Well... I'm feeling a little better about our Mazuri choice. My research is still showing it's the best choice available for our sanctuary.

Jenn discovered that she fed the recalled Mazuri feed to her flock and saw zero negative effects. And both of our vets concur that excess vitamin D wouldn't cause health issues--especially in the short term.

I know there are a lot of folks who disagree with me, but so far I have not seen any lab-supported data linking recalled Mazuri feed to any health issues. We see health issues here... cancer, soft-egg issues, arthritis... these things happen. Nearly every month I'm memorializing ducks and geese for people in our newsletter because sadly... ducks and geese get sick and pass away. I think the danger is assuming that a sick duck could only be sick because of recalled food. While I admit, it could be possible, I do want people to continue to explore all medical possibilities for the sake of their birds. You can't help an animal if you don't fully know what's wrong and that's done through vet visits that include fecal testing, blood tests, cultures, x-rays and possibly ultrasounds.

Jodie-Dee was losing weight during this recall mess. We brought her in for an exam, did blood work and had a fecal test done. We confirmed she didn't have parasites, that her calcium levels were normal, her kidneys and liver were functioning properly and that she was eating properly. While ruling out vitamin D issues, we looked around for other more-likely options and found that Bella and Trisha (our Muscovy hens) were chasing her away from the food dishes and that Young Jeffrey was getting a little to lovey with her--chasing her around the pen. So we changed up her pen situation and watched her diet increase. Things improved for her, but we began seeing signs of cancer. I've seen cancer her plenty to know it when I see it, but I also know that we've had ducks lived happily for up to a year after symptoms appear.

It's in Jodie-Dee's best interests that during all this, I explored more than one medical explanation for her symptoms. I didn't just assume it was recalled food, switch out her diet and be done with it. We slowly worked through the possibilities until we came up with a true diagnosis.

One person tried to tell me that our duck Mercy-Loo who lays soft eggs is experiencing this because of Mazuri. I told them that this was impossible because Mercy-loo is on a Nutrena diet (specially designed to remedy soft eggs) and also that she has experienced this issue since she began laying--it didn't just occur now, with the recall. Besides, our bags of feed were not recalled bags--our dealer was able to confirm this for us.

It's just so frustrating when someone tries to judge our sanctuary or our animals without knowing anything about us or them. And it's not even that they're trying to help so much as they're trying to win an argument that I'm just not willing to have.

I just think everyone needs to do their own research and find their own answers and then make an educated decision. I don't think people should be looking at what everyone else is doing and judging them--especially if they're only relying on hear-say for information rather than doing the research themselves.

My comfort is in knowing that the people who really know us--our supporters, KNOW that I would never risk the health and happiness of our ducks and geese. I LOVE them all so much. They mean the world to me and I owe it to them to care for them as best as I can. And I've done enough research to know that we're still on the right track.

But enough rambling. I'm done worrying about this anymore. Our next feed order will be in soon.

Young Jeffrey

A big crawdaddy moved into Marvin & Lil Ms. Bee's pond and she had a blast watching it crawl all around.

Meanwhile... Bonnie and Dilly ate a crawdad that crept into their pond... I found the broken shells as evidence.

Lil Ms. Bee

Looking down at Marvin... "Pick me up, Momma!"