In Lieu of Chickens

Posted on by Valonia

I’ve wanted to keep chickens for years, but we’re not allowed to keep animals on the allotment and the moorings manager might have a word or two to say if he discovered us keeping poultry. Maybe one day if we have land of our very own. In the meantime I have the next best thing, and it keeps the chicken pangs at bay: wild ducks. I say wild, but Mother Duck, who we’ve named Nibbles because she has a tendency to let herself onto the boat and steal the cat’s food,

Nibbles

has reared her brood in close proximity. Every day they waddle onto the back deck asking for food. I might not have chickens, but how many people are lucky enough to have ducks playing in their garden?

There’s five here hiding amongst the bindweed, ground elder, sunflowers, zinnias, and garlic (that really does need harvesting). Can you spot them?

ducks1ducks2ducks3ducks4ducks5ducks6

And coming in for tea:

ducks7

 

10 thoughts on “In Lieu of Chickens”

    1. Indian runner ducks would be amazing! It would be impossible to get anything done because you’d be too busy looking at them! I’ve seen a couple of narrowboats whose owners keep chickens on the roof at night, and put down a run on the towpath for them during the day. I couldn’t do that myself though. I’d want them to have more space and freedom to roam a bit.

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  4. Our first house had a river at the bottom of the garden and ducks came with the house. We soon had ducklings coming in and out of the house too. All the best with your garden.

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