Goose likes to take a swim every morning. Chewy makes a cameo appearance in the background.
Goose will have foot surgery on Tuesday, to clean out the infection and help the foot heal better. The systemic infection isn’t too bad, so goose should be good after one round of antibiotics. We won’t know if goose is a boy or girl until Tuesday. Results take up to a week for that.
Keep honking.
Sunday started with a quick dip in the tree trunk pond.
Then it was snuggle time.
Everybody else just milled about, waiting for snuggle time to end so treat time could begin.
Janet was particularly eager for treats.
Petunia preferred to share my cookie instead of eating duck treats like grapes and tomatoes.
Olivia was very interested in cookies too. I think she already had breakfast though. You can see a little bit of egg yolk on top of her head. That means someone laid an egg and then the chickens ate it. I think it’s Janet’s egg.
“Hand over the cookie and no one gets hurt.”
Chewy asked if he could have his treats in his pool.
So while he swam around…
I hand-fed him peas.
Janet was ready for a 2nd round of treats by then.
So while Flapper settled in for a morning nap in the sunshine, I got Janet some grapes.
After the ducks and clucks were settled, Simon sat on my foot stool and watched the little birdies in the trees. He thinks he’s sneaky, but it’s tough to hide all 20lbs of his furriness.
Here’s hoping we all have a good week.
Quacks and clucks,
Tiff and the crew.
This week has just been full of a whole bunch of random stuff.
On Saturday, Olly Astro and Flapper went to the vet. Olly seemed to be a little under the weather, so we took her with us when Flapper went in for his regular maintenance visit.
As you can hear, Olly was not at all excited to be there, and she lodged many verbal complaints. If she’s sick, we caught it early, so she’s doing just fine. We’ll have blood work results on Tuesday.
Flapper visits his surgeon every 6-8 weeks to have scar tissue cleaned up from a surgery he had two years ago (by his previous surgeon). He had a granuloma tumor at the base of his phallus and had major surgery to remove it. It “cured” him, but he has had recurring problems with scar tissue building up and blocking off his system so he can’t pass waste.
It seems to be improving, and we’re able to leave more time between each vet appointment. He is put under anesthesia and he does just fine. He runs for the door when they’re done, but some extra grapes seem to make everything okay. This time he doesn’t even seem to have any discomfort, so I hope it continues to improve and require less maintenance.
Both Flapper and Olly Astro are on antibiotics… Flapper to ensure he doesn’t get infection from his scar maintenance, and Olly in case her pneumonia or infection is back (she had pneumonia treated for 8 weeks before she came to us). Also, Simon gets a steroid every morning, so right now that means we are pilling a duck, a chicken and a cat every morning. Oh joy! So far, Olly Astro is the toughest patient.
Simon is doing well. He is such a sweet guy.
He has taken on a night shift job as “Chief Bug Monitor.” Once all the chickens and ducks are asleep, he likes to sit on the deck and watch for bugs. He especially likes moths. I sit in the dining room to keep an eye on him, and after a while he’ll come back in to tell me all about the bugs he found.
Janet is doing well. She has a one-track mind: Treats!
She’ll follow me just about anywhere to make sure she’s not missing out on any surprise treats. And did you notice she is hanging out in the main area now? She and Olly Astro are finally getting along with Olivia, so all three of them share the aviary space with Chewy and Flapper now.
Olivia is still good friends with Chewy, whether he likes it or not. She likes to guard him when he’s in the big nest. But he thinks it’s more like being held prisoner.
He’d rather be in the ivy hidey-hole we’re making, with his buddy Flapper.
Flapper continues to be a bright light in my life. I’m happy he is in good health and enjoying life. It’s not easy with arthritis and scar tissue, but he is doing well and seems happy… especially when he has grapes.
He is just about the sweetest kid on the planet, and I’m glad he lets me hold his beak for him.
That’s it from our house this week. Oh! O’Malley and Petunia are doing great too. They just didn’t pose for photos today.
Hope your week was a good one, and we’ll see you soon, with even more stuff!
