10/01/2026
Rest easy, Norman. My best duck friend. 🤎🦆
I genuinely don’t know how to write this without sobbing.
Last night we lost Norman to a unknown predator. And in true Norman fashion, he went protecting the girls in his flock.
Norman wasn’t “just a duck.” He was my buddy. My sweet boy. I raised him from a little duckling. The kind of animal who becomes so woven into your everyday life that you don’t realize how much space they occupy in your heart until suddenly they aren’t there.
He trusted me enough to let me scoop him up, hold him against my chest, kiss his head, and love on him. He had such a personality, such a presence, and somehow this silly little duck became one of my very best friends.
I keep looking at these pictures and wishing more than anything that I could hold him like this one more time.
What breaks my heart even more is knowing that his last act was protecting his girls. He was their boy, too. Their protector. And he stayed with his flock when they needed him most.
I’m devastated. Farm life brings so much beauty, but sometimes it brings a kind of heartbreak that knocks the wind completely out of you. Today is one of those days.
Norman, you were so incredibly loved. You were safe in my arms countless times, spoiled rotten, talked to like a person, and given all the love a duck could possibly tolerate.
Thank you for being my best duck friend. Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for taking care of your girls.
Half-Acre Hobby Farm will never feel quite the same without you waddling around it.
Fly high, sweet Norman. You were the very best boy. 🤎🦆🌈
I love you, buddy. I’m going to miss you more than I can put into words.