Baby crow rescue
Today we got a message from a friend that a fledgling crow was in her son’s yard and in danger.
Normally it’s good to do all you can to keep a baby fledgling with its parents, but in this case, the home had dogs and the dogs had already gotten to the fledgling once. They had tried to keep their dogs away for 3-4 days hoping the baby crow would move on, but it still wasn’t flying.
As fledglings go, this was not the smartest one, or maybe he left the nest a little too early.
“Hey, who are you calling dumb?”
Sorry, baby crow. Let’s just say… half baked. The owners of the house needed to be able to let their dogs out and about, and the baby crow didn’t have enough fear. I was able to pick him right up, and the owners said he hopped right up to them and scared them the previous day.
“Do you have FOOD?!”
Baby crow was really hungry too, and seemed on the small and skinny side to me. So unfortunately I took him with me and took him up to PAWS for rehabilitation. The good thing is, when he’s fully grown and has a healthy fear of humans, they’ll be able to release him back near where I picked him up, so he can join his family again. He’ll also get some antibiotics, in case he has any dog cooties. We wish baby crow the best of luck.
In other news, Janet the chicken’s test results came back and she is all better from her infection now. Just another random day with ducks and clucks.
Happy weekend everyone,
Tiff and the flock
All About Lester
Little Lester Leroy doesn’t get as much camera time as the other kids because he is shy and also vulnerable. I have to keep him out of the reach of O’Malley and the other scovies, as well as Miles & Lucky. So he and his roommates Danny girl and Lionel are usually sequestered away in the aviary or pens.
He and Danny girl also don’t like to be out in the open. I think it makes them feel too vulnerable to predators, even though I’m there to keep them safe. They hide under shrubs to feel safe, which makes it tough to get good photos of them.
But his fans have requested “more Lester!” and we cannot refuse. Today we cleaned the big pond and let the little kids have some swim time before everyone else. They love the big pool, especially since they only get to use it a few times a week.
Lessie has a crush on Danny girl. She likes him very much but she also likes Lionel. Lester can’t get around as well as Danny can, so Lionel keeps her company when Lester can’t be there.
Here’s a little video of the three kids enjoying the pool today. Most of the quacking you can hear is actually from Miles & Lucky who were mad about being stuck on the other side of the aviary.
In other news, we got an email from someone who said there was an injured goose at Lake Union. We got a few more details (it’s a big lake) and went to see if we could find the goose. At first, we didn’t see any geese at all.
But then we saw a flock of them being fed by a man just across a small foot bridge. None of them looked injured at first, but then we saw this girl with a very bad limp. We had some scratch with us, so all the geese came right up to get their share of treats. This one hopped up to me and I just picked her right up. Then I began the awkward 400-yard walk back to my car while being questioned by everyone else in the park as to why I was taking one of the geese with me. The goose was also honking at everyone to let them know I was kidnapping her.
It’s never easy to take a goose from her flock, but she was injured and would only suffer a slow death at best. Geese get depressed really easily, but I’m hoping if her leg can be fixed she can be re-released back to her flock. She had to stay overnight in my dining room as I wasn’t really expecting to find her at the park, and hadn’t planned enough time to take her up to PAWS. She had some food, water, grasses and other treats to tide her over and she is now in the care of PAWS rehabilitators. If they can help her, they will. And if they can’t help her leg, she will at least have a peaceful, painless death.
Ramona is nesting again these days. We don’t hatch here, we only rescue. But just the thought of having little baby Ramona-O’Malley monsters running around is enough to scare the life right out of me. At least while she’s nesting, Petunia and O’Malley get extra quality time together. Ramona can be a pushy little punk, and Petunia is getting old. So they cherish the time they have away from Ramona.
Petunia even sang a song for O’Malley.
That’s about it for now from Ducks and Clucks. We’re still finding time to rest and recuperate after our last job. Luckily O’Malley is around to help us rest, and he’s really good at it.
Quack and clucks,
Tiff and the flock
Just Another Day at the Office
This is week #2 at home after leaving my job for the great unknown. I’m trying to enjoy the break but it’s getting a little weird.
“Let’s talk about peas.”
My first meeting of the day was with Danny girl. She reminded me that this isn’t an office, so it wasn’t “a meeting” it was just our normal quality time.
