Angels On The Corner!

Remember Pieta the goose who lives on the corner? She is now a large lady and weighs quite a lot, as you see below!

Nicola hidden behind Pieta!

And she loves her 'pond' that Emma and Coert gave her.

Her private swimming pool!

Remember she adopted six Egyptian geese that had been found in Saldanha?

Pieta and her brood, December 2013

The story has a mixed ending, a sort of bitter-sweet feeling to it. Read on:

Of the six that were given to Nicola to raise, helped of course by Pieta, five have grown to adulthood. From the very beginning they walked down to the bay with Pieta and Nicola every day, and every day they returned. They grew and flourished under the love and care given to them, along with the hefty amount of corn and grain! We watched them loose their fluff and grow gangly and they reached the 'Ugly Duckling' stage when their 'big' feathers began to grow. One sadly died when I was overseas. It had been weak from the start and we were sad but not surprised when it happened.

So that left five.  But as they all began to grow their adult plumage, we noticed that two of the bird's wing flight feathers were growing at a strange angle to their bodies. Rob called them Angels, and I thought that it was just a name he had given to them. Daily they all stood on the grass and flapped their wings and three of them finally flew! What a wonderful sight to see them circling the house and landing and how relieved Pieta was when they landed! She shouted at them every time they took off. These three finally flew the nest and we have not seen them since. We often see and hear Egyptian geese in the bay and we like to think that they are still here and calling to mum!

The 'Angel Wings'

And then there were two. By now it was obvious that they would never fly. Their wing feathers were sticking out from their bodies and although they did a fair amount of flapping, they remain land bound. They live in the bay now and walk up to visit mum and Nicola most days. They are fed and safe but we worry about strange dogs chasing them as they will never be able to get away. Our dogs all know them and there is often a mix of dog and goose on the Scotts lawn! (That's a good name for a pub, 'The Dog and Goose'!)

Then I decided to google this phenomena and this is what I found:

The only wild waterfowl populations known to be affected are those fed by man. In Sweden,  ten different park populations of Canada geese produced angel wing. The following year one flock was not fed any artificial feed and there were no angel wing goslings produced
The theorized cause of angel wing is the excessive intake of carbohydrate and proteins,  together with insufficient intake of vitamin E, low dietary calcium and manganese deficiency. Angel wing is frequently observed in waterfowl residing near humans, and the disease can often be observed in areas where geese or ducks are excessively fed bread (especially white bread). To prevent angel wing, waterfowl should not be fed white bread, popcorn or other human foodstuffs. Duck seed is an alternative for duck feeders. (Thanks to Google)

But here is the really sad bit. If only I had googled this when they were all tiny and we first noticed that these two were different, the problem could have been fixed.

Because the article goes on to say that if the wings are taped with masking tape to the bodies like a bandage, round and round the bird, after a week the wings are fixed! But no-one knew that and now it's too late. The other interesting thing is that it is usually the male who develops this and if only one wing is affected, it is usually the left one. (Ours is the right wing oddly enough)

The right wing only.

So the very food that saved them, caused the deformity.

And hands up if you have ever thrown bread to the ducks on a pond?

Me too, but I shall think twice next time.