Mrs Down's Diary
OUR ducklings and goslings have matured enough to be let out of their runs and have free access to the paddock beside the house. However, the resident bantie hen who hatched some of them off and has refused to get out of their pen, does not think so.
She throws motherly tantrums, frets when they set off on their own and goes berserk when they all decide to go for a swim in the pond. Not the kind of behavior she would expect a chick to indulge in and, as far as she is concerned, they are hens not ducks and geese.
Jessica, our granddaughter, sees all this as a supreme example of her grandfather's male incompetence. "I told you Pappa" she says with all the worldly authority of a four-year-old.
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Hide Ad"I told you (she has already learned the need for repetition when nagging) that they would all end up muddled when you let a hen hatch a duck. That Mummy hen thinks they are going to drown."
For full feature see West Sussex Gazette May 16