Duck makes splash in backyard — and on Facebook

My editor at SFGate.com wanted me to write something about backyard poultry. Who better to interview than our own Gina Spadafori, whose adventures in urban farming are well-documented here on Pet Connection.



But when I spoke with her, the chickens took a definite backseat to Bernadette The Weather Duck®. From the column:

(F)or those whose fowl intentions are a bit out of the ordinary, ducks are making a something of a splash in backyard poultry circles.



Sacramento's Gina Spadafori, co-author of "Birds for Dummies," was an avid urban chicken-keeper when she got her first duck, Bernadette. Her chickens provided her with eggs, fertilizer for her gardens, insect-control in her vegetable patch, and endless amusement from the window of her home office.



But Bernadette was different. For one thing, says Spadafori, she has about 10 times the personality of a chicken. (And I'm not just taking Gina's word for it. I've met Bernadette, and it's true; she's a pistol.)



"I always had it in my mind to get a duck," said Spadafori. "Chickens are sort of a 'gateway drug' to other livestock, and my zoning won't let me get a goat, so a duck seemed obvious. And they're so cute." So when Bernadette's need for a home came to her attention, Spadafori said, "Sure!"



Along with Bernadette came a need for a slightly higher level of service than the chickens seemed to expect. Bernadette, it turned out, is quite picky about how she likes her meals of fresh bitter greens laid out, requiring a fanned arrangement worthy of Chez Panisse.



There were also some clean-up challenges. "Ducks are messier than chickens," said Spadafori. "Their water needs to be changed constantly, because they dip things in it, and also go to the bathroom in it."



The biggest difference between chickens and ducks, however, is the duckish love of water. Because ducks gotta swim, Bernadette has her own kiddie pool, which Spadafori freshens from a garden hose at least twice a day.



"When Bernadette sees me coming with the hose, she gets very, very excited," she said. "When the chickens see the hose, they hide. And she loves the rain, which the chickens don't."

Actually, I'd say the biggest difference is that Bernadette has her own Facebook page:

"Bernadette the duck does have quite a bit of personality," Spadafori said. "Just perhaps not quite as much as Bernadette The Weather Duck, if you know what I'm saying."



Spadafori may be the real personality behind the Facebook page, but Bernadette's several hundred fans, seem content to ignore that fact. "She has an active fan base that seems to think she not only predicts the weather, but controls it," said Spadafori. "They make requests for weather in their area, then thank her when the weather is good."



Weather isn't the only subject on which Bernadette holds forth from her social media perch. "Bernadette" writes about all the activities in Spadafori's urban poultry yard, including disparaging the "featherheads" she's forced to share it with, the chickens. And let's not even mention the dogs, who Bernadette particularly despises.

Read the rest of the article here, then go "like" Bernadette The Weather Duck®!



Photo: Bernadette enjoying her pool while one of the chickens looks on, bewildered. By Gina Spadafori.

Comments

[David S. Greene]

I was hoping to gain an audience with BTWD the next time I'm in town. After this little publicity stunt, I'm no longer optimistic she'll have any time for me at all. No no, I'm not upset, not at all. It doesn't hurt my feelings in the least to be snubbed by a duck.

[Liz Palika]

Bashir says he's willing to take one for the team and herd her. After all, he has experience with ducks and geese (even ones with inflated egos).

[Jill]

BTWD needs to be retrieved.



Isabeau (Flat-coated retriever who has to live with the Supa Star Henry and can only take so much stardom)

[Christie Keith]

I contacted BTWD, and she gave me this statement: "Staff must feel they need to bolster their own image by suggesting they do more than take dictation for me. Unfortunate, but simply the kind of thing one must tolerate if one is to have one's greens properly fanned."

[Rori]

"Bowling for Bernadette." Sounds like a great game idea to me!

[Cait]

Kaylee thinks Bashir has the right idea, although she prefers bowling for ducks to herding them. (Why else would they make them shaped like bowling pins, after all?)

[Amy]

What did you man when you said "Bernadette the duck does have quite a bit of personality," Spadafori said. "Just perhaps not quite as much as Bernadette The Weather Duck, if you know what I'm saying." ????



You mean something like Stephen Colbert and Stephen Colbert on the Colbert Report, right????



You can't mean that BTWD doesn't really .....oh, I can't even continue that thought...

[Gina Spadafori]

Many famous people employ writers, you know. It doesn't mean they can't do their own work ... just that they're too busy to!

[Laura]

You spoiled my whole impression of BTWD. I refuse to believe it.

[Cait]

(Bowling = not as far as I know a technical term, it's a description of when a VERY BAD HERDING DOG WHO KNOWS BETTER decides that having put all the stock into a nice little group, it would be fun to scatter them by running into them at full speed, rather than starting to move them as being directed by the screechy handler who has just seen her vision of getting the goats/ducks/chickens/whatever back through the hole in the fence evaporate. An especial favorite game of corgis.)