Malmesbury's leader of the peck (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Malmesbury's leader of the peck

10:00am Saturday 11th February 2012 in News By Victoria Ashford

A RESIDENT duck of a Malmesbury-based alpaca farm has stunned its owners by appearing to think it is a goose.

The two-year-old mallard leads the flock, preferring to spend time with his larger neighbours than join his fellow breed, after he was born and brought up alongside a goose.

Owner Phil Neal said: “My wife hatched one duck egg and one goose egg and then put them in a pen, and now the duck thinks he is a goose.

“He goes around with the same three geese. They are inseparable.

“When he is supposed to be mating with the females in the farm, he just isn’t bothered; he stays with the geese instead.”

His wife and farm co-owner Debbie said: “The four of them sleep together in the same hut and he doesn’t bother with the other ducks at all.

“I thought that, because he is a drake, he would go off with the guild but it isn’t interested. It has never attempted to meet up with the other ducks.”

Mr and Mrs Neal, who have owned the farm for nearly a decade, were also surprised to discover a llama had been born last Wednesday, when they weren’t even aware the mother was pregnant. The farm is keen for children up to the age of 12 years to take part in a competition to name the latest arrival.

The llama’s mother is called Athena and the father is Zeus.

Mr and Mrs Neal are particularly interested to hear from young people with suggestions of other Greek names for the week-old cria.

Those wishing to enter should, with parents’ permission, email their name, age, address, contact telephone number and suggested llama name to vashford@newswilts.co.uk The closing date is Friday, March 2.

Mr Neal said: “We have had the mother llama for eight years and she’s never been pregnant before.

“To be fair, we didn’t even realise she was pregnant. She didn’t show us any signs of being pregnant.

“When my wife went up to feed them on February 1, this llama came walking around the corner with her young.

“They are both doing very well. He was shivering so badly when we found him because it was the coldest morning of the year and we didn’t know whether he would survive.

“We put a jacket on him, which he will wear for another two or three weeks to help him get strong."