We Bought a Farm: To Risk Loss

Life is constantly ebbing and flowing. It ebbs and flows in our world. And it ebbs and flows on the farm.

On the heels of writing a post about the loss of a baby lamb ... new ducklings have been born here at the Bauernhof. 

In early June, we had a coyote get into our duck/geese enclosure. He took down nearly all of our ducks and one of our two geese. We were left with one male and female duck. And one goose. I wrote about that loss here:

Predators ... again.

This wasn't the first time a coyote got to our water fowl, and to be honest, we spent about a week debating what to do. 

Maybe it was time to throw in the towel on ducks.

The ducks are more "pets" for us here. We originally got them in the hope that their eggs might not cause the same allergic reaction in Isaac that chicken eggs do. It didn't work, and we kind of fell in love with these little guys and decided to keep them anyway.

(We also love to do baking with duck eggs. If you haven't tried them, you need to.)

We walked through the paddock on that early summer day and saw all the ducks that the coyote had simply bitten and left behind, and as we did, we stumbled upon a clutch of seven duck eggs.

(I would seriously be okay if the coyote took one or two to eat. But just to kill them and not eat them is so, so disheartening.)

We took those seven duck eggs and collected one egg a day from our remaining female for the next week. And after thinking on it for a week, decided to incubate those eggs.

Two days ago, they started hatching.

So far, only 2 of the 13 have emerged. But it has lifted our spirits. Even though I know it, it is hard to remember that loss will always be a part of our life here. Disappointment must walk hand in hand with no life. 

It is impossible to separate the two.

And I realize, as I help care for these little ducklings, that our world is the same. 

You truly can't love without risking that love.

And so here at the Bauernhof and here in our world ...

We risk away,