Checking In with Ducks & Clucks
These past few weeks have been busy ones for the people of the house, but the ducks and clucks are all doing well.
Here Danny girl takes a swim with Miles while Lucky duck hangs out on the side. Lester gets too cold when he swims too much, so he sat this one out.
Lucky, Miles and Danny girl are all doing well. Lester has a harder time with the cold, wet weather, but he seems to be holding his own.
Petunia is putting up with a cranky Ramona these days, but she still finds time to be her sweet self.
Janet continues to be the fluffiest chicken in the yard lately. Her furry feathers are just looking great, and I think she knows it.
Cindy Buttons hopped up on my lap today to talk and preen her feathers. She is sweet as ever, but can’t decide which coop she prefers at night. Sometimes she hangs with the big girls in the aviary but tonight she chose to stay with Toro and Olivia in the old pen.
Olivia is still going strong at over 10-years-old. We’re not sure of her exact age since she’s a rescue, but we know she’s getting up there in years. Olivia doesn’t like to be held but she loves to be close by, and she is a great conversationalist, especially if you have treats.
The weather is a little rainy and muddy for Toro’s liking, but he is still holding his own. If it’s too rainy he hangs out in the covered pen. But most days he can stay in the aviary with his hens.
Lastly, my boy O’Malley sits with me every single day. He would spend most of the day on my lap if I let him, and I wish I had that kind of time. He is a sweet, lovable, wonderful kid and it’s great to know he’s always there to wish me a good day.
That’s about it for now. Next weekend we’ll be away for a bit to help celebrate my parents’ 35th Wedding Anniversary (that’s me in the middle at age 5). It’s hard to believe these aging former-hippie parents of mine have been together that long, but the denim wedding suit is sure evidence that indeed it has been decades. A very happy 35th Wedding Anniversary to them both.
Quacks and clucks,
Silly human
Weekly Round-Up
Toro received his “Champion Chicken” certificate from PETA for being their 2012 Champion Chicken. The text on the certificate says “for providing an excellent example of how social, curious and loving chickens are and for helping to demonstrate that chickens need their wings.” More chicken wings are eaten during the Superbowl than any other time of year. Toro most definitely needs and values his wings. They are an important and cute part of him and they are not to be eaten. We hung his certificate right over his night pen so he can stare up at his remarkable achievement and know just how special he is and how much meaning his chubby little life has had on the people around him, especially me.
Little Cindy Buttons has been a pill this week. She has decided that she should nest in the FRONT yard, away from everyone. So she sneaks under the fence to lay an egg in a window well on the side of the house each day.
She gets VERY UPSET if I do not let her do this. We will take the eggs after she has a full clutch so she’ll search out a new locale for a new nest, HOPEFULLY within the aviary or pens.
Little old lady Olivia is doing great. I just had to share this photo of her hanging out next to me this weekend. She does not like to be picked up but she is very sociable and chatty. I really enjoy our conversations together, even if they are mostly about treats.
Beautiful Danny girl went to the vet this week for a final follow-up visit. If you remember, she came to us nearly dead before Christmas from an infection and from metal toxicity after swallowing a big piece of metal.
Her last X-ray showed great improvement and just a few pieces of metal left.
Now her x-ray shows there is no metal left. I know it has much more light areas on it, but that is pea gravel. Ducks eat rocks to grind up their food and make it easier to digest. It’s called “grit” and it lives in their gizzard. She is metal free and although she still has trouble walking and keeping her balance, it should improve over time.
Lastly this week, Lucky went back to his forever home on Tuesday evening. Unfortunately when he joined his pond mates on Friday, they did not accept him back into the flock. They beat him up and picked on him. They tried to drown him and he couldn’t keep his feathers dry, so he ran back to his people. They picked him up and took him back from the pond. While we hoped Lucky would be able to leave this nest here with us and go back out into the world, he has returned here, like an adult child who fails to launch. We don’t mind though, as he is super handsome and not much trouble at all. He did bite both Lester and Danny girl when he returned tonight, but I think he’ll settle down once he knows he’s safe. He’s a little guy and a cute kid, and I think he’ll fit in here just fine. So welcome back, Lucky. You are certainly one very Lucky duck.
Here’s a little video of the muscovy crew misbehaving to send you off on a good week.
Here’s hoping you find a little fun mischief of your own this week.
Quacks and clucks,
Tiff and the flock
Bath Time
Today, Toro and Cindy Buttons hung out together and took a dust bath.
