After feeding the ducks
worms the other day, I quietly asked Deirdre,
our dear mother hen, to please include Miri and
help take care of her for me.
I came back a half hour
later to this:
Deirdre, may I sit with
you?
Please do, Miri.
And the time of healing
began...
And more joined in...
Okay... this is a good
one... Now this is the kind of stuff about
running a sanctuary you won't hear about
anywhere else.
Slug Fest 2008!
Today I caught a
mountain of slugs (wearing rubber gloves, of
course). They are EVERYWHERE on these wetlands
just waiting to be ducky snacks! After about 20
minutes of combing a 10' x 10' area (and leaving
many more behind), I headed to the pens.
Yummy
Ducky Snacks!
I gave a little pile to
each of the boys in their pens and then spread
the bulk of them in the pen with all the hens
(Deirdre, Vida, Daisy May, Tiwana, Jezebel,
Rosella, Jasmine & Miri). Some of the
girls have learned to grab one juicy slug, run
down to the water and sift water through their
bills to rinse the slime off of the slug before
eating it. Then, they run back up the slope for
another. Interesting that one figured it out and
then the others began to learn from each other.
Everyone is begging for more, more, MORE! And
I'm tossing handfuls on the ground and spreading
them all around (again... with gloves on) and
before we know it they have wiped them all out.
Well... apparently Daisy
May got herself a big slimy bunch. While I'm
taking photos and video footage, I see her
struggling with a bill full of goo. I end up
having to pick her up and carry her into the
house. I set her into the empty sink and
proceeded to use paper towels and tissue to
clean out all the slimey gum that has adhered to
her tongue and bill. I used a syringe to spray
it out and massaged her throat to help her get
the rest down. Ha--good thing I wore gloves
outside... That turned out to be a waste
of time. My fingers were covered in booger-like
goo. BLAH! And the whole time I'm doing this,
she's hopping up and giving me hugs. Sweet
little thing! Okay, back out to the pen with
you!
Sheesh, the things I go
through around here to keep everyone
entertained!
