Cheepy seems to be doing surprisingly well. I just spoke to someone from the ‘rehabilitation’ place and she advised warmth- put a hot water bottle in there to keep it cosy (if it’s looking ill- but to be honest, I think Cheepy’s on the mend). I’ve put a very shallow saucer of water in there for him to drink, and Pat has gone off in search of ‘chick crumb’ which is apparently the best food for it at this stage. She also said that if the mother really has gone off (which the mother has, because the tide is strongly going off down river) then our duckling wont be able to swim. Ducklings need their mothers to lubricate them so that they can swim in the early stages. Without that lubrication, they drown. So for now, Cheepy’s going nowhere. And then the final thing she said, which made me most amused, was that if you can, put a feather duster in there! That reminds them of their mums. Aren’t animals great?!
I just went in to give it some more cosy down-feathers from the nest and it was very animated, cheeping away and even ran towards me when I took the water out. To be honest, it looked like Cheepy had attempted to go for a swim in the saucer, because most of the water was on the outside of it. I’m not convinced it needs a water bottle any more, however I’ve put one next to the box on the side where Cheepy’s leaning. I think strength is restored.
Pat is trying to imprint on him, he’s been looking deep into Cheepy’s eyes and saying ‘who’s your daddy?’. This is worrying.
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