Latest News
Avian Yeast Infection – Part 1
May 16, 2012
We recently encountered something we’ve never seen before: hens with avian yeast infection. It ‘s been a huge learning curve for us, so I thought I’d share it with you – in case you ever see it, you won’t have to go through the same long frustrating experience.
We noticed that some of battery hens in our last rescue had dirty bums. This was followed by a ‘waterfall’ of liquid constantly flowing from their bum, and a cheesy white waxy substance which built up around their vent. The skin on their backside became red and irritated from the discharge. Most vets don’t have much training or experience in birds, so it wasn’t something they recognised. We tried antibiotics, worming, treatments for coccidiosis and diarrhea, and several other things. It was a total stab in the dark. 3 of the birds became listless, stopped eating, and died. After a lot of on-line searching I came up with avian yeast infection (called Vent Gleet in the old days). A trip to the avian specialist in Mt Roskill (5 hours, 200+ kms and $265 later!) confirmed it. The yeast infection takes over internally “from beak to bum”, and inflames their reproductive and digestive system. Even when the hens eat, they still lose condition. It usually starts from mouldy feed, and once started is contagious. The hens had it when they were rescued, and the farm has been notified. (they weren’t concerned – surprise, surprise!) Luckily we had isolated the affected hens early. We checked with everyone who adopted from us, and discovered 2 more hens showing symptoms. All are now being treated. I’ll tell you about treatment tomorrow in Part 2…
CHOOK WARMERS!!
May 11, 2012
Is this the cutest thing ever? And yet so necessary for the naked hens we receive in winter. Wendyl Nissen, The Green Goddess, put a pattern into her newsletter yesterday, asking for her readers to make some vests for our rescued battery hens. It’ll be interesting to see how many we get – apparently when she put in a pattern for beanies for premature babies, Middlemore Hospital was inundated! You can see the article in her newsletter: http://www.wendylsgreengoddess.co.nz/ Wendyl produces all natural cleaning products, which are absolutely divine. Have a look while you’re in there…
Mourning Maddie
May 9, 2012
After a short illness, our sweet Madeline has passed away. We adopted Maddie almost 2 years ago, when she was just a tiny baby. She was rescued from a dairy goat farm, where she was put out for slaughter because she wouldn’t drink from the vat with teats. (They take them away from their mothers immediately, so the mothers milk can be used for human cheeses.) With lots of love and affection, Maddie learned to drink from a bottle, and we fed her 5 times a day. Long after she was weaned from the bottle, I would still give her 1 bottle each day – just because I loved the bonding that came from feeding her. Maddie was incredibly curious, playful, and loving. She wanted to continue sitting on my lap long after she was fully grown! (continued below)
Maddie was into everything. I could post a dozen photos of her in funny situations: climbing a ladder with our handyman, trying to drive the quad bike, standing on our pig Rosie, and enjoying the view from our tree house. But my favourite photo is this one: Maddie with her best mate, Sparky, on Valentines Day this year. They grew up together, and long after Sparky outweighed her, they remained inseparable. When we put Maddie to bed in her paddock at night, Sparky would sleep at the gate and wait to be reunited each morning. One of the saddest moments after Maddie died today was when we let Sparky see her body. He sniffed every inch of her several times, and then started nudging her to get up. When she didn’t, he rubbed his face softly along her side. My heart broke all over again. Sparky and I will console each other in the days ahead, while we adjust to her loss. Maddie will always hold a special place in our hearts.
Paving Progress!!
May 6, 2012
We’ve had days and days of beautiful weather, but because we had volunteers coming to lay more concrete for the animal’s area… it was gray and sprinkling this morning. I think the neighbours heard me scream “NOOOOOOOOOOO!” Luckily, the skies cleared in time, and our four hard working volunteers Natascha, Sascha, Gerda and Michael joined us to lay yet another slab of concrete. Thanks guys, you were terrific!! This is going to make winter so much easier on the animals, and for us. There’s at least one more slab to do before we can retire for the winter, so if you’re keen to volunteer, let me know. 
Sanctuary In The News
May 5, 2012
There was a nice article about our animal sanctuary in the paper. Here’s the link: http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/rodney-times/6781324/Peace-and-quiet-at-The-Sanctuary
Michael is gutted that all his mates now know he said something so romantic!! LOL Actually, in the newspaper version there was a great photo of Michael with a native kereru on his shoulder while he was building a wall. Too bad it wasn’t in the on-line version. I’ll attach it here.
The Underground Railroad
April 29, 2012
We got a call from the far north about some muscovy ducks who were being killed one by one. (The white one in the photo is the Mum of the other three.) Paul had known the ducks since they were little, and was devastated that a neighbour was shooting and supposedly eating them. Linda Nunn of Animal Rehoming asked if we could foster the ducks until a permanent home could be found. The question was, how to get them here? A number of volunteers helped by setting up “the underground railroad” – a name taken from the people who used to help smuggle slaves to freedom in the USA. Paul captured the ducks and drove them to Whangarei. Cathy & Ian met them, and drove them to our Sanctuary at Matakana, where we’d prepared a large enclosed aviary for them. Linda and Bunty arranged a fantastic home for the ducks in Kumeu. Last night our dear supporters Susan, Woodrow and Kath (who were here helping us to prepare for the bantam rescue by cleaning and disinfecting the hen barns), then took the ducks to the North Shore, where they met their new owner Rebekah! It was a long road to freedom and safety, with the help of some truly wonderful caring people. Thanks to everyone involved!! [If you’re interested in joining the underground railroad and helping with transport of rescued animals in future, please let me know. We’ll start a network!)
Concrete Thanks!
April 27, 2012
We had great plans over the previous months to create more concrete slabs near the stables. This would give the larger animals high dry areas during the muddy winter. However, after completing the first large slab a couple of months ago, the rain regularly cancelled our plans. Luckily, the weather was gorgeous over the past 10 days, and our hero Paul and his son Finn came to our rescue. They worked with us last weekend to lay the most important large slab leading to the stables, complete with drainage. It was hard work, but it’s a beautiful thing to behold! After Paul’s expert tutelage, we were able to lay yet another couple of slabs this week. Thanks Valerie, Michael, Paul, Finn – and Joanna B, for the concrete mixer!! The donkeys, horse, cow, goats and pigs all join me in thanking you for your efforts to keep them happy and healthy over the winter.
