November 15th, 2015

Hello friends and family

Our first chicks have finished their treatment

Last Sunday, Kathryn, the vet came and did the monitoring rounds with me. We found Diphtheria in this colony and so I began treating the chicks here. It was wet and so very slippery. 

Little penguins coming home.

By the time Hiltrun and I had done the monitoring rounds on Tuesday, I had 7 nests to treat. This involves extracting the chicks from under their parent and dosing them with antibiotics and then getting them back in without either them or me being eaten by the stroppy parent. It is not pretty, but it does save lives. 

my new neighbours

​Wednesday was my day at the Top-Tip shop and I made it there by 9:15 am, having got up at 6:30 am, dosed the chicks, and replaced the SD cards in the trail cameras. I came home for lunch and set the week’s batch of cheese growing (?) before heading into town to do the shopping. Needless to say, I forgot half of what I went there for, but from now until chick treatment is finished, I will write it down.

​Yesterday Hiltrun and I did the monitoring rounds and found 2 more nests with Diphtheria but no dead chicks. The disease is not affecting every chick and the early ones have completed their 5 days so the task remains manageable. Linda from Moeraki gave me her husband’s old fishing gloves and they are just perfect for wrist protection and so making the job easier.

The Little penguins are laying eggs – it seems very late, but it is great to see them coming home at last.
Have a great week!
Rosalie.