"Was I even thinking?!?"! Or "Is that a duck on your head?"

In my case, it probably is a duck on my head. Let me explain.

Yesterday I went out to the barn to feed the various creatures that live there. The Chuck's and the chicks are out there now, finding their way along with the "Big" birds, the 12 ducks still reside there along with the 7 laying hens and various bantams. Oh..and the sheep of course...but it's summer so all I really do for them is make sure they have plenty of water. Anyway, my morning chores are pretty straight forward and I actually look forward to them...its repetitive and it helps me wake up and now that its not -300 degrees out it's even better. I usually feed the chickens and ducks first as they gather around my feet and trip me if I don't . There is a wacky wing-nut female duck that went broody (I don't know why, these ducks usually don't go broody, which is why I had the bantams sit on the duck eggs to hatch them) in the WORST possible place; right in between the grain bucket and the sliding door to the guinea prison. Every time I feed the fowl, she puffs up and hisses and if I look at her cross ways, she freaks out and runs leaving the eggs to fend for themselves. Yesterday it wasn't just eggs, there was a fluffy little duckling in there that she trampled over in her frantic wing-nut escape. I made an executive decision and brought it inside. I was hoping another egg would hatch so it would have another duckling to keep it company, so far that has not happened, which means the duck thinks I'm its mother, and therefore doesn't understand it's a duck.

I've raised ducks before, but they've never been friendly, probably because they were raised with other ducks and they all hung around saying things like "what is that ugly thing that gives us food and water? It freaks me out, Man!" and "Its a monstah!" . This one, Gozer (don't ask), has had none of that. It loves me, it picks flies off of me, it checks my nostrils for bugs along with my ear canals. All signs of duck love I'm sure (I hope ), and I've learned a few things about ducks that I didn't know, like they can JUMP. Gozer can be on my lap and make it to the very top of my head with just two jumps. Seriously. Oh, and baby ducks that are lonely (Dude, sometimes I just have to use the bathroom..get used to it!) can make enough noise to wake up sick children two rooms away....Picture a half awake kids stumbling out of his room saying "is that the fire alarm??!!" And something I did not consider when bringing the cute little fluff ball inside was that because it is alone, it has no real idea how to eat or drink, so when I want it to eat or drink something, I have to use my index finger like a bill and tap either in the water or in the food dish, which is fine EXCEPT that I use those same fingers to type....do you realize how hard it is to type with a duckling on your keyboard?? Oye!

Something I did know was how messy the little buggers are. I figured with one the mess would be much less, and if Gozer was contained in a cage and not hand fed on my lap that would probably be the case. Lets just say the vacuum and I are going to become very very well acquainted again. I might name it Zuul.

I should go before it wakes up...it's sleeping on the Major's side of the bed curled up under the covers with a warm rice sock. *evil laugh* He (the Major) is going to love that :P Just sharing the love, Man...sharing the love!