January 8, 2021 Friday at Rikki’s Refuge
all in a day’s work …. photos by those caring for the animals
(you can help support those animals at www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate )
Good Morning from Grizzly !!!!
if you wake me up …. I deserve a treat !!!
Picnic anyone ?
I hear somebody on the other side of my wall
The chicken ate it all, can we have more ?
Why are there chickens in Cat Houses?
Well, did you know that our birds are the only animals at Rikki’s Refuge that we can’t neuter? That’s right, it’s all cus of their anatomy. The testes are internal, sitting atop the kidneys, connected to a large flow of blood. Anesthesia is difficult and dangerous in birds and after they’re only a few months old, the risk of bleeding to death is quite high. So simply, it’s too dangerous.
We can control population growth thru egg management, letting the dogs or wildlife eat them.
But Roosters get mighty aggressive unless they have a colony of ladies all to themselves. They will fight to the death. They will attach humans too. And OUCH that hurts!!!! A rooster can sneak up behind you and charge, fly up and kick, and leave huge bruises on your behind !!!! And NO, I’m NOT sharing THOSE photos !!!
We found they’ll get along fine with cats. No idea why, but they won’t attack the cats and the cats don’t bother them. They live side by side happily. And they eat out of the same bowl. The roosters also get corn and scratch (chicken food), but as gross as it seems, they love cat food. They do eat a lot of bugs after all.
WOOF WOOF
don’t forget us doggies !! Yes, Rikki’s Refuge has doggies too. You see lots more cat pictures cus there are far more than 10 times the number of cats.
WHY?
Well cats are smaller, eat less, need smaller doses of meds, require less space per animals. Cats have better social skills and can live in houses of 30 or 40 and get along fine. If they do argue, it’s a minor scratch or worst case an abscess from a bite and easy to fix. Too many dogs, or certain dominant dogs, and they can very seriously injure or kill each other. Many dogs consider our geese and chickens and even the cats as prey, so they can’t run free.
And interestingly, there is more funding for cats than for dogs. Some people designate what their donations are to be used for, others send species specific food.
Diesel here says if you’d like to help the dawggies, just say so on your donation !!
www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate
Oink Oink
Piggies LOVE the mud
Piggy Paradise was once grass covered, had trees and was very green. That didn’t last long at all. Piggies root. That means putting their nose to the ground and digging for truffles and any goodies they can find. It’s an irresistible urge. If you don’t want your back yard to look like this …. a piggy isn’t the right pet for you !!!!
And it’s the reason we have so many. So many people don’t think ahead and learn about the animal they want to adopt. Ohhh a cute little baby 10 pound piggy sounds like so much fun!!!! Ohh they say they’re like dogs !!! Than people find out how fast and bit they grow. Even miniature pigs reach 100 pounds fast, and in a few years many will be 300-400 pounds. Farm pigs will grow to 900 or 1,200 pounds. And they can’t stop rooting. Asking them to, or punishing them for it, or putting rings in their noses so it hurts to root, is cruel. Nature makes them need to root.
And rolling in the mud is when they’re the happiest. Even cold mud !!! They love the feel of it coating their skin. Hey, you even hear of people putting mud masks on their faces, don’t you? It softens the skin, quells any itches, keeps bugs off, and prevents sunburn. Pigs need mud.
Clarence says, “Nothing stops us from caring for our animal friends, not rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor mud,”
as he wades out into a huge mud hole they’ve dug up and shoved one of their houses into. WHY? Cus they wanted to sleep neck deep in the mud. But it’s going to get COLD tonight and though we’ve never seen a piggy stuck in frozen mud in the morning ….. the thought just sends shivers thru us.
Clarence has moved the house these two claimed to dry land, filled it with straw to burrow down in, and now they’re happy to settle down for the night. 
Most of the piggies will go in the barn and into the nice dry straw and pile up together for the night.
With all the rainy weather we’ve been having, all the hoofed animals create mud in the areas they like to trample. It’s just that soft wet ground and those big heavy hooves.
The ducks and geese love the shift thru the mud too. They shove their beaks in and sift thru it looking for only God knows what to eat. And it’s not from any shortage of ducky food about !!! It’s the delicacy !!
Poor turkey
she’s been spending her days inside the hospital with a foot infection called bumble foot. It’s such a lovely day our and she’s so restless, she’s out for a stroll before it’s time to clean and medicate her foot again. We’ve had chickens and ducks and geese with bumble foot, this is the first time we’ve had it in a turkey. A little harder to get cooperation from. And much harder to make her soak it than with geese of ducks who are thrilled to swim around in a bathtub of warm water for hours !!!
Let the Sun Shine In !!!
Every one is enjoying the sun !!!! After lots of cloudy days …. ohhhh it feels so good !!!!
Wild animals share the Refuge with us.
Many more birds come in the winter when it gets hard to find food.
Some are passing thru, like many of the geese flocks that stop to refuel and rest, others will stay close by for the winter.
In the evening and mornings we’ll see deer in with the goats or cows dining on some hay.
The skunks and opossums and raccoons and occasional bobcat and bear pass thru at night, the squirrels and chipmunks and wild birds are about in the daytime.
How many cardinals can you count ?
Everybody Lives HAPPILY EVER AFTER at Rikki’s Refuge.
With YOUR help we provide life long homes to well over 1,000 animals each and every day !!!!
Animals who had nowhere else on earth to go.
Thank YOU for making it all possible.
www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate