Chickens are more than something to eat. They are intelligent and social animals. The chatty bird has even won the hearts of many people who now keep them as a pet. Chickens are becoming a popular option for an emotional support or therapy animal. Social animals make great therapy animals. Their need to connect and desire to be around family helps people suffering from anxiety, depression and loneliness. While dogs, cats and horses have been the traditional therapy animals, chickens are pecking their way in. Chickens are entertaining and talkative animals. They have over 24 different types of vocalizations. Aside from their vocals, they have unique personalities. “The talker, the complainer, the bossy one and the placid and the dopey and the eagle eyed smarty pants,” states Psychology Today. There is a perfect chicken for everyone. On top of the entertainment they provide, chickens are a perfect choice for people who are allergic to dogs and cats. The feathered animal has been introduced to nursing homes and senior living communities with great success. Therapy chickens have helped people with mental illnesses, children with autism, and give the elderly a reason to live. Having an animal to care for gives them a reason to wake up every morning. Studies done on facilities that have used therapy chickens have shown, “chickens at nursing homes can reduce resident-to-resident altercations, reduce antipsychotic drug use and increase the number of visits residents receive from friends and family,” according to Sheboygan Press. Therapy animals spark conversation about the patient’s past pets and brings back memories. This helps patients that are suffering from memory loss. The therapy animal also initiates conversations between the residents. “They can make good therapy pets for people who live with a backyard because they cost much less than dogs. Care-taking is good for you, when it’s not overwhelming and a chicken can provide an “un-anxious example of how to live without worry,” reports Psychology Today. While some chickens like to be handled and cuddled, they still need their outdoor time. Chickens need time outside to search for worms and bugs. “Researchers at the University of Northumbria found that “poultry therapy” in nursing homes can reduce feelings of depression and loneliness in patients — and can be especially helpful in getting male patients to be more social.” Chickens are affordable and entertaining therapy pets that are changing the lives of many people. These intelligent feathered animals are finally being seem as something more than food.
Have you ever wondered about the eyes of an animal, and how they differ from ours? Not only in shape, size and color...but in vision. I am not an expert by no means on animals eyes, but decided to do some research and share with my readers. A couple of questions that I was interested in were, "why do animals have luminous eyes at night and why do some animals' eyes shine red at night and some yellow?" I found out: The eyes of many animals, but not humans, contain a reflective layer called the "tapetum lucidum". That helps the eye gather more light, which improves night vision. You just see what's reflected back at you; the rest of the light is absorbed by the creature's eye. But it's not a precision mirror, and it tends to give you less accurate vision during the day. Humans go in for precision (which is why we can read) at the expense of hunting or seeing predators at night. The tapetum lucidum is reflective, but it's not like a mirror. It's more like some bird feathers and butterfly wings, where it uses ridges or dots of clear material to achieve a colored effect. The distance between the ridges interacts with the frequency of light to give you different colors. The colors you're not seeing are the ones that the animal are what the animal actually sees. Another question I had was, What does the phrase "eye of the tiger mean?" I found out: In the wild, seeing the "eyes" of the tiger signifies death, because right before a tiger attacks, it turns its ears forward so that the spot on the back of each ear faces nearer its prey. The "eye spots" on the back of tigers' ears serve to confuse predators and reduce the risk of attack from behind. Hence, once someone sees these "eyes", the tiger is about to attack. Did you know:
Dogs and cats are color blind. They are said to be able to see only in pale shades of color.
Snakes have 2 sets of eyes. One pair for day and one pair for night.
Insects and bees use compound eyes made up of hundreds, even thousands of tiny lenses placed together in a honeycomb pattern.
Horses eyes point sideways to give them excellent peripheral vision.
