Rosemary and Charlotte (aka "Chuck") are a pair of ducks that were raised in a beautiful backyard in northern California. Their primary caretaker was a lovely young lady who, when making plans to head off to college, wanted to find a new home for this adorable pair.
We drove out to their home to retrieve not only the ducks, but also the beautiful hand-made coop they'd been living in. We were so grateful to receive many generous contributions from the family including food, watering systems, hoses, buckets, and a lot of other supplies.
An interesting and unique feature of this pair is that Rosemary (the white duck) has severe mobility issues related to, presumably, arthritis in her lower extremities. Her family described to us the course they had taken with her - doctor visits, Xrays, medications, etc - and ultimately it seemed that there was not much to do to halt her disease process and medications for comfort would be the best option. Her family told us that she doesn't like medications; she just wants to be with her best friend Chuck.
Chuck and Rosemary were inseparable! They literally spent every minute of every day hanging out together.
One thing about ducks that can sometimes be tricky is getting them to go where you want them to go... that is, at night time when the birds need to be inside the barn, the ducks are often happy to stay outside and it can be a bit of a struggle to get them in. In the case of Chuck and Rosemary, this task was never difficult, because Rosemary was extremely limited in her ability to move, and Chuck was NEVER willing to be away from Rosemary!! So, at nighttime, we would gently bring Rosemary into the coop, and Chuck would follow right along. It was adorable and lovely.
Rosemary peacefully from an unknown cause in October 2022. Chuck is still with us and has integrated herself well with the rest of the duck flock.