Chewy wanted to check in tonight and just say hello.
Flapper was not quite as interested in chatting. He is not too fond of the camera.
Everyone is doing well. We’re having some major yard work done in and around Flapper’s night pen and aviary, so the ducks — and the people — are a little busy these days. But once that’s settled we’ll be back with more fun and more photos.
Quacks.
Chewy took a bath in the tree trunk pool today, and then showed off his feathers as he preened them.
First he got some oil from his oil gland on top of his tail.
Then he spread the oil onto his long wing feathers.
Some feathers were hard to reach, but he managed to preen them all.
He even scratched his chin feathers, which gave me a close-up view of his fuzzy butt.
Finally it was time to flap off the last of the water droplets.
Chewy even flapped to show off his buff chest feathers. He has been working out.
The bright sunlight showed off Chewy’s colorful feather details once he was all clean and preened.
Lookin’ good, Choo Choo. Right down to the last freckle.
“Thanks.”
After preening, Chewy laid down next to his wingman Flapper for a nice Saturday afternoon nap.
I was laying down on the other side of Flapper, so we all took a nap together.
On the other side of me, even O’Malley settled down for a nap with Petunia and Olivia the chicken.
Simon gave us the stink eye from across the yard, because he doesn’t like to nap near flapping birds. Too bad, Simon.
We hope everyone had as nice of a Saturday afternoon as we did.
Happy summer weekend, from Chewy and the whole crew.
Flapper thought you would like this photo, even though it is blurry.
As you can see, Olivia is good buddies now with Chewy and Flapper. The three of them are always together, especially Chewy and Olivia. Flapper can’t walk very well anymore because of his arthritis, so Olivia joins Chewy on bug hunts and they get along really well together.
We’ll always miss Racquel, but it is good to see that life goes on and new friendships can help to ease the grief of friends who are gone.
In other news, we rescued a new kind of animal.
Okay maybe it’s not an animal, but it does need some rescuing. This is my childhood motorcycle. My dad brought it to me when he came to Seattle for my graduation. I am planning to restore it back to good working condition and use it to get lattes and breakfast and such. Maybe we’ll even add a sidecar for Flapper (kidding).
It is an early-1970s Indian motorcycle with an Italian engine. Probably 80cc engine. We’ll know more when we get it cleaned up a bit and do some research. For now it lives in the living room. Yes… the living room. 
Flapper is off to the vet today for a quick check-up to make sure he is doing well, and also to get some medication for his arthritis.
Have a good weekend everyone!
This weekend was full of antics and silliness.
For instance, did you know that chickens like applesauce?
Well they do. But if you plan to share with them, make sure you take your share first, because they get dirt in your applesauce.
In other news, O’Malley was the victim of a sneak attack.
“It was scary!”
He was walking by Racquel L’Oreal in the yard, and Racquel thought he was way too close. She thought he was going to attack her so she made a pre-emptive strike and FLEW through the air right at O’Malley’s face.
HI-YA!
“I wasn’t attacking her, she attacked me. I was just walking by her and she went kung-fu on me.”
“I have conquered. Who is next? Wax on, wax off. HI-YA!”
Calm down, Racquel. No one is after you, silly muppet.
“I’m going to stay in my pen for awhile. Will you close the door?”
Sure thing, O’Malley. I’m sorry buddy.
Racquel is growing some new face feathers, so maybe she is just a bit sensitive.
Here is what we call a “Racquel Eclipse.” She stands behind Olivia sometimes and we can’t find her.
Everybody else is doing fine. Chewy loves napping in the long grass.
And Flapper does, too.
“Wait! It’s not nap time until after treat time.”
Good point, Flapper. I’ll go get some treats and we’ll wish everyone a good week for now.
Have a good week, everyone.
This morning we started with a great breakfast.
The bagel has Earth Balance non-dairy buttery spread on it, and Olivia made the eggs for us. Thanks, Olivia!
“You’re welcome. How do I get back in my nest to lay another egg?”
Oh, I’ll help. Let me open the door for you, Livi.