Chickens don’t bathe in water like ducks do. They prefer a pile of nice dirt or sand to throw around. It seems counter intuitive, but the grit of the dirt cleans their feathers and strips away any dirt.
Cindy was hogging the best dust bath spot, so Toro roo had to work around her to find the good spots.
Here’s a little video of the two of them enjoying the day:
In other news, when I let the ducks out today, they promptly went back in, but through the other side. So the big pen now has just Miles in it, and the littler pen has Lester, Danny girl and Lucky duck. I’m not sure whose idea it was, but they all sorted it out amongst themselves and moved all on their own.
With the duck kids doing well and enjoying the great outdoors, it’s just me and Simon in the house now, with Toro in the dining room at night so his 5am crows don’t disturb the neighbors. The weather is just beautiful in Seattle this week, with temperatures up to 57F tomorrow. It’s perfect weather to be a duck or cluck, and the kids are enjoying the surprising warmth in early February. They’re looking forward to a great week.
We hope you have a great week too.
A Beautiful Day
Today was a beautiful day, so all the kids went outside to play. Lucky waited patiently for the pool to open up while Danny girl and Miles splashed and flapped.
You can see a little bit from this angle that Lucky’s neck has some weird feathers. That is because there are scabs underneath where he must have been injured. He is feeling much better though, and I think he will be just fine.
Lucky is a really friendly kid and he loves to sit on me. He fell asleep while we were chatting.
Here’s a little video of us chatting today:
Isn’t he sweet? His people obviously treated him really well. He recognized that I speak duck and decided I was okay pretty quickly. Now we’re good buds. Once he is all done with his medication he will go back to his people and live on his pond.
After Lucky was done sitting on me, Cindy Button hopped up and fell asleep in the sunshine.
Here’s Lucky and Danny girl hanging out in their new night pen. Everyone is doing well enough now, and the weather is warm enough, that they can all move out of my dining room and stay outside overnight.
Miles gets his own section because he is a bit of a bully to Lester and Lucky.
Danny girl, Lucky and Lester are rooming together and Miles is right next to them so he can boss everybody around. Wish them luck on their first night all together outside!
Petunia and Ramona came by to inspect the new kids and give them a little grief.
And then it was finally time for O’Malley to get his cuddles.
A beautiful day, all around.
Lucky and Lookin’ Good
Little Lucky arrived two nights ago barely standing and with an infected eye. He stumbled and listed to one side and didn’t look good at all.
But what a difference a day makes.
Now he is looking great! His eye is clearing up, he stands on his own, walks well and is generally feeling good. Lucky’s bills are all paid for, so he’s just staying with us for medication and care until he’s all better. Here he is showing his most serious problem: Wiggle-butt syndrome. It’s cute, and there’s no known cure for it.
He’s eating pretty well, too. But he was a little shy on camera.
It’s so nice when a rescue rebounds fast and shows they’re on the mend. He truly is a Lucky duck. And we’re happy to have him here to help him get back on his feet and back to his pond and his people.
Champion Chicken!
Toro roo has been named PETA’s 2012 CHAMPION CHICKEN!
Check it out: http://www.peta.org/features/champion-chicken-winner.aspx
We are SO honored. Toro would like to thank his favorite rescued hen, Cindy Buttons, for all of her support. And also he’d like to thank his favorite treats: Grapes, corn, peas, tomatoes, apples, lettuces… well all treats really. He’s very thankful for treats.
INCOMING: Lucky the duck
This is Lucky the duck.
He is a friendly mallard who was injured somehow. Maybe by a raccoon. He has some neck scuffs and trouble walking. He may have some nerve damage and he has a little bit of a cold and eye infection.
Lucky is indeed a lucky duck. He was originally attacked by raccoons when he was still in the egg. Some people found him and hatched him out and raised him, then released him on a pretty safe pond. He has lived on that pond with other ducks and has been looked after by those people ever since. Today they noticed he wasn’t acting right and took him to a vet. They run a home business so they can’t rehabilitate him there, so we took him in to rehabilitate him, and then if he can recovery and be re-released, he’ll go back to his people and back to his pond.
They’re paying for his care and we’re just keeping him well-fed, happy, and medicated until we see if he can recover. It’s rare for people to care enough to pay out of pocket for a little duck, so they must be good eggs. We’re happy to have Lucky as a guest and hope he can do well and get back to the wild very soon. Lucky is currently hanging out with Miles, Lester & Danny and doing well.
Quacks,
Tiff and the flock
Miles to the Vet
This morning Miles had a swim while Lester and Danny girl hung out around the tree trunk pond.
