One thing about working with animals is the surprises. Some surprises are good, some not so much. And then other times, the surprise is...well, a doozy. In my case, this doozy was finding a mallard duckling hanging out in the brooder with my 5 week old chicks! When finding an orphaned duckling, the very first thing you should do is look for mama duck. Ducks can make their nests a long ways from water so it’s not hard to see how a little duckling could get separated. This is bad, not only for the physical needs of the baby bird – such as food, water and protection – but for long term development. Mallards in particular need other mallards to develop correctly. So the importance of having the proper bird to play mama

Anyone who has raised an animal knows the joy of seeing new life...and the heartache of watching it pass. I think of all the species living on this beautiful earth, we, as human beings, understand and appreciate this journey from birth to death the most. Maybe this is because of our higher level of intelligence, maybe it’s because of our length of life or maybe a little of both. That’s a philosophical question for better brains than mine. But what I do know is this; witnessing the death of a living being is absolutely gut-wrenching. And for the record, my heart goes out to anyone who finds themselves in the position where they have to make a decision – ‘should I let my friend go on or should I stop the suffering?’ And this