After 6 weeks, we were finally able to release our duck back to the pond. He was mostly fully feathered, and getting too big to keep in a crate any longer. He also reeked. I was cleaning his crate twice a day, and it was still in a constant state of filth. Folks, DO NOT keep ducks indoors if you can help it. PHEW!
One surprise we had was the slow realization that "Lily" wasn't a "Lily" at all. In fact, our little duck turned out to be a male. That was my first instinct, and we had even given him a boy name, when I decided to double check by sexing him. But sexing can be tricky, and I guess I didn't get it quite right. We realized he was male when his feet and bill starting turning yellow. It is odd that on all the websites I went to about sexing ducks, they never mentioned the change of bill and feet colors in males. Females will retain a very dark bill and brown feet, whereas in a male they will turn yellow. I am not sure if this is true for all ducks, but it is certainly true for Mallards and their domestic counterparts. I have never seen a case where this is not true.
Lil was THRILLED to go to the pond. The last time I released a duck, Mira, I had to coax her out of her crate, and even then she did not want to leave my side. it was painful letting her go, because neither of us wanted it. But with Lil, practically the moment I opened the crate door he was out and made a beeline for the water! He splished and splashed and dove, and you could just see how very happy he was. I was a little worried that seeing other ducks might freak him out (since he had not seen any for 6 weeks), but he seemed to be right at home among them.
The only very sad part was watching Orion. He strained on his leash to get in the water, too (totally unlike him!), and whined pitifully for his little friend. He really loved that little duck.
Since releasing Lil, we have not been able to find him again, as he looks just like all the other dozens and dozens of ducks at the pond. We were going to put a little tag on his leg, but then I forgot, and by the time I remembered it was too late. Oh well. I am sure he is doing just fine out there, and I am happy that I was able to care for him.
Here are a few images:
This is one of my faves from when we first found him. So tiny and fluffy and cute!
And here he is the day we released him. Not so tiny and fluffy, but still very cute.
Here is Lil in the pond. Notice the female in the top right corner with her dark bill, as compared to his yellow bill and feet.
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