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Country living, DIY, & a Dash of Fun!

Scooter’s New Britches

 

Scooter’s New Britches

Scooter’s New Britches

Just look how cute little Scooter is in his new britches!!!  Aren’t they a hoot???  He looks so dashing and debonair in his new duds, don’t you agree?

A couple weeks ago Scooter’s big brother and protector, Freckles, sadly passed away. Since then, Scooter has been my little shadow, following me around everywhere.  Our rooster is a bully and started chasing and picking on Scooter now that he is alone, so I have taken him into the house for his own protection! Hence, why he’s wearing his new Donald Duck Britches with diapers!  Now he can hang with me in the house with the other critters and I don’t have to worry about the mess!  By the way, if you’re a duck parent like myself and would like to purchase an outfit like this one, you can get it HERE.

Check out Mr. Sassy pants below, as he struts around the house in his new attire!  (I think he knows how dashing he looks!)

Scooter’s Story

 

Scooter’s humble beginning:

All of my animals are very special to me, but Scooter is even more so, as he had a very rough start in the beginning.  Let me tell you a little about him…

Mama duck had laid two eggs in her nest but was chased off by a hen who proceeded to fill the rest of the nest up with her own eggs.  The hen continued to sit on the nest and when her chicks hatched, she abandoned the two little duck eggs.  When I saw the mama chicken with all her little chicks walking around, I checked on the duck eggs and noticed that one of the ducklings was starting to hatch.

You can see him below, taking his first peek into the new world.

 

Here I am waiting for him to finish hatching.

 

Welcome, little one!

 

Isn’t he adorable?  This cute little guy had little black spots all over him, so I named him Freckles.

 

The other egg did not show any signs of life and I was not sure if it was still alive. So, I took the newly hatched little duckling and the remaining unhatched egg into the house where I placed both of them under a heat lamp and waited….and waited.

 

Two days passed and still no signs of life…..

My husband told me to throw away the egg because he didn’t want it to explode if it was rotten…. (like the previous egg I tried to hatch!  Yuck! That egg went “POP” and exploded everywhere like a thrown hand grenade and then the room immediately stunk to high heaven!)

I didn’t blame him for wanting to avert another disaster, but I begged him to wait just a bit longer, …….just to make sure.   (Of course he relented, hehe).

 

Then, low and behold, on the third day, late in the afternoon, I noticed a tiny crack in the egg (see pic below).  This duckling was starting to hatch!

 

Hello little man!

 

This second duckling was completely yellow, unlike his  spotted, brown and yellow brother, Freckles.

 

I couldn’t think of a name right off the bat for this little guy, so I waited to name him.  You can see both Freckles in the background and newly born Scooter in the foreground.

 

Scooter struggles to live:

A day later I noticed this new baby wasn’t doing well, as he was having seizure-like episodes caused by a high fever.  I ended up staying awake through the night hand feeding him a special broth and holding him upright, making sure his tiny little webbed feet were flat against the cool tile floor to keep his temp down.  The duckling’s fever ended up breaking during the night and for the next few days I continued to hand feed him, as he was very weak, and couldn’t stand up by himself…poor baby.

 

By the third day, this little trooper finally started showing signs of wanting to eat by himself so I made sure there was ample food near him that he could easily get to (I was still hand feeding him as well during this time).  As you can see in the pic below, he ate sitting down because he was just too weak to stand.  He would kind of scoot around to get to his food and water and that’s how he got his name.  Scooter!

 

Growing up with a disability:

As weeks went by little Scooter grew stronger and was able to walk and swim by himself, but he was always smaller and weaker than his brother, Freckles, plus, he had a balance issue.  I had to really keep an eye on him because he would often lose his balance, flip upside down onto his back, and not be able to get back up (on land or in shallow water). In shallow water, Scooter was at risk of drowning all the time. He was always sitting down a lot because he was just not strong enough to stand very long on his wobbly legs like his brother Freckles.

 

Since I cared for him when he was tiny and rescued him a lot as he grew up, Scooter became really friendly to me. He would allow me to come right up to pet and pick him up, unlike the other ducks.

 

Scooter continued to grow bigger and stronger, but would still lose his balance, and fall over and sometimes he would get stuck on his back.  The pic (below) shows Scooter right after I found him one morning (upside down on his back), stuck in the mud, poor guy.

 

Eventually Scooter and his brother grew up, and although he still does lose his balance when standing or walking a little bit from time to time, Scooter doesn’t fall over anymore.

The pic (below) shows Scooter and Freckles, best buddies and partners in crime.  Scooter’s face and body is filthy as these two were always getting into mischief together!

Scooter today:

Since the loss of his brother, Freckles, Scooter now looks up to me as his family and protector. We have become best buds and when I leave the room, sometimes he starts quacking frantically trying to find me.

 

Now you know Scooter’s story and why he is so special to me.  You might say, he “quacks” me up!  hehe.

I you like this story, let me know how you liked it in the comments below!  I love to hear from you!  

If you liked this story, be sure to check out my other animals stories below:

Little Mallard Becomes a Momma

DIY Easy Drain Duck Pond Video

 

Scooter’s New Britches

 

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10 Comments

  1. CC

    just love Scooter’s story – thanks for sharing. no wonder y’all are besties !

  2. Audrey

    What a cute duck and amazing story. You should write a little story about this little duck and publish it for children to read.

  3. ellen

    What a sweet story. I’m sorry about Freckles. You are a very loving person and Scooter is very lucky to have you. This story put a smile in my heart!

  4. Dave The Zonie

    I agree. What a cute story. And look at Scooter. He’s posing! That’s a great picture. I like it so much I’ve replace my favorite wallpaper on my phone with Scooter’s pic. Animals obviously love you. Keep the stories coming. :o)

  5. Sheila

    Such a cute story. Audrey is right. It sure would be a cute children’s book. Something you should consider. It’s an awesome story Tiff. 💖🐤

    • Tee

      Thank you so much Sheila! I appreciate the sweet comments and I will think about writing a children’s book. 🙂

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