Sorry that you lost those ducklings! I've had my share of problems in the past. This is the first year out of five that I've had a good hatch out, we've got 40 some babies so far. 3 more ducks setting. My momma's averaged a dozen each this year. Each momma has her own small pen with a little shelter, there are no fights over babies, the dogs and the hawk can't get them. The Mom will keep the babies warm at night. They usually hang out in the nest for 2 or 3 days during hatching. Then the babies need water! and food after that. Chick starter works for mine, then I switch them over to scratch grain. Water is their biggest need, we fill the gallon contains twice a day. As for a pool, there are two schools of thought on it: 1) no water until fully feathered; 2) they are water birds, let 'em be happy ducks. My experience is that while the babies love water from day one, they have trouble getting in and out of pools and tubs. When they are free range, momma takes them to the nearest water and lets them play all day. I find that small cages or pens get really nasty when wet with lots of babies in them. So I keep the water to small water dishes, (1 gallon plastic feed dishes) shallow with lots of "steps" in and out. And maybe a wooden 2x4 "float". They get this treat only once a week, on hot days, for a few hours when I'm moving things around. (This week is going to be the first.) HOWEVER, when you have the time and a kiddie pool of clean water (and a video camera!) set it up for them and get a couple of chairs so you can watch the fun! The little balls of fluff dive and splash, some will go under water and play "shark." They hop in and out all after noon. Great fun to watch! Good luck with the rest of the hatch!

Kitty, I am so sorry that you lost your little bunny. It is so hard to give up on them. This has been a very difficult summer for our animals. Horrendously hot and so very dry....we are way behind on rainfall. The hot spell was off and on (seemed mostly on) for July and most of August with 108 being the highest temp we reached. The past week has finally seen a bit of a turnaround. We have had three spates of rain with a total accumulation of about three inches. Things have turned green again. We lost four of my little grey Japanese bantams one day despite regular water changes and a box fan blowing on them. Then, the youngest of our three peacock chicks just faded away. The other two are doing great, though, and I just had to giggle when I saw one of them "courting" the other one. Wish I could have gotten a picture. He was draggging his wings, with his tiny little tail stuck straight into the air while he was slowly circling the other chick. He was just about a month old so they do learn early in life. On August 19th the last of our summer's guests left for home so we have been trying to readjust our lives a bit. The first arrived the second week of June and we did not have a dull moment for two whole months. Three sets from Florida and finally, my son & family from North Carolina. While they were here we did some house searching for them and his wife did some job interviews. They are planning to move here in November. We did find an old farm house for them to rent about six miles from us so they will have a place to land until they get their house built. Great fun. I fell late in July and fractured my right wrist. Am a bit osteoporotic and the break was not cleanly across the bones but caused some splitting. It has been the most painful break of my life. And, having a cast on my right arm (am right handed, of course) during this 100+ degree weather has truly been something I do not want to repeat. Even with the guineas working tirelessly we have had a bumper crop of teensy-tiny, little ticks this summer. Just out in the yard a half an hour today and got two on me. Looks like we will wait until after frost to finish cutting the winter's wood supply to avoid the ticks as much as possible. Am sending in reinforcements! We just turned twenty lavender and pearl guineas out of their pen for the first time today. Here's hoping they can find the little blood suckers! My young americaunas will be the next of our little group to be "freed". We got ten little pullets in May that look fully grown now. Funny looking girls, with those fuzzy faces. Jude, would give a bunch to be able to pick blackberries with you. Ours burnt up on the vines before they got a chance to ripen. Here's hoping for next year. Sure good to catch up with you all again. More later!

