazy quackers!

~Sara