Danny still walks like a drunkard, but she’s doing well in spite of her metal poisoning.
After a nice swim it was time to go to the vet. Miles went for a check-in and Lester (in the blue carrier) tagged along to get his toe nails trimmed. Because Lester is handicapped, he doesn’t wear down his nails like normal ducks, so we had to have them trimmed.
Miles was very happy to have a buddy along for the vet visit.
Miles’ leg is really messed up. The ankle joint is deteriorated and the bone even has a hole where it has eaten away. A little scrape on the foot or leg is all it takes to let in bacteria that can result in septic arthritis and complete joint deterioration. The damage is already done, and it looks like it has been this way for a while.
Miles will always limp, and always have a bit of pain. But he is a light duck and should do okay anyway. He is on longer-term antibiotics to ensure the joint is free of infection, and then he’ll get glucosamine supplements to slow further deterioration. We’ll see how he’s doing in a month.
For now, all is well.
Miles weighed 1.66kg (3.66lbs) at the vet and Lester weighed 1.54kg (3.4lbs).
P.S. Today while Miles was outside, he managed to attack Ramona and regret it, then attack Petunia and regret it. Both Petunia and Ramona do not forgive and for certain do NOT forget. Bad move, Miles. You’ve angered the scovy girls. They have no mercy.
Weekend Update
Danny girl went to the vet today for another check-up. She has been here nearly a month now. She came to us after being found in a ditch. She had swallowed metal and was near death from metal poisoning and infection.
This was her original x-ray of the metal she swallowed:
It was such a big chunk of metal then. It has gotten smaller over time, and we’ve been trying to see if it will break up on its own so she doesn’t have to have surgery to remove it.
Look at it now! The metal has broken down into smaller pieces, and she is still on chelation medication to bind it and keep it from poisoning her. This is really great progress!
She will continue on medication to bind the toxins and go back in for another x-ray in another two weeks to see if the metal is gone. She still stumbles on her feet, but her mind is clear and she can get around on her own.
I’m not sure if she has permanent neurological damage from her metal poisoning, but it doesn’t matter. If we can get the rest of this metal out of her she will have a great prognosis and a happy, healthy future. She gets around good enough to care for herself, and that will do.
In other news, the whole flock has been cooped up for days while two big storms barreled through the Seattle area. Now I understand the term “cooped up,” because they got a little stir crazy.
But today the world finally began to thaw, and they came out of their coops into the big mud pile that is now our yard. The aviary needs some repair after the heavy snow collapsed some areas of the net, but that will wait a bit because we have two more wind storms headed our way.
Petunia and Ramona really enjoyed doodling in the slushy mud puddles.
And O’Malley left his footprints in the melting snow.
Toro got some much-needed lap time (I needed it more than he did).
And we had some good conversations about bugs and crows and a fat squirrel.
Petunia had some lap time too, but she wasn’t as fond of it.
Cindy Buttons hopped up on her favorite perch (me) and directed all the afternoon bug hunting activities.
She and Toro are good friends, and Olivia too (she’s hiding behind Toro).
Even the new guy Miles came outside to enjoy some sunshine today.
He was also interested in keeping an eye on the fat squirrel that Toro and I discussed.
Then he had a nice swim in the outdoor tub.
Check out this video of he and the Ramona Monster sassing each other.
I love having Miles around because he makes the same sounds as Flapper did. I haven’t had a Flapper-sounding duck since Flapper passed away last March. It’s fun to have a low-bwah’ing, donkey honking charmer around again, though of course it’s not the same.
Miles is doing well so far, and hopefully his leg will improve. He did have a high white blood count, so he’s on antibiotics for at least 14-days, likely a month. Septic arthritis infections take a long time to clear up, but they usually improve quite a bit. He can’t stay forever, as we’re pretty full here and he’s too aggressive for Lester & Danny, and too vulnerable to put with O’Malley. But I like having him around for now.
That’s it for now from the house of ducks & clucks. The snow is pretty but we’re glad it has moved on.
Quacks,
Tiff and the flock
INCOMING!
We have a NEW rescue tonight! This SNOW duck arrived on the front lawn, and the current forecast calls for an entire flock of snow ducks to be headed our way by Wednesday morning.
Thankfully these ones don’t need care, won’t ever need to visit the vet and hopefully, won’t stay long!
Stay safe, Seattle. We’re about to get a BIG snow storm. Get the latest from Seattle’s cranky independent weather guru, Cliff Mass: http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/