Our battle with Bosco's hemangiosarcoma came to an end yesterday. He had been feeling ill with a fever of 106° F over the weekend. Their normal temperature is 101° to 102.5°F. So I went to work and raided the place of every antibiotic you can think of, IV fluids, IV catheter... It NEVER occurred to me to grab the euthanasia solution! He got IV fluids through the weekend and a whole pharmacy of medications. His gums returned to a nice healthy pink rather than the ghastly white that had been. He even started to eat baby food that comes in a jar, some ice cream and played with his squeaky ball. He even got up and was walking around. :-) His improvement was apparently his "last hurrah" which I have seen numerous times in terminal patients thoughtout the years. His gums were white yesterday morning and was not breathing normally. I got him into the car by myself. (Amazing what the body can do in an emergency situation.) We took only one radiograph of his chest ... just to see ... :-( About 95% of his chest cavity was tumors. At least five were larger than the size of my fist! There was so much cancer that his heart could not be seen because of all of the tumours. Maybe some involved his heart too. There was a tiny area of his lungs one inch square that appeared cancer free. Certainly that is not enough for a 100 pound dog! I believe that his cancer also infiltrated the intestines because he had black diarrhea yesterday morning. Black is an indication of severe bleeding and the blood has been digested before exiting the body. His type of cancer stems from the cells of blood vessels and there are blood vessels everywhere. He could have had a rupture of a tumor anywhere in his body. That Bosco's gums turned white again was a sign that his tumors were bleeding. That was another painful thing for him plus it made it even harder for him to breathe. Maybe his back pain was the cancer in the spine? Everything was so nice and normal just 3 weeks ago (radiographs and blood work). We even had a check up with his oncologist in August and he was more than delighted how well Bosco was doing! But ... one needs to have at least one billion cells change before the first change is seen on a radiograph. The hemangiosarcoma is also the fastest growing cancer in a dog. :-( I could not see him suffering any more although he never complained about anything I did for him! I called my Mom and told her what was going on and she too did not want this sweet dog to be in needless pain any longer. He was on a thick soft blanket, I gave him a kiss for every family member, told him I was sorry that it came to this. He got an anesthetic through his IV catheter. He still had the one I placed on the weekend. He didn't even need to get poked again. He went to sleep and then I gave him the injection to stop his heart. The guy I work with asked if I wanted him to put Bosco down. No. I needed to perform this final act of love and mercy for our dearest Bosco. Bosco was so trusting and he let me know through the look in his sweet eyes that it was OK and he was ready to leave his pain. :-( The dose is 1cc per 10 pounds of body weight. He died after he got a dose for someone only weighing 20 pounds. I did give him the full dose but for sure he was ready to go. Bosco will be cremated and we will get his ashes back in a few days. I e mailed Mike/Ima_Celery about what was going on and again yesterday what had happened. I don't think he has had time to check his e mails yet. The Internet situation in S. America can be iffy at times. Mike will be back in early October. Daisy is looking for Bosco. Bruno the cat, Bosco's best friend, knows something bad has happened and is lying on Bosco's bed all day. None of the cats had eaten yesterday either! We got his spleen out last September and while 80% of dogs die within one to two months of diagnosis, we were lucky ... did the 12 weeks of chemo and got to have another 11 months with him! About 6 years ago Bosco fathered a litter of 7 puppies. ALL have his loving friendly personality. We were so delighted with his puppies we put some of his "representatives" into a sperm bank. Perhaps later if we find a nice female GSD, she might have some Bosco puppies and his line will endure. That is far down in the future. We need to cope, somehow, with this totally unexpected turn of events. I gave myself a mega headache from crying yesterday and today. Drugs have dulled it a bit but not totally. My sincerest thanks to Semper, Heather and Bihai for their compassion and care during this ordeal! What wonderful people they are, and the rest of you Pond people, for such concern for someone you have never even met! Time to cry some more. :-( Chickadeedeedee

Ugh oh, Marcia, that sounds bad! I hope we can catch this critter soon. GoldenPond, a flock of chickens is worth the effort! They are only susceptible to snakes when they are chicks. Once they are bigger, they actually hunt and kill snakes, lizards and frogs! Chicks need warmth, light, and a very, very secure enclosure. I've raised chicks and turkey poults in the house when conditions were bad. Easier to raise them in summer, you will need lots less heat. Your brother had what is called a chicken tractor. Lots of people use them. Dogs can overturn them and kill the birds. I turn my flock loose every morning, lock them up at night. We have secure fences, so no stray dogs can get in to kill them. Hawks don't bother the large breed chickens, at least as far as my local hawks. I've had my birds nearly 2 years, and this is the first time I've had predation issues. My previous flocks were also untouched by predators. I have 6 large dogs, a really efficient Jack Russell Terrorist who will kill anything that crosses her path (except chickens and any cats), but the dogs sleep indoors, in the A/C. A home-raised flock is great for using food you might otherwise discard. They love flawed fruits/veggies/any leftovers. They produce delicious eggs, and when the coop is kept deep in clean shavings, they don't smell bad. They are very amusing and entertaining. On the downside: they poop everywhere, kick away all my mulch, expose the roots of fruit trees, will destroy a veggie garden in minutes, cackle like lunatics, and lay eggs in my pots. They especially like to hang out on the patio and decks, to gossip, peer in the windows, and of course, poop! I have fences around all my raised beds and new plantings. Otherwise there would be no mulch left in place. My neighbors have loose banty chickens. I wonder if any of them have gone missing? Not that they'd notice... Lisa