Toro the Muse
Toro roo is doing well these days. In spite of his large size and his little legs, he gets around okay still, and seems happy. Today we sat in the yard together and stretched his legs out for a while. Then we got a note from our friend Audrey.
Audrey is an artist who works with mixed-media and collage. She is currently working on a series with birds, and this one piece was inspired by our very own Toro roo. Isn’t it cool? It’s also for sale, so if it’s your thing, visit her Etsy site to check it out:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/86629715/toro-original-collage-on-panel
Toro is taking the attention pretty well, but it might be starting to go to his head. He asked for Evian water in his bowl tonight.
Special thanks to Audrey for featuring handsome Toro roo in her work. We’re honored.
My Life as a Turkey
Watch My Life as a Turkey - Preview on PBS. See more from NATURE.
This episode of Nature debuted today, November 16, 2011 on PBS. It is such a beautiful show, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it with fond memories of our own Persephone Kerfuffle. Please click through and see the program for yourself online, or find it on your TV on PBS.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/my-life-as-a-turkey/introduction/7268/
Terrible News
Unfortunately, we had a raccoon attack here about a week ago, and we lost our sweet guy Gus. It was really bad, and we’re actually kind of lucky that only Gus was killed. No other feathered family members were hurt, but we’re all traumatized. And of course we’re mourning the loss of Gus.
I’m not really ready to talk much about it yet, and frankly I don’t think I will ever share all the details. You’ll just have to know that we’re doing all we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Gus was such a bright light and a fun character to have in the yard. He was only here about 5 months or so, and it breaks my heart to think that he was rescued from neglect only to die later in what was supposed to be his sanctuary. He should have been safe here.
The other kids are starting to come around now, and adjusting to life without him. But I can’t let go yet. On the one hand, I feel like I did everything I could to keep him safe. We have a net-covered, hotwired, day aviary as well as night pens with hardware cloth on all sides, top and bottom. And on the other hand, I obviously let Gus down. I didn’t anticipate that 3 raccoons would work together to undo 2 different kinds of locks and open a door to a night pen, but that’s what happened. Frankly, I still can’t believe it. I don’t know anyone else who has done more to protect their flock, and it still wasn’t enough.
Since the attack, we’ve extended the hotwire across the night pens and we are replacing the locks with padlocks. Both improvements should help keep our family safe, but nothing will bring back Gus.
The past week has been like a bad dream that just won’t end. Life can be taken away so fast it takes your breath away, and there’s nothing you can do to reverse it and get it back. There’s no second chance for Gus. He’s just… gone. And there’s not a single thing we can do about it.
Right now I’m trying to focus on what a fun, goofy personality Gus was, and let go of what’s too late to fix. I have to ask a few favors from you, and I hope you can understand. Please don’t share your own horror stories about attacks on animals or animal deaths with us right now. It’s too much to take in. And please save the rainbow bridge stuff. We respect your views and honor them, but we’re just not in a good head space for that kind of stuff right now.
I know that’s a lot to ask, but it’s what we need.
I’m sorry to share such terrible news, and I hope we never have to share it again. I’m trying hard to get to a point where I can let go and say goodbye to Gus, but that’s going to be a while. Until then, here’s a couple of videos of him that show his goofy personality.
Gus wasn’t sure what to make of the new girl, April Shadow. But they were starting to figure each other out.
Gus always poked me on the leg or hand when he wanted more treats. He’d often come over to me and jab me in the shoe just to let me know he was around. He never wanted to be picked up, but I think he secretly liked me.
Again, I’m sorry to share such terrible news. But more than anything, I’m just so very sorry to Gus.
Rest in peace, Gus. We all miss you.
New Girl Picks a Name
New ducky has decided that she likes the name “Shadow” after all, but she also wanted a full name. So her full name is “April Shadow.” I’ve been thinking “April” since the first day she arrived, but “Shadow” also fits her as well, since she follows Lester and Gus everywhere. She also followed her rescuers to their car, so it’s a good fit.
She is doing really well and fitting in with the other ducks. She loves Gus, but he is not so sure about her, so they get some time together every day, but they also get alone time. April Shadow spends her days with Lester Leroy and the chickens, and Gus spends days with the scovies.
April is a delicate little ducky, but not shy. She is a little afraid of the chickens, and she doesn’t like when they run around and get too close to her during treat time. She would prefer if they would stay away so she can eat treats alone. She shares peas with Lester every morning, and usually shares a swim, too.
She is a really cute kid, and we’re happy she’s working out well here so far.
Here’s to a good week, from all of us at Ducks & Clucks.
Mickey the baby pigeon
Thursday evening, we got a voicemail from a friend that said something like “Out walking… A little bird here. Wing is half gone. One of them is gone… thought I’d call you, but I know you don’t need this. Hope you’re well!” Funny call, and a tough situation. I was putting the ducks away at the time, but by the time I was back in the house, I also had an email. My friend had rescued the bird and placed it in a safe place. I offered to go pick it up and I assumed I’d have to have it euthanized.
