Daffney, the Duck

                As you know, one of the devotions we have, since Daniel's passing, is caring for his animals.


                Back in the early two thousands when Daniel was a small boy, we bought some ducklings for him for Easter.  We bought some ducklings that were Khaki Campbells, and some yellow ducklings which were to grow to be Silky Swedes.   Daniel adored the ducklings.  As they grew, the Silky Swedes grew to be larger and heavier. The females were white and the males were grayish white.  The Khakis grew to be brown, and a few of the males had some greenish head markings, which reminded us a bit of mallards.  They were a happy bunch.  There is something very satisfying about feeding ducks. They like bread crusts and slightly stale bread and muffins.   Daniel and I used to buy a fresh bag of kale or collard greens and toss each piece to them.  They enjoyed the greens especially.  Originally, we started out with twelve but lost a few when some of them flew out of the enclosure at night and were caught by a fox.  The females began to produce large eggs which Daniel and I found made gorgeous omelets.  The eggs were a little gamier than chicken eggs, but with homegrown chopped chives and some small cheese squares, the omelets were fantastic.  Duck eggs contain more protein than chicken eggs and for this reason, when used in cakes, they produce a very high cake.  We got into the habit of always using a duck egg when baking a birthday cake.
Overall, the ducks have done well.   They came to us in 2003 and the group above have done well.
               This week, Daffney, the duck on the far left of the picture passed away after a brief illness. She had been ill for a couple of days and we tried an antibiotic and some B vitamins.  She passed a couple of days later while we were present.  It hurts each time one of Daniel's animals leaves the Earth, but we know that he has them now.   Daffney was the last of the females to survive this long.  She was more than ten years old.   Goodbye sweet Daffney.  It was a joy to have you here. We will take good care of your remaining family on Earth.



"I Will Take Care of You" This is Canadian recording artist and amazing woman, Amy Sky