Animal Enrichment Program at Majical Miniatures

Ever see a pig wallowing in a mud pit or a goat climbing on a pile of rocks? Animals need to run and jump, climb, play, hunt, explore and do what comes naturally for them. Providing enrichment for animals is as important as providing proper nutrition and veterinary care. Enrichment not only provides exercise but also mental stimulation. Many zoos and wild life sanctuaries around the country use some sort of enrichment with their animals. Majical Miniatures is no different, animal enrichment is a big part of our animal care program. There are many forms of enrichment that can be used with many species of animals. Over the next few months we will be exploring some of the methods we use at Majical Miniatures and sharing them with you.

Goat Climbing Enrichment:

Play Time

Goats are extremely intelligent animals that require many types of enrichment. We enjoy introducing our goats to new enrichment on a regular basis. Every yard they rotate through has climbing structures to encourage them to do what would come natural to them as most species of goats are mountain dwellers and love the opportunity to climb. This method of enrichment encourages exercise that is very important to our little guys.

Thanks to one of our volunteers for donating the spools pictured above.
They work perfectly for our goat enrichment.

Food Related Enrichment:

Shannon creating the Giraffe

Jenna, our operations manager, and her niece, Shannon, made a Cardboard Giraffe for the Kinkajous using recycled paper bags, cardboard boxes and tubes. It was part of their enrichment this week. Fig newtons were hidden in the boxes. The kinks had to find ways to open the boxes to access the yummy treats. As you can see from the pictures below they had a wonderful time.

Supplies included recycled paper and cardboard

How cute is this!

Shannon 

Victory at last!

New Additions...

Questions you should ask before adopting a pet...

Spanky and Fancy

Three new additions to the Majical Miniatures family arrived here this month. They each came from wonderful homes where they were loved and very well cared for. Sometimes, there are circumstances and changes beyond our control, illness, losing a home and many more reasons make it impossible for a person to care for their beloved pet. When this happens it is heartbreaking but, out of love for the animal the animal is given up. No matter how much they do not want to let go they know it is in the best interest of their pet to find her a place where she will receive the same love, attention and care that she was accustomed to and deserves. This was the case for Sonsi the Sulcata Tortoise and Sparky and Fancy a pair of very loveable goats who now call Majical Miniatures home.

Sonsi

Of course, there are also some reasons, with research, you may be able to avoid.  For instance your home owners insurance may not cover liability of an exotic pet or, you find out that the adorable Kinkajou or Hedgehog in the pet store you couldn't resist is a nocturnal animal who wants to play all night. This is why it is so important to do your research before adopting a pet of any kind. Make sure you find out as much as possible about the animal. You may be wondering what questions you should ask about your future furred, feathered or shelled family member.
Here are a few to get you started:

• What are her eating and sleeping habits
• Is she a pack animal or does she prefer to be alone 
• Will your insurance allow her on your property
• Do you have the time needed to care for and love him
• Do you have the space, cage, supplies needed to care for her 
• Can you afford the food and vet expenses 
• Do you have children and will this pet be suitable for a child 

Asking these basic questions will help you avoid giving up a pet you have grown to love and may save you and your pet heartache later on.

The Magic of Chickens

As I walk up the drive basking in the peace and enjoyment of watching the animals grazing quietly, I cannot help but smile as the first one notices me and begins to run my way, and then a second, and soon, the whole mismatched herd of donkey, goats, sheep, zebu and llama is voicing eagerness for the treat they are sure I will have.  My smile turns to a laugh, and as I stand there touching this one and that one, and handing out a flower here and a bit of vegetable there, all of a sudden a hen notices the activity "over there" and makes a sound that only chickens understand completely, and then here comes a whole wonderful bunch of hens and a rooster or two (whose job it is to keep those many hens safe) to see what they are missing! Of course they miss nothing because I share greens and yellows and reds (vegetables) with them too.

We offer veggies as treats and sharing time, in addition to their staple diet for these chickens have a serious job to do here on our farm. They are loved and enjoyed immensely on a personal level, but their job is to keep the ground turned and the bugs and parasites at a tolerable level.  These chickens work for their keep though they do not mind a bit because what they do here is what chickens DO naturally.  Mining for gold in the ground is what makes them healthy, keeps the soil and ground healthier, fertilizes for us, makes them happy, as evidenced by their 'chatter cluck' conversations as they work.

Some are friendly with us and enjoy hands on a bit, some are more wild and could care less that we exist beyond feeding and keeping them as safe as is possible for free range chickens.  Most go into one of the many coops spread over the acres. A few choose to tree themselves.  Each group knows where they live and pretty much stay on those areas throughout the day.  Each hen and those few roosters knows her or his own coop, and by dark when someone goes from pasture to pasture or yard to yard to close coop doors, they have gone to roost, safe until morning when it is all reversed and the doors open to the new morning. Feed is tossed on the ground and when they are done with that they begin another day of grounds keeping.

Is there anything better than a beautiful flock of various sorts of feathers and colors that at once, gives pleasure and delight to watching humans, and pays their way (and then some) by keeping the farm healthier doing what they do best.... and love doing???

It is the season of broody hens and hatching chicks, all adorable and well tended by mamas, and while we spend hours with them wandering all around us and tend to take the sharing of our lives with them for granted, we need to remember to thank them for their presence on the farm and for all the work they do.  Watching the chicks grow and seeing their moms teach them what chickens DO is another piece of the magic that is a part of each day at Majical Miniatures.

Wishlist!

Helpful Wildlife Tips...what you should or shouldn't do when you find an abandoned wild animal

Check out our new information brochure

Did you know?

Here are some of our favorite interesting animal facts...

 * A group of kangaroos is called a mob 

* Chickens absorb vitamin D from the sunshine through their combs on the top of their head 

*Pets in nursing homes increase social and verbal interaction

*Senior adults who own pets go to the doctor less than those who do not own pets

*When opossums play dead, they are not "playing", they actually pass out from sheer terror

*Cats prefer to eat their food at 86 degree Fahrenheit 

*If you lift a kangaroo's tail off the ground , he can not hop

*Children who suffer from autism have more social behaviors if they own a pet

*The African Sulcatta is one of the three largest tortoises, growing to 2 & 1/2 feet in length & up to 200 lbs 

*A deer is able to run up to 40 mph, jump a 9' fence and swim 13 mph

*A single brown bat can eat up to 1000 mosquitoes in one hour

*Bats can fly as high as 3000 feet above ground at speeds of 50 mph

*Llamas are pack animals that can carry up to one forth of their own body weight

*Prairie dogs "bark" like a dog to warn other family members that a predator is near