New Kid Update #3
Look who’s standing up!
The new rescued duck is improving a bit every day. She still stumbles and wobbles and falls down, which is likely from the metal toxins in her system. They cause neurological problems. But she is VASTLY better than a few days ago, and she continues to improve.
The vet’s office called today and said her blood work was back already, and she has a serious infection. So surgery to remove the metal she swallowed is out of the question for tomorrow. She will need to wait at least a week, and she will go back to the vet this Friday for a re-check to see if her infection is improving. Her white blood cell count should be between 7-13 but hers was 40. That gives a good indication for why she was feeling so terrible, in addition to the metal toxicity. And it also shows why she’s feeling better every day on antibiotics and EDTA chelation medication (to bind & remove metal toxins from her body). Anyone who has had a duck swallow metal knows she is still not out of the woods yet, so keep her in your thoughts.
Today she stood up for the first time, and I even had her go outside for a bit to hang in the aviary with Lester so I could clean her sleeping area and also clean Lester and Toro’s areas. Even though she stumbled and fell all over the aviary, she really seemed to enjoy being out there. She sat next to Lester and just looked all around her. I don’t want her outside until she is feeling much better, but I’ll probably take her out a few minutes a day so she can see what the future holds.
So that’s her update. She hasn’t given us her name yet, but she should as she continues to feel better.
Here’s a lullaby courtesy of Toro roo to help you sleep tonight.
Good night!
Lil Sick Duck Update
Well the little duck made it through the night and she LOOKS great. That’s good. She’s also eating really well and LOVES peas, which shows she has good taste in treats. But she doesn’t FEEL great yet. She was really weak in the morning, to the point of collapsing and going limp in my arms. But tonight she feels a little better. I even saw her standing up on her own for a few seconds.
Here’s a little video of her right after I gave her this evening’s medication.
You can tell Lester is already protective of her, and she has some good energy this evening, even though she is still weak and stumbley. She is fishing for some peas I dropped in the bottom of her water bowl, and she has also eaten a good small bit of real duck chow.
So far so good, thankfully. She’s a very small, delicate kid and that’s a big piece of metal in her belly, so she’s not out of the woods yet. But so far, so good.
Thanks for all the well-wishes for her. Some of you have asked about donations. Hold on to your bucks for now. Let’s wait and see if she makes it to surgery. If so, I’ll post a note for raising funds.
Happy Holidays.
New Arrival: Very Sick Girl
This is the new girl who arrived today. She is a fawn and white Indian runner duck, and she is very sick.
She swallowed a very large piece of metal at least a week ago, and the metal has been poisoning her ever since.
Young ducks are especially attracted to metal objects. You may remember that we lost a duck to metal poisoning years ago when she found a way under the deck and ate two staples. I am not sure how this little girl managed to swallow such a large piece of metal, but it could be fatal.
She is so weak that she doesn’t try to get away or even move when I pick her up. And her legs fall into odd positions when I set her down, so I had to tuck them into a normal sitting position for her.
Here is a little video of her. You can see that her eyes still look bright and clear, so that is a good sign. When ducks are dying, their eyes tend to close up a bit and you can tell how terrible they feel. She isn’t eating, but she kept her medication down and she is drinking water and quacking a bit. That is also good.
She is probably the weakest duck I’ve ever rescued though, so please keep her in your thoughts. If she can survive and regain enough strength to have surgery on Tuesday to remove the metal, she might recover.
The back story on her that we know so far is that some people found her (or maybe she was a pet?) in Lynnwood, WA a week ago and tried to take her to a wildlife center. The wildlife rescue can only take wildlife, as every rescue must limit the kinds of animals they can take, or they’d all be overwhelmed and out of funds. And she is a domestic runner duck, not a wild duck. So the wildlife center volunteers told the people they would need to find her a vet because she’s a domestic duck. Well the people didn’t do that. They decided they’d just see if she got better on her own, and they didn’t know she had swallowed a big piece of metal. Then yesterday when it looked like she was dying, they took her back to the wildlife center because they didn’t know where else to turn. The wildlife center called me and I agreed to take her in and care for her, so they took her to the vet who took an x-ray today and found out what’s wrong.
