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the big lessons i have learnt about domesticated quail in the past six horrific years are: 1) no homing instinct. if they're not in direct line of sight of their nest, they're lost 2) kind of the opposite of homing instinct. if they're lost, they don't even really try to find their way back, they just keep blithely walking into nowhere 3) no predator instinct. they don't instinctively recognise birds, dogs, or cats 4) can not and will not learn that the sky is dangerous and will kill them 5) love to fly but are extremely bad at it 6) especially love to fly over fences, not just in fear but in the spirit of exploration 7) aren't chickens now to finally resign myself to the fact that they're quail, not chickens, and they will not start magically acting like chickens if they lead a chicken lifestyle perepelki fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Aug 10, 2021 |
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Aug 10, 2021 19:58
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perepelki posted:i literally cannot leave them unattended in the yard for thirty seconds or they will walk straight up to a raven and kiss it on the lips "Why hello tall, dark and handsome! Are you looking my way?" - Quail, probably. Edit: I'm so sorry for your losses, but I do think you are a good keeper in that you try to give them a high quality of life as much as possible. I support this change of method to a more protected environment but understand what you were trying to do and feel it's important that you know it was done with the best of intentions.
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Aug 10, 2021 20:12
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this is why i could never have a problem with people who breed their quail for meat, especially the ones who harvest and process the birds themselves. our death tolls are probably similar, processed birds have cleaner deaths, and i don't even get to enjoy them after they're dead thank you all for the reassurances, but this is an ethical thing and i feel like i've officially done wrong by the quail species. please let that be on record. i do not want anybody emulating me, trying to have wandering garden quail. it's a bad idea. the toll is too high to justify the golden photo opportunities. they can be just as happy in a spacious cage with living plants, fresh bedding, and a daily pan of dry dust to bathe in; and they will lead long joyful lives, safe in each others' company. please do not do what i have done. perepelki fucked around with this message at 20:21 on Aug 10, 2021 |
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Aug 10, 2021 20:15
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fluffy bunnies told me all this literally years ago and i kept kind of laughing it off like "oh you don't understand how magical and connected to nature i am" and now i'm living in a graveyard that's like an awful testament to my hubris
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Aug 10, 2021 20:23
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To be fair, I've still enjoyed your horrifically tragic quailsplosion stories. I currently don't have the little idiots but I may invest in them again when we move to our Final Destination because it feels appropriate. See if I can work to make quails that lay pink eggs instead of all whites and all browns. Then I can post about their terrifying deaths. Remember that time I tried to do a hatchalong with quail eggs in GBS and I got some nice chicks then they all loving died in the 12 minutes I was outside and their heater malfunctioned? E: also nobody listens to me but I don't generally run my big stupid fat ugly mouth unless I have a clue. Quail are awesome. They die spectacularly. I think your long-rear end experiment was ultimately a failure, but it was pretty fascinating to see how long they did manage to survive. I mean, some of them did incredibly well considering they're quail. It's just, they're tiny bottom-of-the-food-chain nuggets on legs for almost everything. You're sweet and you care a lot about them, but you gotta kind of look at them like... I dunno, the rat thread used to look at rats. They cared, but they all knew they were going to explode with cancer at any time and whoops, that's it. Except with quail, they're charging directly into the light and cackling wildly about it as you scream "nooooo". every day for quail is a glorious day to die. Fluffy Bunnies fucked around with this message at 21:42 on Aug 10, 2021 |
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Aug 10, 2021 21:35
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Aug 11, 2021 00:52
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Alterian posted:Ugh...I think Comet has a B2 deficiency. I don't think it's Mareks because they've all been vaccinated. She's the largest chicken and has just started laying. The others bully her so it's possible she's not getting enough to eat. She's been separated for now. Any suggestions on a good vitamin supplement I can add to their water?
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Aug 11, 2021 00:53
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shoot her up with vitamins instead of trying to get her to drink enough IU:W.
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Aug 11, 2021 02:08
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City of Glompton fucked around with this message at 03:45 on Oct 9, 2022 |
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Aug 11, 2021 04:26
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For what it's worth, I think there's an aspect of animal husbandry and pet owning that will always have you doubting yourself, because we're just longer lived than so many of the animals we keep around us. There will always be loss, there will always be pain, there will always be "gently caress, that was a mistake I'm the worst this wouldn't have happened if I wasn't an idiot, I should've taken them to the vet sooner or made sure I closed the gate properly or paid more attention." Making a mistake isn't a moral failing. It's human. And it's possible to make no mistakes and still lose. I think you did well by your quail while you had them.