But we had a super mission critical conversation about mitigating the single-threaded dependencies of our grocery supply chain. Basically she wanted to know that we weren’t going to run out of peas any time soon.
There was some talk at the water cooler about how the quarterly numbers were going to turn out, but the ducks don’t seem too worried just yet. I wish I could say the same for the chickens though.
Olivia wants to know if I’m looking for another job yet. I think she’s been talking to my dad. Sheesh, Livi… give me a break. It’s only been a week-and-a-half!
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
Olly Astro is just a little worried about me. I told her I’m okay.
“Are you really sure sure?”
Yep, Olly… I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.
Carol is willing to get a job herself if it comes to that, but I told her we’re all good for now, and for quite a while. We’re just taking a break.
Janet isn’t saying anything, but she keeps staring at me. She has decided to stand on me along with Cindy Buttons, to make sure I stay grounded, literally.
Cindy Buttons isn’t worried. She knows I’ll figure it out.
“You’ve got free time now. Take a memo. I want food. And some new toys. And a laser light.”
Simon thinks he’s suddenly in charge. He also thinks he’s my new laptop, and is constantly on top of my lap.
“Let’s party!”
But O’Malley has the right attitude. He is just going to enjoy this time off with me. So that’s my plan too.
In this time off, I’ve been relaxing and thinking and planning for whatever’s next. I’ve also been hanging out at the Magnuson wetlands, taking photos of this cedar waxwing and other birds.
It’s a peaceful place to reflect, and also to remember not to take ourselves too seriously. It’s a luxury to have a little bit of time to think between jobs, and we’re going to enjoy it. I needed some silence and down time.
Life is good. Rest is good. Breaks are good. And soon we’ll start to plan for a new challenge.
Until then… quacks and clucks.
Tiff & the flock
Crow Funeral
Heard a ruckus across the busy street and crossed over to find a whole murder of crows mourning the loss of this one. I’m not sure what happened but my guess is it was hit by a car and crawled a few feet to rest here. I hope it isn’t one of my yard crows.
The entire crow group showed up to hear the details and pay respects. You can hear them sharing the news as new crows fly in. The people who live in the nearby house came out to see what the problem was. I let them deal with the dead crow so my friendly crows don’t suspect me of doing any harm.
I put out some kibble for any crows who want to drop by. The equivalent of funeral potatoes in my own way. They have been carrying on for over 20 minutes now but the funeral is finally starting to break up.
Sorry crow. I hope you didn’t suffer.
A Big Mid-Week Update
Carol has decided that she is done nesting.
She is a sweetheart of a chicken, and I know she missed me. I definitely missed her too, but I did enjoy not having her screech at 5am to be let out of the aviary. Hopefully she’ll stick to her new schedule and continue to sleep in.
Little Lionel Ernest went to the vet today to have his foot lanced. He luckily didn’t have to have it wrapped, but he’s back on antibiotics for another 7-10 days. It looks pretty good.
I’m still resting after leaving my job for the great unknown. Cindy Buttons is helping me, by making sure I relax and chill out a bit. I really miss the people at my work, but I did what I could to finish it up right, and it’s the right time for me to try something big and new. It is so tough to say goodbye to a great company though.
They threw me an amazing going-away party, and even wore clown noses to haze me for a traumatic clown incident from my first months on the job.
I also got a handmade stuffy of our company character, and it’s even wearing a duck necklace.
After a sad goodbye, I immediately flew to Utah for a weekend of fun, friends and family. This is my best friend Tricia and I at the BlogPaws Awards.
Ducks and Clucks was nominated for a “wiggle blog” award, which is the category that covers everything other than cats and dogs.
We were up against two sets of ferrets and a tamandua ant eater.
Do you think we won? Here’s a short video of the winning announcement.
Regardless of the results, we had a great time at the BlogPaws Awards and a lot of fun.
There were all sorts of crazy pet bloggers there, and their mere presence made me feel more normal than ever before. They were all great though, and clearly love their pets. At one point, some friends there said “don’t you think people here are just a little… weird?” It was the funniest thing I’ve heard in months, as I don’t think we had any room to talk ourselves. But it was true.
