I didn't deliberately set out to create a girls-only chicken run. I thought cockerels looked glorious, strutting about in the sunshine. Chest puffed; proudly looking after his harem.
In fact, I thought if I did have a cockerel it would be the noise issue, the early morning crowing, that would convince me not to have one.
With drakes this wouldn't be an issue. Because their quacks are softer, though no less urgent, than the females. A constant wack-wack, wack-wack as they walk about rather than a QUAAAACKK, QUACK, QUACK, QUACK of the more rowdy females.
But with six years of keeping ducks and chickens you learn a few things.
Like, a cockerel doesn't just crow in the morning. It crows all day long.
And, it turns out, the noise a cockerel makes can be the least of your worries. They can cause no end of damage to your females if they're feeling a little amorous.
Same with the ducks. I remember seeing Neville the drake (back in the days when we had Neville the drake and his wives living on the pond at the front of the house) trying to get a bit of loving from his female companion shortly after she'd been in the mouth of a fox. She was dying from shock but that didn't stop him. Obviously I shoo-ed him off but it's difficult when they're a) ducks and b) in the middle of a deep pond.
(This is my duck story on YouTube featuring Neville.)
My grandmother told me that if we hatched drakes then they wouldn't care which species they got their loving from. And she was right. But I think, with the drakes we hatched, it was more about domination than procreation.
When Wincey the chicken became broody I gave her some duck eggs. We had one duck at the time and I thought it'd be lovely for her to have some duck company. And it was a wonderful time. Five out of six ducklings survived the hatching and she nurtured them until they were old enough to do it themselves.
For a while they still recognised Wincey. And would run over to her as soon as she came out of the chicken run in the morning. But now they were living in the duck house with DuckFace my older duck. It was fantastic to see DuckFace running about with friends.
Then the boy ducks, the drakes, matured.
Now, when they rushed over to see Wincey they wanted to get on top of her. O-kay, I thought. Weird, but I'll block them from getting into the chicken run so Wincey can escape their clutches.
Then, a short while later I found Wincey with a bloody comb, blood in her white feathers and mud all over her back. I knew, by the mud, a duck had been on top of her. I was mad.
Occasionally I witnessed it. The drakes chasing the chickens. It might be Wincey it might be another. Wincey would be their favourite target but they'd be quite mean to the others, too. Only Nelly, my brown chicken (and Instagram star!) would stand up to them; flapping her wings and doing a chicken-version of a kickboxer.
Then, a week ago, DuckFace went missing.
It was DogFace that found her under a bush. She'd been there all day. After a few days of being under there she disappeared again. She'd found another bush in the garden. I thought she was poorly. That she was looking for her final resting place. She began to look a little rough around the edges.
But then she disappeared completely. She was under no bushes in the garden at all. There was a big search during the Easter weekend with my children, sister and my nephews and niece. We found her down the stream near the front garden pond. A place she'd never been to before. We encouraged her back, paddling, slightly distressed, up the stream. Then she disappeared again.
And, finally, I found out why.
She was being viciously attacked by the drakes.
I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. My head did one of those comedy double-takes as the back drop to the two ducks was a brown fence and they were a little camouflaged. But there he was. Pinning her down. I shouted and shoo-ed him away.
But I knew what this meant. It was time to become a female-only flock once more.
And now they've gone I can feel a sense of relief from the girls. The chickens dare to come out the run and explore the field. DuckFace is no longer hiding and is hanging around with the three other girl ducks. It feels more contented. They're happier.
Which means, I'm happier. Sorry boys, but with my flock, we're better without you.
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