As it turned out, the bird only looked injured. It’s actually a baby pigeon, and its wings haven’t fully grown in yet. It must have fallen from a nest too soon. I didn’t know how healthy it was, but there aren’t many places to take a baby pigeon, so I took it with me.
I stopped by the pet store in the morning and picked up some Kaytee Exact baby bird formula to feed it, and it came to work with me.* I fed the kid every few hours through the day, and by the end of the day, the bird perked up and became quite sassy and energetic. That’s a really good sign. But I hadn’t fed a baby pigeon before, so while I know I was getting it food safely, I could tell I wasn’t doing it very naturally. The baby pigeon kept looking at me like I was dumb.
Then my good friend Jen told me that baby pigeons put their beaks way inside the mom’s beak to feed. I knew they ate regurgitated parent food, but I didn’t realize the moms didn’t put it in the baby’s beaks. It’s the other way around! I should have known from the size of that beak.
After that, I got a much better hang of how to feed baby Mickey. See?
And Mickey stopped looking at me like I was clueless. S/he actually looked very grateful. A little messy, but grateful.
Late Friday, another good friend, Peggy, told me that PAWS takes in rock doves (pigeons) in the off-season. They don’t have resources to take them in during the summer, but when it slows down in the fall, they accept them. I had no idea, since I’ve only ever volunteered there in the summer! So Saturday morning, we took little Mickey over to PAWS, with a donation, to finish rehabilitation there, with other pigeons. This greatly increases Mickey’s chances to do well in the wild, and s/he will probably be released with other pigeons within a month.
Good luck, little kid!
Special thanks to all the people who understand that every creature great and small matters. Even little baby pigeons deserve compassion and respect.
*And by the way, to the delicate, passive-aggressive little flowers who whined to HR that a baby bird the size of a tennis ball, completely contained in a carrier by my desk for a few hours was a “dangerous wild animal,” you make my eyes roll so hard it hurts.
New Girl on the Prowl
The new girl, “Shadow,” is doing really well. She has settled in and she spends her days with Lester Leroy in the aviary. The other big ducks are on the other side of the aviary, but sometimes Gus decides to hang out with her too. He isn’t quite sure what to make of her yet, though.
Here she is trying to convince Gus to date her. You can see that he isn’t really interested, but I think he will be someday when he is done molting.
Good luck, new girl.
New Kid on the Flock
Today the new duck started her day by visiting with me on the bed for a while before getting up and going outside.
She had a nice swim in the pool and preened all of her feathers.
After a good flap, she dried off her feathers and enjoyed the sun for a bit.
Then she came back inside to stand on one leg for a while and take a nap. Meanwhile, we took a sample of her poop over to the veterinarian to check and ensure she is free of parasites.
Thankfully she is parasite-free! So that means she can now enjoy the company of her new crush, Lester Leroy. Gus tried to give her a bit of a hard time, but she just kept going around him to stand next to Lessie. She really likes Lester.
Lester enjoyed his evening swim and tried to keep the new girl out of his pool. As you can see, she REALLY wanted to join him for a swim. They are very cute together and I hope they continue to get along well. She can be REALLY LOUD when she wants to (like when I put Lester away for the night and she couldn’t play with him any more), so we’ll have to cross our fingers and hope it doesn’t become a problem.
For now she is safe and happy and healthy and content, and a very good ducky.
Incoming: New Girl
“Where am I?”
Tonight we took in a new girl. She is a little, black Indian runner duck.
“What is this stuff?”
She was a little wary at first, but she came around after she settled in a bit.
She much preferred hanging out with me to hanging out alone in her pen.
So she came and sat on the couch with me for a while. She is really super friendly and obviously imprinted and hand-raised.
I held her beak and told her we are good friends now, so she drifted off to sleep.
Later she was ready to go back to her pen, where she ate some food and drank some water. Now she is getting some much-needed rest. I can’t wait to talk to her again in the morning.
This little girl was dumped at a park after being hand-raised. That is usually a death sentence for ducks. Domestic, hand-raised, imprinted ducks cannot be released at parks. It is not only illegal, it is downright cruel. It would be like releasing a kitten in the forest to fend for itself.
Luckily, this duck followed a man and his dog back to their car. He just happened to be very animal friendly and his wife keeps pigeons. He tried to get the duck to go back towards the water, but she kept right by him. His wife asked “can you pick her up?” and he reached down and easily picked her up, so they took her home.
They knew enough about ducks to know she was a dumped, domestic Indian runner female duck with a slight respiratory problem and slight angel wing. Pretty amazing that the duck followed them to their car, eh? Smart duck.
They were good eggs to bring her all the way to me from Kent, and they also left a very generous donation. You just can’t look at this duck and not want to do everything you can to help her. It makes me so mad to think someone dropped her at the park like trash.