After visiting with family and after a grand total of 36 hours in Salt Lake City, it was time to head home to Seattle.
And now we rest, and think, and plan and hope that inspiration pays us a visit with a clear vision for what’s next.
Quacks and clucks,
Tiff and the flock
Weekend Update & Big Changes
Little Cindy Buttons was doing well after her last bout with weird eggs.
She stopped laying and did a round of antibiotics, and then her eggs were back to normal size, like this.
Unfortunately after a few days the eggs have returned to these weird, large eggs that are misshapen and MUST be uncomfortable for her.
So in a few days she’ll go on some different antibiotics and we’ll try again to get her eggs back to normal size. Hens are prone to egg issues unfortunately, but hopefully this won’t be a chronic problem for Cindy.
For now, she’s doing just fine, thankfully. She isn’t puffed up and feeling sick like she was before.
In other random news, the lilies in the yard are looking beautiful, don’t you think? I’m pretty sure that’s because they’re in the front yard, away from the ducks and clucks.
Miles got a little too close to Ramona monster and paid for it with his hide. He lost a big chunk of feathers but I think his ego was bruised more than his backside. He should know better than to mess with Ramona.
Janet went back to the vet on Wednesday to make sure a little bumble on her foot was healing and see that she didn’t need any follow-up from her chronic poopy butt issues. Luckily, she is doing great. She didn’t even need her foot wrapped again, so she is free from bandages and back to her normal self. Isn’t she cute here? She’s such a sweet girl.
Lionel got good news from the vet this week. His foot infection is finally better, even though he has weird stuff still trying to get out of his foot. He will go back to the vet on Tuesday to have his foot lanced (sorry, gross) and probably have it wrapped for a week or two. But overall, he is so much better than when he arrived. He feels great, walks normal and is feisty as hell. It’s good to see him feeling great.
Lastly, do you remember April Shadow and Willard, the boy she went to live with? She is named Stella now, and she is doing great. Unfortunately, her boyfriend Willard is over 8-years-old and has reached the final days of his life. We want to wish his family all the best right now, and we wish Willard a peaceful, comfortable time for however much time he has left.
This weekend we are headed to Utah for a very quick trip to attend the BlogPaws Conference and Awards show. We found out we were nominated for an award by our good capybara friend Dobby (well maybe his people nominated us), so we just had to go see what it’s about and join in some of the fun.
And after that, the people is taking a sabbatical from her day job to rest and relax for at least a month, maybe longer. I’ve saved a long time for this break, and I really need it. Friday is my last day at a job I’ve been dedicated to for nearly two years. It has been an amazing, challenging, fun time with a smart group of dedicated people. It’s very hard to say goodbye, but sometimes you just know when it’s right.
Keep us in your thoughts as we transition into some downtime before the next new adventure shows itself?
Thanks and quacks,
Tiff & the flock
A Sketch of the Kids
We made a quick sketch of the kids to take with us next weekend to the BlowPaws Conference and Awards in Utah, since the kids can’t come with us. What do you think? Do you have a favorite?
(Click on it for a larger version).
Babysitting
This morning, I was getting the ducks and clucks set up for the day in the aviary when I noticed the crow crows were taking snacks up to the tree and feeding their baby fledgling.
I asked them nicely if they would bring down their fledgling to meet me and hang out, and they said they’d think about it.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, their baby flew down on his own to see the yard for himself. He hopped up on the aviary and stared at the ducks and clucks. He walked on top of the net like a trampoline and decided he liked the handicapped kids. He sat and stared at them for a good five minutes.
Then he hopped down to the crow’s water dish and washed down the cat kibble and hard-boiled egg I’d given his parents to feed him.
You can tell a baby crow from an adult crow by the pink sides to their beaks and their blue eyes. As they grow, those eyes turn a dark brown and their beak turns black.
Baby crow really liked just sitting on the side of the water dish and staring into the aviary at the ducks and clucks.
He’d take a drink, gulp it down and sit and stare. I would have cleaned the water dish if I’d known they were really going to listen to me and bring their baby crow down to meet me!
Then something crazy happened. The two parent crows left their baby with me and hopped up high in the tree. They chatted for a bit and then flew off over the house next door and across the street.
“Um… hey baby. How’re you doing?”
“Do you know when your parents are coming back?”
“Am I getting paid anything to babysit you right now?”
“I need to take Lionel to the vet in a bit, just so you know. So maybe you want to call them or something?”
Baby crow decided to jump into the water dish for a quick splash. I’m pretty sure this was the baby’s first bath. Can you see the pin feathers growing in under his wing?
Then he went back to staring into the aviary at the ducks and clucks.
Baby crow is a gangly little thing. Goofy and playful and awkward in all the best ways.
He hopped back and forth across the deck.
And kept hopping up and down on the water dish to get a drink.
Look how big those talon-claws are already.
Aww baby… you’re beautiful!
Baby crow just kept hopping up and down and around while I chatted with him and took photos from all the way across the yard with my big lens.
Isn’t he just the most perfect little baby crow you’ve ever seen?
Time for more hopping!
I was getting a little worried that the parents were going to be gone for a while. Baby crow was just chilling out, but I needed to get moving to take Lionel to the vet.
Hoppity hop hop.
Flappity flap flap.
Just then, an adult crow swooped down to the water dish! I didn’t have time to react and get photos, because the two parent crows swooped in too as the baby crow cried and flew up into a tree. The swooping crow was not a parent!
A rogue crow had swooped down on the baby to attack it. Thankfully the parents were closer than I thought, and they came flying in at break-neck speed to chase off the rogue crow.
The rogue crow and his mate sat on top of my house while the crow parents sat on top of the neighbor’s house. They argued with each other for quite a while, with the baby crow safely in a tree. I have noticed these rogue crows for a few weeks now. I think they are also feeding a fledgling of their own, down the street.
They’ve figured out that I’m the neighborhood treat dispenser, and they want in on that action. I can usually tell if they’re pretending to be my yard crows, because they’re more skittish and frankly not very good actors.
I had to get going to take Lionel Ernest to the vet for a re-check, so I set out some cat kibble for both couples and went back inside.
The parent crows gave me a look like they were disappointed in my babysitting skills, but it was my first time. I hope they give me a second chance. I cleaned the water dish, so I hope that helps.
Even if it turns out to be my only crow babysitting gig, it was quite an honor.
Janet the Good Chicken (WARNING: GROSS)
Wednesday morning started off as many mornings do. I was sitting in the yard talking to the chickens and ducks. Then I realized Janet wasn’t with us. She was late waking up, so I went to check on her.
WARNING: HIGH GROSS FACTOR. TURN BACK NOW IF YOU DON’T WANT TO HEAR GROSS STUFF. Janet was just stepping out of the coop and looked fine, but I picked her up to have a closer look anyway. Janet has a pretty gross chronic condition. She had a bad recurring prolapse before we adopted her, and it left her with chronic poopy butt. She just constantly has poop leaking onto her butt feathers, but she doesn’t seem to mind much. I used to clean her off a few times a week, but the urates would scald her skin and make it raw, so it was better for a while to just let her stay kind of poopy so it would be more comfortable for her. It’s worked well for nearly 2 years.
Unfortunately, that was a bad idea this spring. Janet’s poopy butt attracted flies and when I picked her up Wednesday morning her backside was covered in… wait for it… MAGGOTS.
Now, if you’re like me, this is just too much to deal with before morning coffee. Or ever. I mean it was seriously disgusting. Moving, living, crawling eew. I can’t even… blech. So I ran Janet into the house and she did not even mind me holding her nearly upside down in the sink to wash and pick off maggots one by one. Wash and wait and see one crawl and pick it off. Wait again and see another one. Wash and pick. It took about 10 minutes and Janet was of course grateful for the help, the poor thing. Maggots squirm and try to crawl away out of reach, or back up the sides of the sink. They are truly disgusting. Blech.
I called the vet and took Janet in for the day to make sure she would be okay. Maggots can be serious if they get inside, eating tissue and causing infection. They were prepared to remove more maggots but thankfully, I got every single one. Janet will need to be on antibiotics for a week as a precaution, but she is feeling much, much better already. They found she had a little bumble on one of her feet, so poor Janet also has a foot bandage for the next few weeks. It’s minor, but good to clean up.