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Aug 11, 2021 04:41
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City of Glompton posted:i'm enjoying the wild and semiwild quail here while i can. i'm sure a something (neighbor's cat most likely) will enjoy them even more soon. in any case, bobwhite had another visit with me this evening, some of it i only caught on my terrible phone that was at 5% battery but some of it i got on a slightly better camera  i love the outraged chickens
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Aug 11, 2021 05:09
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accidentally flushing a huge bevy of california quail is always a little startling because their wings are so loud, but then they fly like 20 ft. and its like friends that's the direction of this big straight dirt thing and i'm gonna walk there, so... (repeat etc)
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Aug 11, 2021 05:40
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RoboRodent posted:For what it's worth, I think there's an aspect of animal husbandry and pet owning that will always have you doubting yourself, because we're just longer lived than so many of the animals we keep around us. There will always be loss, there will always be pain, there will always be "gently caress, that was a mistake I'm the worst this wouldn't have happened if I wasn't an idiot, I should've taken them to the vet sooner or made sure I closed the gate properly or paid more attention." Well, one or two mistakes sure but like, it's been a lot of quail. But they were also trying to free-range them and that's literally impossible without huge losses, which is why people who raise them to keep them around for eggs or whatever usually don't do that. I think it's sweet that they wanted to let them be happy, lively animals but gods, those little quail heads are literally full of air. They're so dumb. So sweet and so incredibly, painfully dumb. I had one chick escape and throw itself down a dog's throat literally. It just fluttered straight into the dog's mouth. Like some goddamn pre-uber eats delivery. The dog was so surprised she spit it out and then the quail chick died of shock ten seconds later (probably because it was surprised to be alive). So it's less a mistake and just a failed experiment, but they definitely tried real hard and the quail they had were very spoiled rotten. E: This doesn't mean people should avoid them. They make shitloads of eggs and they're super easy to keep if confined. It's just like, they Mr. Magoo directly to death if given the chance. Any chance. They can popcorn and kill themselves if their cage is too tall because their necks are these lovely, tiny little things and they just loving pop right apart if they get the slightest bonk on the head. And sometimes they randomly decide to murder one of their cage mates by literally pecking their brains out for absolutely no reason. Gah, the temptation to go buy some hatching eggs on ebay grows the more I talk about these idiots. Fluffy Bunnies fucked around with this message at 05:55 on Aug 11, 2021 |
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Aug 11, 2021 05:52
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:it's been a lot of quail.  i tallied them up yesterday, and am too ashamed to say what my final count is. i kept pushing on past the limits of good sense and compassion, but they just looked so happy when they were running around and every time i would think "just maybe, if i fix this one issue, that will fix everything and they can live free", only to have them immediately find a new way of getting killed. it's the ones that escaped the coop and/or yard through tiny gaps to seek out their deaths that really got to me. they didn't just fail to cooperate with my attempts to keep them alive, they actively defied them.quote:I had one chick escape and throw itself down a dog's throat literally. It just fluttered straight into the dog's mouth. Like some goddamn pre-uber eats delivery. The dog was so surprised she spit it out and then the quail chick died of shock ten seconds later (probably because it was surprised to be alive). quote:E: This doesn't mean people should avoid them. They make shitloads of eggs and they're super easy to keep if confined. It's just like, they Mr. Magoo directly to death if given the chance. Any chance. They can popcorn and kill themselves if their cage is too tall because their necks are these lovely, tiny little things and they just loving pop right apart if they get the slightest bonk on the head. And sometimes they randomly decide to murder one of their cage mates by literally pecking their brains out for absolutely no reason. quote:Gah, the temptation to go buy some hatching eggs on ebay grows the more I talk about these idiots. perepelki fucked around with this message at 07:05 on Aug 11, 2021 |
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Aug 11, 2021 07:00
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If you were to keep a small number not free range, what would you need to do it right? You mentioned making a structure. Could you meet in the middle and keep a small number without them having the run of the outdoors? I've always believed a fat, happy, and loved bird is not being deprived some sort of human invented expectation of freedom. Just my take, though. Not trying to start any fights.
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Aug 11, 2021 08:26
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City of Glompton posted:someone around here must have also had a quail journey, as we finally saw a little bobwhite i've been hearing all summer. it came and set on our fence and called for a little bit. i am afraid it might be all on its own and looking for friends. i tried to take some video of it but my phone is absolutely abysmal so you'll just have to take my word that it was really cute I'm familiar with wild birds, and given the time of year you're... probably half right. Sounds like a mating display.  With wild birds, when you see them sitting out in the open making noise, it's almost always for one of two purposes: declaring "This spot is mine, everyone else gently caress off" or declaring "I am horny and available! Hello, ladies!"