Animal welfare workers removed 71 beagles from a cramped house in rural Pennsylvania, where officials say a woman had been breeding them without a license before she died last month. The Lehigh County Humane Society got a call late Saturday night from police who responded to noise complaints at a home outside Allentown, said Barbara Morgan, the Humane Society's police officer. The officers estimated about 25 dogs were inside the home. Four animal welfare workers and two trucks responded. "Six hours later, we've removed 71 beagles," Morgan said, adding she had never seen so many animals squeezed into such a small space. Many are sickly and underweight and all of the animals had fleas, she said. Several are showing symptoms of mange and others have vision issues and are possibly blind. They range in age from weeks old to senior-aged. To read more on this story, click here:Animal Welfare Workers Save 71 Beagles Crammed In Small Home
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St. Martin Parish, Louisiana - An enormous alligator tried to be the doormat of a home in Louisiana Saturday. St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office posted photos of the at least 6-foot gator splayed across the front stoop of a home. "So....you never know what may show up on your door step (sic)!" the sheriff's office wrote on Facebook. "Just another day in the life of a St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office Patrol Deputy." One of the photos posted by the sheriff's office appears to show the gator vacating its comfortable spot in the shade of the house, but its open mouth suggests it was not happy to be leaving. The sheriff's office provided one last bit of advice in its post: "Always look before you step!"
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The world's smallest puppy named after one of the world's biggest pop stars, Beyoncé, was so tiny at birth she could fit on a spoon. The female Dachshund mix dog weighed just one ounce when she was born. Animal rescuers in California say that she still remains so small that she can easily fit on an iPhone while she is the same size as a business card or credit card. Experts say she is now likely to set a new record for being the world's tiniest dog. She is not yet officially the title holder but a "fast-track" application has been submitted to the Guinness World Records. But a dog rescue centre in El Dorado Hills, California, has now been inundated with requests to adopt the little animal. Beyoncé was the runt of a litter of five that was born to an abandoned dachshund mix, named Casey. Their mother was too heavily pregnant to have a termination and was scheduled to be put down. But vets intervened and looked after the dog until she gave birth a fortnight ago. When Beyoncé was delivered, vets were convinced she was still born. She was the last one delivered and was born without a heartbeat. Dr Michael Russell, the Grace Foundation's vet, then attempted to give her heart compressions but she still wasn't breathing.
Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation was then given by assistant Beth DeCaprio. She said: "It was actually a little funny, and gross, trying to get my mouth around hers, but after a couple of really small breaths she took a deep breath and started to really move around. "We cleaned out her little nasal passages, and I gave her a couple more breaths and then she started breathing on her own. She is just a remarkable little survivor. "Our hope is that Beyoncé and her miraculous story of survival helps spread awareness about the plight of rescue dogs." Beyoncé is still smaller than the rest of her siblings but she's grown to 124g and is said to be thriving. She is expected to weigh less than 1kg when fully grown.
Do you know what a budgie is? If you live in the United States you probably know it as being a parakeet. Budgies and parakeets are actually one in the same. The term parakeet is a generic label used to describe any small, parrot-like bird that has a long tail. The Budgie/Parakeet is one of the most owned little parrots around the world. They are a favorite with many pet bird owners because they are small, capable of singing, talking and they are relatively easy to care for. The Budgie short for Budgerigar are a native to Australia, and belong to the parrot family. They are colorful and graceful. They come in a variety of sizes from small to medium. They have long tapered tail feathers, and are full of energy. The average life-span of a budgie is generally 2-7 years, although there are some that have lived to 13 and ever older. Some budgies die before their first birthday. There are many factors that can affect the lifespan on a budgie. Many budgies die from natural causes like tumors, unfortunately they are very susceptible to them. Although budgies are often called parakeets, they are actually birds of the species Melopsittacus