01/11/2026
So last Friday myself and Amanda had a very busy night. The storm was raging and our first stop was rescuing some escaped hens from a farm. They were absolutely soaked to the skin and it was really important we got them safe and dry. They looked so pitiful hunched into a corner trying to keep warm 🥹
We secured those and dropped them back at mine so they were safe and could dry off as we now had a massive trek to the Norfolk Broads.
Thankfully Amanda offered to drive as my back doesn’t hold up very well on long journeys.
It was a long and difficult drive with the wind and rain.
We arrived at the site at midnight and decided to take our head torches and have a look around for the dumped domestic ducks.
We had to be extremely careful as there was so much deep water surrounding us.
We searched for hours.. not 1 sign of any ducks domesticated or wild. At one point we got excited thinking we had found them but they turned out to be Egyptian geese.
We decided to head back to the car to get warm and wait for sunrise when we could see better.
As the sun started to rise ducks started flying in from every direction. So we decided it was time to go searching again.
As we walked around again we were starting to lose hope of finding these dumped ducks.
Then we spotted a flash of white, it was them. Right round on the other side of the water. We rushed back to the car for the kit. As soon as I started feeding the wild ducks, the domestics came running like their life depended on it. They weren’t pekins that was for sure, these ducks were like lightening.
We came up with a plan to set up an enclosure trap and try to entice them in with food and net them.
Absolutely not, they were onto us. They did a runner down to the very bottom of the path and into the deep water.
The storm was still going strong at this point, but luckily the rain had stopped.
We took the nets down to the water in hope of a lucky chance while we put the enclosure up further down towards them.
They were enticed by the food and seemed to get braver when the wild ducks and swans came for food.
But they were coming nowhere near the enclosure.
Amanda decided that she would go to the shop and get treats as bland food wasn’t working. As she left I managed to get them right to the entrance until a dog walker came and spooked them. Lost the chance 😢
By this time it was getting really late and we were running out of options.
Then a couple turned up with lots of food and asked what we were up to.
We explained and they agreed to help us as they came daily to feed all the waterfowl there and they were used to the couple being there.
The ducks still knew something was off and as soon as they had taken food they ran straight back into the water.
We started talking about the ducks and it turned out that these domestic ducks had been there at least 2-3 years, not only surviving but accepted by the wild birds.
They were fast, had excellent instincts and being fed plenty of food every day.
This was one of the situations where we had to weigh up what was the best thing to do.
We had been out since 9pm and it was now getting into the afternoon the next day. We were running on no sleep and stormy weather.
We had virtually no chance of catching them, we had tried everything. They hadn’t been recently dumped, and they weren’t the big heavy breed that had no chance of survival. This couple had the Egyptian geese eating out of their hands and jumping for food. The trust and the way they cared for all the birds was amazing.
I was happy that they were thriving and didn’t need our help.
In fact none of the ducks did, they were so well cared for.
Now I’m not saying I agree with leaving domestics in the wild as usually they struggle and suffer as per my previous post of the dumped ducks I have taken in…but these ducks have somebody dedicated to their welfare and if ever a time comes that we are needed the couple have all they need to now get help 💚
Unfortunately our day didn’t end there. On the way back we called at Boston for a dumped cockerel before heading back to get the hens from the night before who were all fluffed up now and had full bellies 💚
As always a huge thank you to Amanda at FPC Poultry Rescue UK. I’d be lost without her on rescues like this 💗
And a huge thank you to everyone that supported us and sent donations so we could travel to this rescue. We appreciate you all 💚
