That's a rough one! ChaCha ended up with use because the other people in the neighborhood wanted to eat her. Thankfully the couple she was following wanted her to be just a pet, so they kept looking! I had JUST rehomed my Trina goose to her big ranch with her boyfriend (who are doing splendidly, just got an update and some pictures of them this last week ruling their 16 acres!) and was really empty nesting (=P), and here ChaCha shows up at my door! What a perfect little white blessing!
*I too have nothing against meat eaters - I raise my own chicken meat from time to time when I'm able. I feel good knowing I can serve the live chickens a happy life just as they serve me and my family the nutrition we need. I think it's a great little circle of life =)
She is so gorgeous!!!! I'm super jealous! Welsh Harlequin was my "must have" duck breed before I got ChaCha. Now the list of wants is growing like mad... but Welsh Harlequin was my original duck love!
Do you use craigslist for job searching at all? I don't know how popular it is where you live, but that's how I found my last 3 REALLY awesome animal related jobs!
1) Working at a special needs school creating and running my own "Animal Program" - we raised serama chickens, built a coop for a future flock, gardened for our 2 class pet rabbits, learned all about the basics of egg and chicken/duck anatomy, AND ChaCha could come to work with me as often as I wanted! She split her school days hanging out in the classroom and being general entertainment, and spending her mornings playing with the preschoolers and then napped with them until I could pick her up after class.
2) Nanny for a family working on their own mini homestead - Trina was welcome there when she was growing. I got to help look after the kids AND work with the mother to build their homestead and work with the animals (I love milking goats, it's oddly therapeutic). Having a veterinary background I was able to do a lot of the things your average person has to pay a livestock vet to do. I could do all the regular checking of animal health, keep daily health records with TPRs etc, draw blood to send to the lab for routine tests, trim hooves, triage, it was a blast!
3) Front Office at an exotics vet - on reptile days I could bring ChaCha. She sometimes came on bird days, but I always feared for her health so I usually kept her home. She was behind he desk so the dogs never bothered her (and bonus for me, I didn't have to be in contact with the dogs/cats so I didn't suffer much from my allergies, but being trained as a VA I could help out with blood draws/catheters and restraints on all the exotics, all the fun, none of the cage cleaning hassle haha)
If you put yourself out there with a really great description of all the things you have passions in (not just animals), people will reach out to you for their special jobs. The Special Education school offered me the job based on my nanny ad, I never imagined I'd be able to combine education and my special needs experience with my love and knowledge of animals! You are so awesome, I'm SURE there's a perfect job that's been crafted JUST for you out there, you just have to find it!
Omg. I love his face! I think crested ducks have an extra gene that makes them mischievous... ChaCha makes that same "satisfied with my destruction" face after she's done something naughty lol
