floyd came to us via an undercover operation investigating the suffering of animals in the organic duck farming world. he was found on his back unable to right himself, dehydrated, filthy and surrounded by already dead birds. the investigators hid him in their knapsack and sneaked him into their hotel. there they syringed water into him until he was strong enough to eat and drink on his own. ducks are not allowed to stay in hotels so they called and asked if floyd could come here..and a weak, sick, dirty and quite young duck arrived at our door.
i remember when i filled up a wheelbarrow to give him his first bath..it broke my heart that initially he was terrified of the water because he had never been able to swim before.
it only took a minute or two before nature kicked in and floyd was splashing, floating and preening himself...and that was a joyful sight to behold.
the challenges with floyd did not stop there..a short time later edwina joined us and a problem ensued. floyd kept having his way with her, she started hiding in her nest to avoid him and eventually he damaged her leg because he was far too heavy for her.
so floyd got labelled as a sexual deviant duck and to keep edwina safe and happy we made him live apart from her. they had a wire fence between them that prevented him from getting at her but at least they could safely commune thru the sex free wire.
in came tiny tim, a tiny ornamental little duck..he was allowed to live with edwina because even tho he was as sex crazed as floyd, ( those damn drake ducks!) he was so tiny that his weight wasn't a problem for edwina's now permanently weakened leg.
so floyd continued to basically live alone for the past several years, he could watch and talk to edwina and tiny tim but he was not ever allowed to join either of them. it made me sad and i am sure it made floyd sad too.
a few months ago, melody joined us and then recently maggie came too. so i started thinking, since there were now 3 female ducks, maybe sex crazed floyd could safely join them and spread his loving around.
it was worth a shot and maybe floyd could once again live with a duck family and not all alone.
we are about a week into this trial of floyd back in with the other ducks. interestingly enough, tiny tim has claimed edwina and floyd is not allowed to mess around with her. melody and maggie often sit high up on a perch which they can reach but big boy floyd is unable.
peace reigns in the saints duck house and floyd is no longer alone.
sometimes you have to re-visit previous decisions, sometimes you have to give others a second chance.
sometimes if you are lucky, it will all work out.
welcome back into the duck fold floyd!
Thank you so much for the story on Floyd - he truly was a miracle save - and I imagine he thinks he hit the jackpot when the new girls joined him - well done Floyd! May he live for many more happy years!