My name is Lloyd and I’m a Senior Aquarist and Penguin Keeper at The Deep. Here's my Day in the Life looking after the Gentoo Penguins:
#1
Each time we head into the penguin display we need to suit up. We do this for a number of reasons. The main one being the transmission of bird flu. Unfortunately bird flu (or Avian Influenza) has become a bigger and bigger issue in recent years. It is only really spread through contact transmission from either infected birds or droppings, so we make sure we suit up with overclothes, change our boots and wear gloves/wash our hands thoroughly. One other benefit of suiting up is to stay warm as the display can reach low temperatures into the single figures – oh and not end up with penguin poo all over our uniform!
#2
We start each day off with a big clean down in the display. This involves using scrubbing brushes, disinfectants and a pressure washer. Not to mention cleaning the windows and rocky areas. This takes us all morning until we open and hopefully it looks all clean and nice for our visitors on the day – that is until the birds poo all over it again!
#3
Our next daily task is to give the penguins a morning feed. We offer them a mix of fish throughout the year and supplement their diet with extra feeds of krill in the water. The birds have a lot of seasonal change in their rate of feeding. Depending on the time of year they can empty an entire bucket in minutes or just eat a small handful of fish over the course of half an hour.
#4
Being part of the husbandry team, we have other shared duties throughout the day. One important role we all take part in is the daily dives. We have to perform daily dives in the larger displays for maintenance and to feed certain individuals.
#5, #6, #7, #8
Throughout the month we rotate other additional jobs that need to be done with the penguins that are not required daily. From time to time, we will gather the birds to check their wing bands are not too lose/tight, check their feet and nail condition, get weights on whoever is willing to be weighed that day and also offer them some different forms of enrichment.
#9
After lunch I usually take this time to perform any essential system maintenance that is needed on the penguin system. Amongst other jobs, just like a small aquarium the penguin display will need water changes and filter cleans. We also have to regularly check any pump baskets for feathers as they can block up quite quickly at times – This is one issue we definitely don’t have with our other displays!
#10
In the afternoon we then have to offer the birds another feed. That way, if an individual wasn’t hungry in the morning for whatever reason, they then have the opportunity to take some fish before we head home. We record down each feed that we do each day so we have a good record for every birds' feeding rates across the year.
#11, #12
Our last job is to check the display at the end of the day. We do this to make sure all the birds are OK, and that access to areas they are not allowed to get to are closed off before we head home. They do like to try and sneak onto our wooden walkway in the display when we are not looking!