Volunteers begin showing up as early as 9:30. First on the agenda is cleaning duties. Grates are pulled and washed. It was raining, but a little rain never stops our group! Here you can see Dave pressure washing in the rain. (Thanks Dave!)
Papers are changed and trays are cleaned. This sounds pretty mundane, but some of the birds really like to help during this process. Unfortunately the parrots were feeling camera shy and so all we managed to get were shots of Danny and Brent. It's nice to have such photogenic volunteers!
Floors are swept and mopped. The birds all enjoy supervising from their cage tops and add in vocal corrections. If the floor isn't done properly they will make physical corrections... you need a poop right THERE! Now, that's perfect.
Food and water is changed out. Many of our fine feathered friends like to make what we affectionately call "chicken soup". It's similar to bobbing for apples, only they use pellets. Any pellets that they don't successfully retrieve dissolve and make the water all sorts of fun colors! They say chicken soup is good for you. Unfortunately it's also a breeding ground for bacteria - so the soup is dumped and the the bowls are sanitized.
During all of this, birds are watched for any signs of illness. Anyone who has sharp toenails receives a pedicure and once all the physical/medical/cleaning chores are done we get to the fun part. Everyone gets to relax with a bird or birds of their choice. This is socialization and it's enjoyable for parrots and people alike.
Joe takes a second from making eyes at Brent to check out the camera.
Herby doing what he does best. Showing off!
Brent pointing out the camera to Ruby. Note: Ruby is already hamming for the camera.We hope you enjoyed this look at Saturday at the rescue and we hope you decide to join in on the fun!