I’m so sorry I didn’t think that this might happen to Janet. She’s had this chronic condition for years and Flapper had a similar issue, so I didn’t think much of it. We never had a problem like that before. But we’ll have to be careful to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Janet used to fight and fuss when I’d clean her off in the sink. But I’ve cleaned her off three times since yesterday morning and she could not be more calm and grateful. She gets a handful of cat kibble for her trouble and I get to kiss her on the face feathers.
You know how if you have several cats and you take one to the vet, when you get home the other cats treat the vet cat like an alien intruder? Chickens are the same way. Olly and Olivia attacked Janet when she got home, and she ran to me for help. So I was her bouncer last night, but luckily today everyone is back to getting along fine.
Janet has never been super friendly, but she is more friendly now than ever. She is so trusting to let me pick her up and flip her around to wash her off. She is patient and sweet and gentle, and I’m so happy she’s feeling fine just a day after that gross, gross morning.
In other news, Carol is seriously nesting now. Cindy is nesting too, but she isn’t quite as serious about it as Carol. As you can hear, Carol does not want anyone near her nesting box. THAT MEANS YOU, CINDY BUTTONS!
Oh I almost forgot! Simon ended the maggot day by getting poop stuck to his butt fur. So the whole day really came full circle to be completely craptastic from beginning to end. Well played, furry and feathered family. Well played.
Quacks and clucks,
Tiff and the flock
Staycation Update
My staycation is still going well, but coming to an end way too fast. Each morning I still hang out with the flock and enjoy snoozing in the early morning in the yard while they forage for bugs.
Each time I wake up, the flock is hanging out with me but they’ve moved around and switched positions. Most times, Cindy is standing on me, like a perch.
Little Lionel Ernest is doing well. He doesn’t like me too much, so I had to take his photo through the fence.
He is still on antibiotics for at least two more weeks, but I do think he is feeling better than when he arrived. He almost looks… happy.
The chickens are all doing well right now, thankfully. Janet is as beautiful as ever. Her fluffy dark red feathers and furry face make her stand out in the green yard right now.
Ramona photo bomb! Ramona manages to walk right into a scene just as I’m snapping a photo, but this was a particularly cute pose.
Carol and Janet hang out together a lot. Carol is really talkative these days, and trills and growls most of the day. All of the hens pick on Cindy Buttons a bit, maybe because she wasn’t feeling well a few weeks ago.
Ramona photo bomb! O’Malley and Petunia are spending a lot of time together. Ramona was nesting, but we took her eggs away yesterday so she’s adjusting back to regular flock life. She is really mean to Petunia when she’s nesting though, so Petunia keeps her distance.
Petunia is rooming with Cindy Buttons and Olivia right now, but she’d prefer to room with O’Malley. Unfortunately I can’t put O’Malley or Ramona with hens because they’ll hurt them, so Petunia is on her own. She has been shopping around for new space for her to share with O’Malley, and it looks like her plan is to kick Lucky & Miles out of their space. She paces in front of their door every morning back and forth, back and forth. She is certain that their space will be the perfect spot for her and O’Malley. I’m not sure where she thinks Lucky & Miles will go, but I’m pretty sure she doesn’t care.
She is getting a little old, but she’s just the sweetest girl. I have really enjoyed this week with her, and she is more friendly with me because of the time I’ve spent with her.
Ramona has calmed down now that I’ve taken her eggs away, but Petunia is just getting too old to deal with her cranky attitude.
I’ve been reading a pretty good book on my staycation, and I thought these two paragraphs were a great reminder for me.
Lastly, today we reconfigured the aviary to add a third space for the handicapped kids. Now there is space for O’Malley, Petunia and Ramona. Then there’s space for all the hens as well as Miles and Lucky (let’s hope they all get along). And lastly, there’s new space for Lester, Danny girl and Lionel Ernest to spend their days. Miles and Lucky will be able to look longingly at Danny girl through a partition, and there are wading pools for both sets of kids. Cindy Buttons has been known to attack ducks, but I’m hoping she will chill out. Lucky has been known to attack chickens so maybe they will work it out and keep each other occupied and entertained.
That’s it for this staycation. The tonsil is still improving, so we didn’t do much else but rest, but that was just what we needed so it was a-okay.
Quacks and clucks,
Tiff and the flock
