Eric! A trip to the beach
Well, not quite the beach...
The three babes are now getting on for 500g, and spend much of their time clamouring for more food. Their distinct personalities are showing through well. Number 1 is (to me) perfection! (She) is ever so statuesque, graceful and observant, and is by far the best walker. In fact she loves walking so much, that she often jumps the gun and runs off ahead, only to turn around aghast when you have gone the other way!
She is by far the bravest, and whenever the trio are met with a new obstacle is always first to overcome her fear with a little flick of the head.
Number 2 is mean. Bigger and rounder than the other two, he has become a bit of a bully. There is never a day that goes past where he doesn't have a chunk of someone else's down sticking out of his beak... He rears the fight like a bull to a flag! Sadly this behaviour is completely natural, and we can only hope that he grows out of it when he realises that food is always on the menu. The weaning process may well wean him away from his aggression.
Number 3 is a sweetheart. Despite hatching out with a twisted right leg, the taping and treatments have not deterred her from loving her various and rotating mums and dads. Above all things she displays some of the most naturalised behaviour; eating pellets out of the feed bowl, filtering water and hiding between your legs. Due to being 3 days younger than the other two, she sadly has a bit of a inferiority complex, and simply bows her head when number 2 comes kicking past. As such, she has a bit of a bald patch!
As the flamingos grow, we need to continuously move them on to different stages to encourage healthy growth and behaviour. The current stage is a 3 metre square pond lined with sand! This allows them to womble around during the day and to get some free exercise separate from our efforts.
The team designed a loop of hose which sits underneath the pond liner creating a shallow pool. Here we are encouraging them to eat Lundi; a small pelleted chick food which floats, and Charnwood flamingo pellet. Having been crop fed up until this point, feeding with their beak is something new and alien to them!
At first they were stabbing away, completely missing the target through being over-zealous. After a while though, little number 3 really got going! Her little tongue started filtering and she just hoovered up all 20 pellets. With their little feet all wet, it is fascinating to see how the birds interact during the day by the dispersion of their footprints. Number 1 follows the walls, Number 2 stays up front, and Number 3 wombles all over the place!
Stay tuned for the next installment...
