All the ducklings are doing well in their separate nurseries.  This is the latest batch and, yes, as ever, Mrs Ducky #3 hates me while I give her and her bebbies fresh food and water twice a day. At least they are consistent.  I couldn’t fit her ducklings back into their eggs so they must be growing and very, very cute.  Does the yolk equate to their yellow bits?

In Nursery #1 (now allowed outwith their pen and Daddy joins them in the afternoon), things are also going well.

They seem a very happy little family and I’ve stopped worrying about any of them. I just let them get on with it.  I tried to keep Daddy Duckie out but he would get in somehow.

Seeing baby duckie in the water bowl made me smile.  It is just the right size for a not very wee duckling.

This morning, when I was letting them out for the day, the duckling family discovered my shadow, Pepper.

And she was so good. She just sat there, averting her gaze, showing them she was no and they knew that too.  So I award Pepper with my Best Dog in the World.  She just wants to be friends with everyone and I expect the bebbie duckies are now included in her immense animal family.

Yesterday it felt like I did nothing but go and check Bibble.  I walked miles around his field and I took this photo last thing before I went to bed.

Yes, he was fine.

And looking pretty good.  So majestic.

This morning I found an almost-back-to-normal-in-himself Bibble happily eating his breakfast food.  A pink bucket means it has something different.  Yes, I colour code, so shoot me.  It makes my life easier.

He’s (all my fingers and toes are crossed) doing very well – very cuddly and sweet again.

The Minions are also on good form.

They have a complicated life which consists of me alternating between feeling guilty for them and then thinking they are too fat.  They have to live 12 hours with soaked hay only plus another 7 hours on the eaten-down-to-nothing track and spend only 5 hours on the almost eaten-down-to-nothing track.

Them’s the breaks.

I sat with the little boys this afternoon.  Pepper, of course, came too.

A small point of interest, I have plants taller than Newt!

And I love this photo.  Good friends together.

First thing, we drove like the clappers to Lerwick  to collect Bibble off the freight boat.

He was very good and I had to lead him past every piece of plant while he watched the lorries unload the rest of the freight.

My main aim was to get Bibble home as soon and as safely as we could.  Normality could be resumed at home.

Of course everyone was miles away, pressed up against the furthest fence in total silence.  Bibble and I were calling for them. Every time I shouted “Haakon, Kolka”, Bibble would join in neighing very loudly.  Eventually Kolka appeared at the top of the hill and cantered happily over.

Eventually Haakon put in an appearance too.

I think this is Haakon telling Iacs off for a) being away so long, b) smelling different and c) copping a cheeky sniff of Kolka!

There was a bit of a conversation between these two.

And then Bibble had a lovely roll to get the herd smell back on himself.

Bibble has done so well and I can’t tell you just how relieved we are to have him home now.  Yes, he is a bit bargey and rude, almost angry, now but I think the best thing is to leave him for Haakon to sort out.

Time will change Bibble back into his original Bibbly self. He was very agitated when he arrived home. I’ve never seen him like this.

One small problem, Bibble hates his hard feed, with essential added drugs (antibiotics and painkillers), but I am more worried he will colic so I have been making him buckets of cool mint tea, which luckily he drinks.  He did a massive fart, so I am hopeful he will have not averse after-effects from his adventures.

Oh, the worry!

I’m not going to lie, my anxiety is at out-of-this-world levels.  Iacs is on the boat, as I type, and sailing home tonight, arriving tomorrow at 8 am.

His operation was successful, in as much as they got him to let down, did laser surgery and removed 13 tumours (yes, 13).  Then Iacs had localised chemotherapy as well so the best has been done for him.

Iacs came out of all of this operation very well until he had an episode of colic yesterday.  Anxiety ↑↑↑ 💣.  I was pacing around the house, feeling sick with worry but knowing he was in the best hands and place.  Daisy drove over 300 miles to give him a hug yesterday, which was lovely – sniff.  I am sure he was thrilled to see her.

Today has been better and the vets have prepared Iacs for his long journey home (naso-gastric fluids and electrolytes just before his trip).  I have the freight boat crew giving him sloppy feeds through the night while I climb the walls with worry.  Every time the phone rings, I want to throw up or cry.  Daisy and I have spent the day in our separate locations trying to keep busy. I believe Daisy even did housework!

I will collect Iacs from the docks tomorrow morning and I know everyone will be thrilled to see him home.

Meanwhile, Haakon has no forelock.

While Kolka has her’s.

And Mr Ducky has managed to get back in with Mrs Ducky #1 and her ducklings. I don’t know how he manages this but he has but all appears calm and far less fraught.

I am quietly hopeful things will remain like this but they are all under constant surveillance.

I will be happy once Iacs is home. Daisy and I can breathe out then but not before.

Today I decided, wisely or not, to let Mrs Ducky #1 out with her ducklings.

This is our first batch of ducklings and they are over 5 weeks old and pretty large now.

Pepper and I had a small discussion about friends not food.  I trust her now.

And Mrs Ducky was thrilled to be out and about with her bebbies.

Mr Ducky was around, outwith the fence, and I felt sorry for him as he has been spending most of his days outside their duckling pen talking to them.

So I made the decision, stupidly now I think, hindsight being a very accurate science, to let him join them.

To start with I thought this would work and all would be fine.

But suddenly the whole happy family vibe changed.

Mrs Ducky tried her best to protect her babies but she was very submissive and unhappy.

Mr Ducky was a belligerant sod who was not quite attacking but I suddenly didn’t trust him.  He was nipping his bebbies, not trying to kill them but it made me worry.  Would he kill them?  Is he just establishing the hierarchy?

So I chased Mr Ducky out of the paddock and luckily his flying skills are crap and he can’t get in, so that gave Mum and her ducklings some safe freedom.

I am not sure what to think or do now.  In the real world, Mr Ducky is going to have to live peacefully with his sons and daughters for a while at least.  We can’t go on having individual duck runs. Please no.

So I’ve left Mr Ducky to think about his behaviour. He is back outside the paddock with Mrs Ducky #2 and “Luke”.  He likes to sit by their run.

What to do?  Thoughts, please.