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We are so sorry for our long absence from the website, it seems that once summer starts there are so many chores.
Here is a look back at 2009.
January: After some kung-fu fighting in the bunny pens, we decide to pair up the rabbits and section the pen into three living areas for male-female couples: Rembrandt and Rivera, Monet and Chagall, and Mattise and Rivera. These pairings seem to work pretty well and the fighting stops.
February: Ginger goes to the vet for her egg laying problems. After seeing X-rays, we decide to add more vitamins and protein to her diet. She has problems with the cold and is found trembling after a day outside with the other chickens so she is put on indoor rest.
March: After being stuck indoors for months, Ginger starts receiving visits from some of the bantam roosters in order to enliven her days. Before we know it, she is brooding over four eggs. We realize that she has been brooding too long but I am sure that her eggs are not fertile. Apparently Miyagi is not the scared gentleman he seemed to be and soon Ginger is a mommy. She has two chicks who eventually turn into beautiful roosters Seeger and Curtis.
April: We start making plans for the Nevada Humane Society walkathon. Mark starts working on the newsletter and we receive literature from several new groups to distribute. We decide to bring Fritz the rooster to the event since he loves people.
May: After the chicks start crowing (and we realize they're roosters), Ginger and her boys get a new home in the isolation pen outside. We take Fritz and head on out to the Nevada Humane Society walkathon. Vegfund donates money for us to hand out free food and we spread the vegan word to hundreds of pet lovers. Fritz is a hit and children seek out the sweet rooster who lets you pet him. Most of the kids have never seen a live chicken and soon many questions about chickens follow.
June: We rescue a neighbor's rooster names Angel after he is terrorized by the roosters and hens at his home. Angel arrives beat up, missing half his feathers and terrified. He is put into our spare bedroom until he has grown back some feathers and put on weight. We change his name to Ozu and get to work rehabilitating him.
We decide to adopt a feral cat colony that has to be moved from its current location immediately and receive a generous donation for fencing to help us keep them confined while they adjust. We also enlarge the rabbit colony by rescuing Artemisia, an unadoptable "screaming bunny" from Nevada Humane Society. Fencing is donated for her also. Seven feral cats arrive on June 30th.
July: Artemisia is an aggressive bunny with a growly disposition. We have to give her medication for a eye infection and soon learn that her scream is more of an opera-like singing. She is immediately renamed the "singing bunny". We don't realize that she is contagious despite being separated by chain link fencing from the others; three bunnies catch her eye infection and two are moved indoors to be treated.
We also have a outbreak of stress-related sickness in the feral cat pen, because of their unhappiness with their forced relocation, and start treating the wild cats as best we can.
August: All but one cat has healed and she just keeps getting sicker so we decide to take her to the vet for treatment. While she is away, the isolation time is over for the other cats so we open the back of the enclosure. During the night all but one cat disappears. The one remaining cat, Malcolm, turns out to be a love and follows us while we do our chores. The burros are finally able to use the enclosed pasture on the hill. The first couple of times we have to chase them from the top of the hill to bring them back home.
September: On vacation, I build a split pen and coop for Ginger and Ozu (on one side) and Seeger and Curtis (on the other). They will all be bunking in the same shed but indoor fencing is created to keep them apart. The burros realize that when dusk comes, it is feeding time so they start waiting at the pasture gate to be put away at night.
October: This becomes the major winterizing month, we make sure that every pen is warm and protected. We build new roofs out of tin panels for the bunny compound since the tarps spray water everywhere in the wind and get holes in them. We buy new heated water dishes for most of the animals. We move food to more secure areas, and Mark starts making hay trips to stock up for winter.
November: The month goes by pretty smooth until we notice that Andy has a twist in his neck and Mark spends a chaotic morning trying to load this very strong, 60-plus-pound bird into a vehicle and take him to the vet. Blood tests are run, medication is prescribed and the doctor suspects one of these things:
1. He has had a small stroke
2. He has a parasite
3. He has an inner ear infection
4. He has contracted a bird desease.
She becomes convinced it's #3. Andy recovers although his neck still becomes slightly crooked now and then.
December: A major snowstorm buries the sanctuary. We spend much time shoveling the new metal rabbit roof, parts of which drop down a few inches because of the snow's weight so we can't open the inner doors to feed everyone.
— Dianne