I hand reared these two birds a few years ago. I don't keep wild birds as I believe they belong in the wild where they have freedom. I feel sad when they go, as I understand that they must have their own life. Its like a part of my life is missing. I feed baby birds on pronutro and water. Pronutro is cereal which I eat for breakfast and is very nutritional. I allways hope that the baby birds will survive as its difficult to know how strong they are when they are young.
My parents found this very cute duckling on their way home. They saw two trucks plough right through the family of ducks as they were crossing the road. My dad stopped and picked this fella up thinking it was dead. He could not find the nest so decided to bring it home. It was only a few hours old, so from day one I brought him up. He is now seven years old and this is the first time I ever hand reared a duck. I named him Jex.
Here is Jex who loves to dive to the bottom of the pool. He now swims the whole perimeter of the pool under water. He is a very cheeky fella and loves to nibble on my toes. He quite often bites hard and is agressive at times. He follows me where ever I go around the house, even to the bathroom and toilet. He sleeps in my bedroom in a big box and I feed him evey morning when I take him out. He is so funny and cute that I love him to bits.
Here is Jex when my mom gave him to me. He took to the water so natuarally and was such a joy to see him swim on his own. He swam around a few times and realised that I am gonna be his "Mother". We built a strong bond together and are friends for life. I'll do anything to protect him from danger. I love his whistles and they are the most beautiful sounds he makes. Sometimes its a very high pitch whistle that hurts your ears. To me its music to my ears. He loves it when I scratch his head while he nibbles my nose gently. I wish I could find a girl who could love and pamper me like he does. He can't love me like a real woman can, but at least he shows affection.
As a young duckling, Jex sleeps alot. Here he is tired as he has been swimming all afternoon with me in the pool. When he eats it sounds like an automatic machine gun. The flash from the camera did not disturb him as he was tired and wants to be near me for comfort.
Here is my brothers dog named Jade with baby Jex between my feet. Jade is a female American Pitbull, Bull Terrier and Doberman mix. She is such a well trained dog and won't even harm Jex the duckling. Now as a fully grown duck, the two pets love playing with each other. Jade runs up and down the pool while Jex swims and splashes in the water. Jade looks fearsom but is such a loving dog.