She is here now though, and doing well. I am not sure if she can stay forever, as girl ducks are usually too loud for my neighborhood. But we shall see. She is a sweetheart. Tomorrow we will take a fecal sample to the vet and if it is all clear, she can hang out in the yard with the ducks and clucks. Her respiratory issue cleared right up as soon as she blew some boogers into a deep dish of water. That is a good sign, and she is otherwise in good health.
More to come. For now, she is called “Shadow,” since she follows you everywhere you go.
Quacks and clucks,
Tiff and Shadow
Cookie Vulture
Cindy Buttons is a shameless cookie vulture. Unlike the other chickens and ducks, who wait patiently for treats, Cindy jumps up right in my face to TAKE the cookie. She has been known to take entire cookies, pieces of bread, a whole tomato and more.
She just cannot wait for treat time.
P.S. Notice how she wipes her beak on me after she’s done eating her cookie? So nerdy.
Goodbye Persephone Kerfuffle
Tonight it was time to say goodbye to Persephone Kerfuffle. Her leg was deformed when she was born, and she possibly also suffered malnutrition in her first weeks. As she grew up, she grew too heavy for her fragile legs and they eventually gave out. She did well for a few weeks getting around without walking or standing, but the past few days she could no longer get to food or water on her own, and she was struggling too much to stay comfortable. So tonight we sadly said goodbye. Here is a little background on her beautiful little life and the big impact she made in such a short time with us.
Oh how I loved this sweet little face from the moment I met her.
Persephone came to us on June 30th along with her little broiler chicken friend, Toro roo. These two little kids were confiscated during a domestic disturbance police call, and I heard later that the owners were charged with animal cruelty. We don’t ever get the full story because of privacy concerns, but I think there were many other animals like cats and dogs confiscated as well.
Persy had a bum leg when she arrived, but she got around so well I didn’t think much of it at the time, but I knew it could be an issue as she grew bigger and heavier. Toro roo was not well when he arrived, so he got most of my attention. He stumbled and fell when he walked, and he ate so much he made himself sick. I did not think he would survive for long.
They were the best of friends when they arrived, and they remained good friends up until the end. Toro is still doing well for now… he can stand and walk a few steps, which means he can get food and water on his own. He is also comfortable and can change positions to stretch when he needs to.
I had never had a turkey before, so I didn’t know what they would be like. Would they be anything like ducks? Or more like chickens? It turns out they are entirely their own special thing. Toro was a little stand-off-ish when he first arrived, but Persy was immediately affectionate and sweet as pie.
While she loved her buddy Toro, she would cry for me every morning to pick her up and snuggle her close. She loved to be very close to my face and to talk with me every morning.
She pressed her face against mine when she missed me, much like a dog will nudge your hand to be petted or a cat will head-butt you to show affection. Persephone would press her face right against mine to show love, especially when she first saw me after I had been at work all day.
As she grew up, her legs unfortunately got worse and worse. The better one wasn’t strong enough to compensate for the bad, twisted leg, and the bad leg was just not good at all.
Near the end of July, Persy’s leg looked really crooked, but she was still light-enough to prance around if she used her wings. I had hope that maybe she wouldn’t gain much more weight, and then she could live a fairly normal life, as long as she could get around enough to be comfortable.
But that wasn’t meant to be.
By the end of the first week in August, Persy was having trouble standing.
Her bum leg just couldn’t take the weight of a growing turkey anymore.
Persy did okay just sitting around for awhile, as long as she could still get up and turn around and get to food and water.
We built her a harness so she could get up off the ground each day for a bit, and stretch her legs well too. She didn’t like it too much, but it was good for stretching. She liked it better once we made it “treat time” and fed her dinner and peas and lettuces and grass in her harness. But during the days she was moving less and less, and having more trouble staying comfortable.
I knew by this past weekend that her time was short, and that it was almost time to say goodbye.
So I spent two full days in the yard with her, all day long. I’ve grown very attached to her in the past two months, and I just wanted to make her last few days as happy and comfortable and peaceful as possible.
She and her best buddy Toro roo rested and napped in the shade on the lawn, along with me and the rest of the flock.
She made happy turkey trilling sounds and enjoyed the long weekend quite a bit.
She was a very bright light and a very sweet soul. I can’t believe I loved her so much in such a short time. Turkeys are smart, a little bit pushy and extremely emotional. They’re sensitive and easily scared, but also extremely lovable. They adore attention and snuggling and petting and sweet talk. They have complex vocalizations and many different sounds with different meanings. They call and expect you to call back, in several different tones.
I loved this kid so much. It breaks my heart to say goodbye, and it makes me so sad that if she had just had two good legs and good nutrition, she could have lived for years. But I know she lived a very good, short life, and I am thankful for that.
Tonight as I fed her some peas before saying goodbye, I promised her that I would take good care of her best buddy, Toro roo. She was a little stressed out, but she ate some peas and listened to me talk. I remembered back to the first time I held her and how grateful she seemed to be held and loved. She was so giving and loving and grateful for her life, and such a joy to be around.
Rest in peace, sweet little girl. I love you so much. You were the best baby turkey ever.
XOXOX
Love,
Your people
