DUCK Season is a name of a famous restaurant and there is also a Duck Season E-game. But duck season is the time my husband had 60 ducklings in two weeks’ time and this is how it started.
A few months ago, a young boy came to the farm and said he will sell ducks because he has to pay his tuition. So they agreed and the boy went home and got his sackful of five ducks. My husband was laughing as he was thinking of one or two for the pot. As it turned out, none of the ducks reached the pot. So one of his helpers got his male duck, a drake and so mating season ensued. Fortunately, two more ducks flew into farm flying above the fence. My husband informed the barangay that if there is someone looking for two ducks, the missing ducks are at his farm. Nothing happened so they have seven ducks and two drakes.
Then one by one the ducks started laying eggs, two beside each other on our east wall and so they had to place a covering and some straw for them. Then two were found in what was the previous chicken coop and one under the chicken coop. Amazingly, the eggs were increasing daily, with one duck sitting on 21 eggs and so my husband transferred some of the eggs to the other duck who was sitting on 15 eggs. And this has been going on for a few weeks, checking the eggs, transferring some and making sure they are within a nest. One day they found two eggs in the garbage dump, one duck laid eggs there and they have to make a nest for them and their laying mother duck.
Hatching is another event; the mother stays near the eggs and watches. When she sees a ducking starting to show its head, then the mother peck the egg shell and help the ducking burst into life. I still have to see that but that is the exciting story of my husband. And in this time there were minimal casualty, meaning all the eggs hatched. And this happened before the rain came. However, when the typhoon came and flooded the fields, one of the nests came underwater; my husband transferred some of the eggs in the nest which were above water. There we had eggs that did not hatch, of the 15 we lost five.
Now we have more than 65 ducklings. There are still wee ducklings that are caged with their mothers – two flocks still in separate cages. While three sets of ducklings are placed in a large pen. Their mother ducks, just stay beside the pens because if they are mixed with the ducklings inside they fight.
Last week the ducklings were allowed to roam the farm and I watched them. A flock would be with three mother ducks, but one mother ducks stands out and leads the flock teaching the ducklings to hunt food, the camote plants, the snails in the fields and other things they find in the water and in the ground.
Then one day as I watched the mother was teaching them how to clean themselves, that took a whole 25 minutes. She first got them away from the camote patch into the shallow waters. Then she surfed above the water to get their attention. When she had that she started her bath or self-cleaning lessons. She would flap her wings in the water and the ducklings followed, then she dips her wings, the ducklings did likewise. And it went on until all were cleaned then the ducklings were led in the edge of the flooded field and they continued cleaning themselves. We do learn something new every day.
Unfortunately, many refuse to learn and change. The City of Baguio just revived the Character city on the air. And the first airing last Wednesday was well responded with text messages coming in while the program was ongoing. This was anchored by Mary Perkins Langpawen with guests Rev. Abe Luis and myself as representative of Baguio Benguet Ecumenical group and Edith Dawaten, the Assistant head of the city’s HRMO. As I watched the mother lead her flock, how I dream of Baguio being led into one concerted effort to change and address our traffic, basura, tourism, market and other problems of our city.
Wish ko lang!