Judgment Day (for Peep)

 

Mother and child, Aug 2021

Judgment Day for Peep the duckling was 31 July.  It came and went while the two adults in our household were stricken with norovirus;  it was a horrible, miserable weekend and no ducks were judged.  However, we then decided that Peep was making more girl noises and not really any boy noises (little quacks instead of croaking) and made a tentative call for female.

I'm still not 100% though!  Peep still says "peep" and doesn't really make any loud noises, like female ducks do--she's quiet, more like the males.  And her coloring is against her too:  it looks like she might be developing a green head like her dad.  She might be a boy after all...

Peep has been living with the other ducks in their spacious yard and is friends with the two Cherry Valley ducks, and recently all three of them have finally been deemed acceptable by the original three ducks (two drakes and a Campbell duck).  Up until now the two drakes have been extremely territoral and there has been a lot of chasing and panicking.  

She was recently reunited with her mother hen Cookie for a brief free range and was so happy about it;  as soon as she saw Cookie she started peeping and ducking her head and trying to get Cookie's attention.  Cookie, meanwhile, was not particularly interested but after first telling Peep off, the two of them had a graze of the lawn together.

If Peep is incontrovertibly a boy?  I may have to kill and eat him after all.  I understand that ducks are extremely difficult to pluck after 10 weeks (long past now), but that won't stop me (being tender hearted is what stops me).