Vine Grove, Kentucky- On June 20th, 2005 an anomaly of nature was hatched at Jordon's Croft Farm. Kat Jordon discovered one of her newly hatched ducklings had some extra parts… three legs, no actually there were four legs on this special duckling. She named the duck "Quaddie". Ms. Jordan had planned on auctioning the duckling on EBay. (As a note, EBay does not allow the sale of live animals.)

Fortunately for Quaddie, Paula, a member of the internet group "Pet Ducks R Us" (PDRU) stumbled on some information about Quaddie's future auction. Paula brought Quaddie to the rest of the group's attention and suggested trying to help the duck. "I knew when I stumbled over Quaddie on the Internet that she was indeed special and needed PDRU to somehow get her and give her a better life."

The rest of the group took a strong interest immediately. Jennifer Gordon of Carolina Waterfowl Rescue suggested a collection be started. Money would be needed to both buy Quaddie, and for future medical bills. It was assumed immediately that Quaddie would incur quite a few doctor bills.

Another member suggested making a cash offer. That approach was beneficial to all parties involved and Quaddie was purchased for $70. Quaddies sister was given as a traveling companion and came to be known as KD.

Another PDRU group member Kristina went to Jordon Croft on August 20. She took Quaddie and KD to her home and provided excellent care while remaining plans were made. In addition to staple duck food, Kristina discovered the way to the duck's hearts was applesauce.

During that first week with us, Quaddie got preliminary medical evaluation from pictures and Kristina's accurate descriptions of what she saw. A Dr. Phillips Jeanty, a doctor who studies human fetus abnormalities found Quaddies pictures to be fascinating and offered a diagnosis of "duplicate incompleta", adding that there was more extra parts than simply legs. It is "really a very unusual deformity of a single animal."

Originally, Quaddie was destined for the Lame Duck Refuge in Louisiana. As Quaddie's medical condition became more complex, it was agreed her destination should be the Carolina Waterfowl Rescue where there was better access to expert veterinary care. A week later, the plans were in place, and Friday August 26, Quaddie and KD embarked on the remainder of their 540 mile odyssey for a better life.

Kristina met a volunteer named Beth in Nashville and passed off the two ducks. Beth kept them overnight in Cookeville, Tennessee. In the morning Beth, Quaddie and KD got an early start to Knoxville, where the ducks were handed off to another volunteer driver, Jim. He took the ducks as far as Ashville. There, Jim met Diane, and another hand-off happened. Diane drove the two ducks to Morgantown, North Carolina where she met Paula. Paula drove the ducks from Morgantown to Charlotte. In Charlotte, Jennifer brought the ducks back to the Carolina Waterfowl Rescue at 3 PM August 27, a full week after they were purchased.

Quaddie's first appointment with her new Doctors was Monday, August 29. After meeting with her vet, Dr. Lauren Powers, Quaddie stayed the night at the veterinary hospital. KD slept over as well for company. Further evaluation showed the extra legs were placing stress on Quaddie's spine and needed to be removed. Quaddie incomplete twin was determined to be male. All of these extra parts need to be removed so Quaddie may have a normal life. We are grateful for Dr. Powers and her keeping costs down. However Quaddie's vet bills will still exceed the donations received so far. Follow up visits and medications will easily add to the cost. Assuming Quaddie and KD remain at Carolina Waterfowl Rescue, they will have life expenses as well.

UPDATE - Quaddie had her life saving surgery and is now leading a normal life! She is happiest standing which she couldn't do comfortably before.

December 4th, 2005 UPDATE Quaddie was found with a prolapsed phallus today. We are in shock since one of her phalluses was already removed and we thought only female parts remained. This means she has one set of female parts and 2 sets of male parts! WOW! Bad news is she must undergo another surgery to remove the penis since it will not stay inside her body where it belongs.

If anyone is able to help with Quaddie's care, donations may be made to the

Carolina Waterfowl Rescue
PO Box 1484
Indian Trail, NC 28079
(704) 668-9486