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Aug 11, 2021 13:25
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Unless it's the local gang of crows, who love nothing more than sitting out in the open making as much noise as possible just because 
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Aug 11, 2021 13:34
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Captain Log posted:If you were to keep a small number not free range, what would you need to do it right? You mentioned making a structure. Could you meet in the middle and keep a small number without them having the run of the outdoors? There is no way to do it right. These birds are basically mice birds and are eaten by everything under the sun. Throwing them out to free range is basically just feeding whatever wants to eat them. It's literally like tossing a box of mealworms in your chicken coop and expecting them to safely free range. Big tractors are nice for them, though, and can give them plenty of room. A lot of people let them run around their greenhouses which is basically a goddamn palace for such dumb, tiny little plorps and it's good for insect control, but you still have to deal with the escapees that commit suicide the second they see the sun.
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Aug 11, 2021 13:56
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I inherited the house I grew up in and so I can make a direct comparison to my experience of the same yard 40 years ago and it's just horrifying how many fewer birds there are nowadays in the same place. There were so many birds they were almost a nuisance when I was a kid. Now you never see double digits at any one time, anywhere, at any part of the year. It's so sad. The wild population of every species has just been decimated. We put out feeders and have even let half our back yard grow wild and still, just a trickle of birds (or bees ☹️).
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Aug 11, 2021 14:29
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Imagined posted:I inherited the house I grew up in and so I can make a direct comparison to my experience of the same yard 40 years ago and it's just horrifying how many fewer birds there are nowadays in the same place. There were so many birds they were almost a nuisance when I was a kid. Now you never see double digits at any one time, anywhere, at any part of the year. It's so sad. The wild population of every species has just been decimated. We put out feeders and have even let half our back yard grow wild and still, just a trickle of birds (or bees ☹️). Give us a picture of the back yard and an area you live, you might need to throw down some plants to get them back and then we can suggest which ones.
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Aug 11, 2021 14:50
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It's nice to have you and your practical advice back in the thread, FB.  I genuinely mean that!
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Aug 11, 2021 16:28
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RoboRodent posted:And it's possible to make no mistakes and still lose. Wisdom
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Aug 11, 2021 17:13
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:There is no way to do it right. These birds are basically mice birds and are eaten by everything under the sun. Throwing them out to free range is basically just feeding whatever wants to eat them. It's literally like tossing a box of mealworms in your chicken coop and expecting them to safely free range.
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Aug 12, 2021 01:10
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fb is like a cantankerous but good-hearted chicken shaman whose ghost astral projects into my head every time i kill a quail to tell me i'm a dumbass
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Aug 12, 2021 01:42
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from now on i will treat the quail as they deserve, like priceless beautiful fabergé eggs (they have approximately the same iq)
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Aug 12, 2021 02:27
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perepelki posted:fb is like a cantankerous but good-hearted chicken shaman whose ghost astral projects into my head every time i kill a quail to tell me i'm a dumbass I'm a bitchy old rear end in a top hat because I'm perpetually broke from trying to help people and do things right with my farm and also the military drains the gently caress out of your finances when your spouse is stationed across the country, and I've seen a lot of bad poo poo happen to good animals on and off the forums when I've either advised poo poo that could help or was too late to do so and hated myself for not being able to help. But drat I will write a fuckin' novel to try to fix poo poo for some dumb animal I'll never meet. I also cuss a lot. Like, a lot a lot. I don't think you're really a dumbass. I think that there's a space for experimenting in husbandry. I probably would have quit a bit earlier, but you saw little birds who really wanted to have happy lives and went hey, this is what wild would be like for them! So you tried to replicate that. And... I mean, technically you were successful, just, success means death to quail. Right now I've got a ewe whose udder has ligament damage. I intended to breed her one more time with proper udder support throughout her pregnancy in the hopes I'd get a nice little ewe lamb off of her and I could retire the ewe. Instead, she pops up surprise pregnant and her udder is the size of a mountain and she just will not drop this drat lamb(s). Like, come on ewe. Freaking animal.