Undulatus. How to tell the sex of your pet budgie: The color of the cere, the fleshy area above its beak where its nostrils are is the best indicator of a pet budgie's sex. A male budgie will typically have a blue cere or it may be pink or pinkish purple in color. A female budgie will usually have a brown, white, light beige, or a reddish cere. Female budgies also have whitish rings around their nostrils. Colors: While green is the most common color, budgies are bred to produce many color mutations. These colors are categorized primarily by shades of blue or green. Most budgies have striped bars on their wings. Diet: Foods you should never give your budgie: Never give your budgie alcohol, avocado or chocolate - these can kill your parrot! Also avoid asparagus, eggplant, cabbage, caffeine products, junk food, milk and cream, raw potato, and rhubarb (including the leaves). Foods you can feed your budgie: Radishes; turnips; carrots (root and tops); cooked sweet potatoes; radicchio;endive; mustard & dandelion greens; swiss chard; kale; parsley; cooked red potatoes; green beans; bok choy; tomato; sweet red & green, and other types of peppers; cauliflower;broccoli (head and leaves); beet & turnip greens; kohlrabi; sugar snap or snow peas; squash (peeled & steamed); red beets (peeled); romaine or green/red leaf lettuce; collard greens; corn; cucumber. Fruits: Apples;berries; kiwi; mango; cantaloupe; honeydew; pineapple; cherries; cranberries; banana; pears; peaches; oranges; pomegranate; tangerines; grapefruit; papaya; grapes; Apricots. Make sure that you wash all vegetables and fruits thoroughly before feeding. Remove the pits, and all seeds from the fruit. Any vegetables and fruits left uneaten should be discarded daily so that it does not spoil. Since vegetables and fruits are high in water content, the urine portion of the droppings will increase. Cage: Your bird’s cage needs to be big enough for them to stretch and flap their wings without hitting the walls or any hanging toys. The bigger the better. No smaller than 12"x18"x18". Make sure that the spacing between the bars is no wider than 1/2-inch wide. Any wider than that and a budgie could squeeze through the bars and escape, or get stuck in the bars. The decision to own a budgie should be considered carefully. Please consider the facts below before buying a budgie:
Budgies needs daily exercise or it will soon become overweight.
Budgies are highly active and need a variety of toys to play with and chew on.
You should allow your budgie out of the cage for at least an hour a day to fly around and explore.
Males seem to be more "talkative" than females.
They have the ability to speak 100’s of words.
They often have a favorite person, and that will be the person they will cuddle with.
They do bite, and their bites feel like a hard pinch.
Make sure that you socialize your bird when you bring it home so that it will be comfortable with many people handling them.
A budgie might get somewhat loud is if it hears a bird outside and will call to it.
Avoid mirrors in the cage until after you have tamed your budgie. They will think it's another bird and may bond to it instead of you.
The domestic rat is a descendant of the wild brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) and has been bred as a pet for about a hundred years. Pet rats are much less fearful than their wild cousins, and when handled gently, they quickly learn to enjoy riding on their human friends’ shoulders and napping in their laps. Rats like to please their people, are natural problem solvers and hate being bored. So both you and your rats should enjoy the process of teaching them to do tricks. Your rats will probably think they are successfully training you. As well as enhancing the quality of their lives, training your rats will build the bond between you. And you'll look cool showing off to non-rat owners what your little furry companions can do.
What is an Insulinoma? Tumors of the pancreas (insulinoma) can cause excess secretion of insulin, thus lowering the blood glucose (sugar) level to a point that a ferret can become ill. Unfortunately, this is a relatively common problem in middle aged and older ferrets. Symptoms Some ferrets do not show any symptoms while others exhibit lethargy and weakness. There might be a decrease in appetite and weight loss. These symptoms might even come and go over a period of months. Some ferrets will have increased salivation and even a glazed appearance to the eyes, and might even collapse or have seizures. Diagnosis Some ferrets are diagnosed as having an insulinoma when an abdominal surgery is being performed for other reasons (adrenal gland disease, spay, liver disease ). This is especially true for the ferrets that are not showing any symptoms of this disease. For those ferrets that are symptomatic of insulinoma, the diagnosis is made based on history, examination findings, and diagnostic tests.