It’s tough to be a domestic duck in the world. Especially with the urban farming craze. People get ducks and chicks and don’t realize how expensive their care can be. Then when things go wrong there is really nowhere to turn. Some end up at the Seattle Animal Shelter, which isn’t that well-equipped to deal with farm animals. Others end up surrendered to vets, who also don’t have funds to fix dying pets. They get dumped at parks where they’re easy prey to a number of predators including dogs, or if they survive they can mate with wild populations and screw up an entire flock with domestic genes.
We’re happy this girl landed here, even if she doesn’t have a happy ending. It’s no time of year for a little duck to be alone in the world. She is resting comfortably in a box next to Lester, who is chatting with her a bit. We hope she’ll start eating and gain some strength, but if she cannot, at least she is safe and comfortable.
We’ll share her name as soon as she tells us what it is.
Happy holidays from all the ducks and clucks (and the furball),
Tiff
Toro the Hen Chaser
Toro has a morning routine which I have been trying to capture on film for a few days now. He sleeps in a pack-and-play in the dining room because he has started crowing. I brought Lester in to keep him company since his girl April Shadow has moved on to a great forever home. They seem to like each others’ company so it works out well.
Anyway, Toro’s morning routine is to crow, of course, and then wait for me to pick him up and take him outside with the girls. As soon as I set him down on the lawn, this gigantic heavy roo CHASES after the hens! He doesn’t have a lot of stamina and he’s too heavy to run far, so it’s a short chase and then he needs to catch his breath. But it’s hilarious. Have a look…
I’ve found a few more videos online of other rescued broiler roosters (cornish x chickens) and some have lived longer than I knew they could. One lived over 3 years! I may be building a sound-proof coop this summer for my own sanity if Toro is still crowing in my dining room by then, but I do hope he continues to do well and live a long life.
This is kind of a sad photo, but I wanted to share it anyway. This is Toro’s right foot. His outside toe is nearly completely missing. It was cut off when he was a baby, before he was rescued. Sometimes broiler chickens have their beak tips burned off so they don’t peck other chickens, which is terribly painful and cruel. I don’t see why someone would remove toes. He has a hard enough time walking without having to compensate his balance.
His left foot, a little poopy in this photo, also has the outside toe cut off, but not nearly as far back.
I’m amazed each day at how far he’s come and how well he’s doing, especially since he was in such sorry shape when he arrived here as a baby.
I made a promise to this baby roo when his turkey girl passed on, and I intend to keep my promise by providing a safe, comfortable, cushy, spoiled, loving, tomato-filled life for Toro roo, for as long as he shall live.
Keep chasing, Toro. Keep chasing those hens.
FUNNY FOLLOW-UP:
The next morning Toro decided maybe he was big enough to chase Carol hen.
He was wrong. 🙂
New Holiday Classic
This song is certain to become a holiday classic.
This holiday song was written by our duck friend Kevin Tschida. The last stanza and the performance were done by Eric Stetson. This is such a thoughtful, priceless surprise and it really puts us in the holiday mood. Flapper was definitely a special duck, and this is a perfect expression of his playful little fluffy personality. It’s amazing. What an honor.
Thank you, Kevin. Lots of love to you and yours.
And happy holidays everyone!
BREAKING NEWS: Willard Update
April Shadow’s new family says, “Willard and April Shadow are bonding nicely, enjoying some time on the couch and watching The FOOD Network.” Hopefully it’s a show about PEAS! Apparently, April is admiring her reflection in some cabinets and following Willard around. It’s looking good so far!
April Shadow’s New Forever Home
Last night, April Shadow and Lester Leroy had a long conversation in the dark. I couldn’t help but wonder if they were talking about April leaving for a new forever home. Lester has been a great friend to April, and she has been a good friend to him. We’re sorry to say farewell, but happy that she is headed to a home that is an even better fit for her.
Today at noon we took April Shadow to her new forever home. She was ready to help us navigate, and although she was a little bit stressed, she was still calm-enough to eat peas along the way.
Her new place has a predator-proof pen with hardware cloth on all sides, top and bottom. It has a roof and best of all, a pool with running water! And this is just their day aviary. At night they sleep in the garage with a baby pool and sometimes they hang out in the house. April was friendly-enough to let her new people touch her and she ate some peas out of their hands.
Her new buddy is a duck named Willard. He immediately mated with her, but then decided he was a little wary of his new girlfriend. April Shadow took it all in stride and made herself right at home. Willard just lost a great duck buddy to a tumor at 7-years-old, so he needs a new friend. April Shadow can now have a guy who is just her type, and who can get up and around and swim with her and hunt for bugs. It’s a good match.
April Shadow and Willard swam together, but kept to their own sides. Willard is still grieving the loss of his buddy Peepers, and April is adjusting to the new surroundings. I think in just a very few days though, they will become good friends.
You’re a very handsome guy, Willard. Take good care of little April Shadow. And send a photo once in a while, maybe once you decide she doesn’t have cooties. Be good, April Shadow. And keep Willard busy while he gets over the loss of his buddy Peepers. I know you’ll be good friends in no time.
And don’t worry… I will take good care of Lester for you, April.
Lots of love,
The Silly Human, Lester Leroy and all the ducks and clucks
XOXOX
April Shadow Seeks Forever Home
This sweet girl has been with us for about a month and a half now. But we knew when we took her in that she was likely too loud for our quiet neighborhood. Unfortunately… it’s true. April is no louder than any other female mallard-descendent duck, but female ducks are much louder than males. Muscovy ducks are the exception. They are not descended from mallards and both males and females are very quiet. We have always been really careful to try to keep quiet ducks only, because of our close neighbors. This past year we’ve had a few exceptions with George the goose and a few short-term rooster rescues, and that is why April will need to be temporary as well.
April Shadow could not be cuter or sweeter. We really hoped we could keep her forever, as she is such an adorable kid. She is a very friendly girl and will even tolerate being held, especially if it involves treats. She will take treats out of your hand and will come running if you have her favorite treats: peas.
As you can see, she is very polite and well-mannered, except when she is scarfing down peas by the beak-full.
April Shadow is a beautiful, black Indian runner duck. She is quite small, weighing just about 3lbs. She does not fly well, but she can use her wings to hop up and down off of stuff or to get in and out of pools.
We are looking for a very safe home for her, because she is so small, domestic and friendly. She will need predator-proof housing at least at night, and a flock with some protection during the day. She would do well with other small ducks, but she is not a good match for muscovy drakes or too many males, because of her small size.
If you have ducks and think you could provide a safe, happy forever home for April Shadow with other ducks, please contact us here at Ducks and Clucks. Our email is listed on the “about us” page.
We will wait for the right home to come along, because April deserves the very best. We are in Seattle, WA and could transport her within 30 miles to the right, safe forever home. Please SHARE this post, so April has the best chance for finding a flock where she can sing and quack to her heart’s content.
Thanks and quacks.
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Read about how we met April Shadow… Incoming: New Girl
Toro Weighs In
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Toro had another weigh in today to see how heavy he is. Because he is a broiler, he is bred to gain enormous amounts of weight very quickly. Most broilers are killed at 5-7 weeks for food, but Toro is now over 5-months-old. It’s hard to say how long he’ll last, but the oldest broiler we know, who weighed less than Toro, lived for 10 months. NOTE: Broilers don’t have as many feathers as other chickens, and their skin is naturally red. So that’s why Toro’s tummy looks funny. It’s normal for a broiler.
Check out his weigh in…
O’Malley is a big guy too, but Toro beats them all.
New Art, and a Surprise!
A good friend sells original, hand-painted boxes and miniature canvases of animals and other fun scenes.
I really liked these two of his own pets, Rudie and Grietje, so I ordered them.
When they arrived, the Grietje box had a surprise in it!
Aww… it’s my baby boy, Flapper. What a nice surprise!
I love these little boxes, and I was really touched by the sweet surprise.
Visit studioMoor on Etsy to see all the beautiful work for sale by my good friend Peter. You can tell they are all made with love.