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Aug 12, 2021 05:02
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i got so besotted with quail frolicking to their deaths in the wilderness i don't think i've ever posted photos of my actual cages. this is where they live: i wired it in after the rat attacks in 2019, and haven't had a predator get in since then. a fox probably could, but they can't get into my backyard, and a raccoon definitely could, but they are not in my country. i mostly only have to worry about rats and birds.  i bought and wired this as a daytime cage about six months ago, but never used it because as discussed previously, i am a loving idiot. there's a few gaps around hinges and doors that would let a rat through, so the quail can't sleep in this cage, but they will hang out here during the day.  here is scrubtit. the survivors definitely saw what happened the other day - they are being very timid and quiet. it's heartbreaking. the worst part is that i know they saw it all, both the raven attack and me euthanising the injured birds, so now they're scared of me too. perepelki fucked around with this message at 05:07 on Aug 12, 2021 |
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Aug 12, 2021 05:05
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:I'm a bitchy old rear end in a top hat because I'm perpetually broke from trying to help people and do things right with my farm and also the military drains the gently caress out of your finances when your spouse is stationed across the country, and I've seen a lot of bad poo poo happen to good animals on and off the forums when I've either advised poo poo that could help or was too late to do so and hated myself for not being able to help. and i think even when people on the forums get angry and storm out when you give them information, they still do listen to what you say. i definitely do. whenever i do something you've specifically warned me not to do, it's not because i don't remember the information, it's an act of conscious defiance and it backfires on me every single timequote:I don't think you're really a dumbass. I think that there's a space for experimenting in husbandry. I probably would have quit a bit earlier, but you saw little birds who really wanted to have happy lives and went hey, this is what wild would be like for them! So you tried to replicate that. And... I mean, technically you were successful, just, success means death to quail. quote:Right now I've got a ewe whose udder has ligament damage. I intended to breed her one more time with proper udder support throughout her pregnancy in the hopes I'd get a nice little ewe lamb off of her and I could retire the ewe. Instead, she pops up surprise pregnant and her udder is the size of a mountain and she just will not drop this drat lamb(s). Like, come on ewe. Freaking animal.  i hope she drops soon, that is harrowing. sheep are harrowing. animals are harrowing
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Aug 12, 2021 05:26
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perepelki posted:
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Aug 12, 2021 05:51
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 the actual raven in question. i have an interesting relationship with this poo poo of a thing now. whenever i go outside it flutters down and hangs out with me, and has the audacity to perch on top of the quail cage and look at me like "well?"
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Aug 13, 2021 01:29
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perepelki posted:
maybe you should hurry it up with the quail nuggets, dang it.
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Aug 13, 2021 01:42
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You could probably befriend it if you wanted. From its perspective, it got chased off prey and given the leftovers, so its already been 'fed' once. Been considering (limited, supervised) free range time for the chickens here, now that they're getting settled into being one flock. We get hawks out here, and while the run is protected, hawks take doves and such semi often. So there's been a lot of considering from everyone about it all. They also send their quaildolences.
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Aug 13, 2021 02:05
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:maybe you should hurry it up with the quail nuggets, dang it. ShootaBoy posted:You could probably befriend it if you wanted. From its perspective, it got chased off prey and given the leftovers, so its already been 'fed' once. ShootaBoy posted:They also send their quaildolences.
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Aug 13, 2021 02:09
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 loving
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Aug 13, 2021 19:56
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life goes on!!!!
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Aug 13, 2021 20:41
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jailbird update! we have settled into a routine. they get fed and spend most of the day in the sleeping coop, because they like to take a few hours to gather up all the crumbs from their breakfast. then in the afternoon, i transfer them to the day cage, where they chill out among the grasses until sunset. nothing can actually break into the day cage, but a determined raven could get hold of a quail through one of the gaps if they got very lucky (you would not believe how lucky they can get) or, and this is more of a concern, freak the quail out so much that they popcorn into the roof or get their tiny heads stuck in a crack and hang themselves. i've done everything i can to avoid this, but i still don't leave them unattended in the day cage for more than about 15 minutes at a time. they're most active in the twilight hour, so that's when i let them have some time dust-bathing in the open beside the day cage. it's sheltered by bushes and pots, and i squat there staring at them intensely the whole time and do not leave them unattended for a second. so help me, i've learnt my lesson. they seem happy with this routine, and are slowly healing emotionally and learning to love again. e: also, the raven has a fluffy little idiot fledgling baby who now lives in our yard and is my friend (?). it's the shiniest, most well-fed baby i've ever seen. perepelki fucked around with this message at 01:50 on Aug 16, 2021 |
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Aug 16, 2021 01:28
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perepelki posted:but i still don't leave them unattended in the day cage for more than about 15 minutes at a time. They're gonna explode like that bird does in Shrek 1 quote:e: also, the raven has a fluffy little idiot fledgling baby who now lives in our yard and is my friend (?). it's the shiniest, most well-fed baby i've ever seen. eat raven chick
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Aug 16, 2021 12:50
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:They're gonna explode like that bird does in Shrek 1 quote:eat raven chick 
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Aug 16, 2021 23:00
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simone the raven has hatched another brood. i was just checking on the fowl when she swooped me, clacked her beak, and flew up into the tree; i listened closely and heard the gurgly merblings of hatchlings being regurgitated to. i am leaving her occasional offerings of dog food in the orchard at irregular intervals. it has been nine (9) days since the last tragedy
perepelki fucked around with this message at 04:12 on Aug 19, 2021 |
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Aug 19, 2021 02:35
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"it has been nine (9) days since the last tragedy" This is going to be a sign sent with every order of quail, isn't it. Poor borbs. They just don't seem to get the whole survival thing.
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Aug 19, 2021 05:27
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