Penguin Conservation

Decades ago, the comedy troupe known as Monty Python’s Flying Circus did a wonderful sketch about a penguin on your television set exploding. In honor of that fabulous skit, I have always had a penguin of one sort or another on or near my television set. Which led to a lifelong habit of noticing penguins wherever they could be seen.

Delicate Beauty

My experiences are not typical or the same as everyone else’s. In general, female birds have a shorter lifespan than males. The stress on their bodies of laying eggs and raising the chicks is high. And if these things don’t cause the early death, they might succumb to egg binding or other such complications of procreation.

Chickens and Ducks

Annually, I like to remind people that animals are not disposable. I like to do this after Easter and Spring because chicks and ducks and rabbits are often given as gifts to young children in urban settings. If you are planning to keep chickens or ducks or rabbits after the holiday, then you don’t need this reminder. Carry on. I’m sure the livestock needs food and water.

CYA (Cover Your Amazon)

People are always asking if we cover the birds at night. They look around at all the cages in the living room alone and shake their heads. And don’t even start on the outside cages.

The truth is, covering birds is a bit risky. If one of them gets a toe snagged in a loose thread on the cover, they could bash themselves to death in panic. It’s not something nice to contemplate or to discover in the morning.

Just Fooling

You would think by now, after a couple decades of having birds around, that I would have learned to not get excited about eggs. Wait until they hatch, I am sure some wise person has said over and over. I’m pretty good with button quail eggs because, with four hens and three cocks, I haven’t had chicks hatch in the last year. And Pixel, my oldest boy, has been showing signs of aging. Like not being able to get both legs under him and going in the same direction. It’s spooky to see him rolling around on his back, but I’m getting used to it.