Drainpipe Befriends Minnie

Drainpipe Duckling, Nunnery Farm's newest addition really did have a nasty head injury when I brought him inside the kitchen last Sunday evening. He had been unable to re-connect with his mum and had made it obvious to the others that he was without protection and in doing so became a target. The geese are my main suspects, mainly due to the shapeof the wound Drainpipe had on his head. It was not a barrage of pecks which would have come from the hens but more like something had grabbed his fur and ripped it. Drainpipe had no fur or skin left on the right side of his head. His eye, although still there, had no lid and I doubted whether he would regain the sight.

So after spending a few hours with him I warmed an old woolly hat in the tumble dryer and put Drainpipe inside in his new cardboard box style home and watched him snuggle down. I went to bed and was realistic in my beliefs that he would probably not be with me in the morning.

I got up the next day and could hear no sounds coming from Drainpipe and put off checking him straight away but then I took a deep breath and peered over the sides of the box and was met by a crusty head tilted to one side and a few chirps. I smiled.

The worst was over, he had survived the shock, the wound had started to scab over and amazingly his eye was wet so the little film he would use to blink was unharmed. He was unable to close his eye when he had a snooze but chose instead to tuck that side under his wing so he is managing and appears to be unaffected by his earlier trauma!

A few days on and Drainpipe is the new Dave. He is not at all happy being left in his box and makes so much noise that there is no option but to lift him out. He Potters around on the floor and is keeping very close to his new best friend Minne the Great Dane!