a quiet duck

late yesterday afternoon one of the ducks was looking very ill.  she'd all of a sudden gone quiet and was on her own instead of running with the rest of the flock.  she showed some signs of possibly having eaten something terrible.  i picked her up and put her in the greenhouse in zane's old crate, which in the last couple of years has only been used as a poultry hospital.  although she wasn't eating she was still showing an interest in drinking so i gave her a bucket of water with a bit of my cure-all (a concoction i used in november to help nurse another one of the ducks back to health) in it.  i set up a heat lamp and said goodnight.  i wasn't sure how she would fare but the fact that she was drinking on her own gave me some hope.
a healthy duck is an active duck.  a healthy duck is also a noisy duck.  ducks are never quiet.  ever.  they're constantly talking to each other and to themselves and to us.  
this morning i woke to the sound of a duck yelling at me from the greenhouse.  it was a wonderful sound.  she was still a bit pale but much improved and looking well enough to rejoin the flock.

she seemed to improve throughout the rest of the day and spent the afternoon running and foraging and looking well.  ducks are very resilient creatures.