“Thank you.”
After breakfast, we had a surprise guest who put on quite a show!
A juvenile bald eagle showed up! Luckily the crows were there to give him a hard time. Here’s a play-by-play of the eagle show.
1. Eagle! Run, chickens! The chickens ran under the shrubbery, even though they weren’t in danger since I was outside with them.
2. Crows on attack. Look at the size difference!
3. Whoops! Upside down eagle. Nice one, crows.
4. Close-up of the eagle.
5. Eagle gives up. This is more trouble than it’s worth.
6. See you later, eagle. Thanks crows!
Here’s a close-up of how BIG the eagle is, compared to the crows.
And here’s the top of the eagle.
We think this was a juvenile bald eagle. We’re sure glad we have an aviary!
After the eagle show, our resident crow kept an eye on the sky, just in case the eagle decided to make another pass.
Then he settled in for a nice nap.
Thank you for keeping such a good eye on the sky for us, crow.
“You’re welcome.”
Racquel L’Oreal the fuzzy muppet came out from under the shrubbery and started hunting for bugs.
O’Malley preened his belly while Petunia settled in for a nap.
Chewy found a comfy spot on the grass to sit down and rest.
And as usual, Flapper took comfy to a whole other level.
Happy weekend napping, and a very Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there.
Hi, Flapper. Why don’t you tell us about the weekend?
“Hi mom. It was a pretty busy weekend around here.”
“But I think I’m going to need some treats to give me enough energy to tell you about everything that’s going on.”
Okay, Flapper. You got it.
“Can I get a little bit of that treat action over here? I prefer worms.”
Sure thing, Chewy.
“I need those extra treats so I have extra energy to MOVE FAST when O’Malley is chasing me.”
Good point, Flapper.
“Okay, so Simon the furball was outside with us this weekend. He likes to keep an eye on the crows.”
“The crow is gathering extra food for his girlfriend and her nestlings. We’re not sure if they’ve hatched yet, but he is stockpiling food.”
“He carries the food from the fence up, up, up…”
“Up to the gutters to hide it for later. Then he takes some to his girlfriend at her nest.”
“And then the crow comes back to hang out with us. Here he is watching the Stellar’s Jay.”
“The Stellar’s Jays are nesting nearby too, but we think they may have lost their eggs or nestlings to some other crows. Sorry, Stellar’s Jays.”
“O’Malley and Petunia spent time this weekend hunting for bugs.”
“Petunia is really good at it because she concentrates really hard.”
“Chewy and I just took some extra naps.”
“Oh… Olivia and Racquel L’Oreal hunted for bugs, too.”
“And Racquel had her butt feathers and face feathers trimmed… hee hee.”
“I think that pretty much sums up the weekend. Why don’t we end it with a few more treats?”
That was a good weekend update, Flapper. Thanks, my buster. I will go grab you some more treats.
Happy week, everyone.
Hi Flapper, how are you doing?
“Oh, hello. I am just preening my feathers after the sky sprinklers got me all wet.”
Your feathers are looking really good, buster.
“Thank you. Now I just preen my belly.”
“And shake the rest of the sprinkles off.”
“Oops. I missed a spot.”
It was a beautiful weekend in the yard.
Flapper and Chewy enjoyed the rain showers and the great sunshine.
Petunia enjoyed hunting for bugs.
“Did you see any bugs?”
I will keep an eye out for them for you, Petunia.
“Thank you.”
O’Malley and I had some deep conversations.
And then he sang a song for me.
That was a beautiful song, O’Malley.
“Thank you.”
The yard is in bloom and everyone is doing fine. What more could I ask for?
“Peas?”
Ha ha, I guess so, Chewy. I could ask for peas. But that was just an expression.
“How about waffles?”
Okay, Racquel. I will ask for peas and waffles for you and Chewy.
“Oh, now the weekend is perfect.”
I agree, Chewy. All we need now is a nap.
“Great idea. Let’s go take a nap.”
“I’m way ahead of you. ZZZzzzz.”
