Wok Woks need their veggies too!

ROFLMBO Cayo :D

We can see part of it and those of us who know about Special NT Brownies know what's on the cropped end of that scarf. lol :D:D:D

i dearly love the commentary and the pics .... still ... i have a teeny weeny question ... when the momma duck (who had ducklings and chicks) went to teach her ducklings about swimming ... what happened???? did she also try to teach the chicks to swim? was just curious

well, Deb...

we keep all babies in the nursery until the ducklings start getting feathers, and their oil production glands start to function, (that's what keeps them dry when they swim)

and we have an orphanage too!

it's a special section of the nursery for motherless babies, like those chicken babies (day-olds) we get from the hatchery - Cornish Crosses, and Hyline Browns, that don't naturally breed, they are imported), and fertile eggs we hatch in the incubator, and eggs from abandoned nests, that we put into the incubator as soon as mom leaves the nest with her hatchlings.

see, the mom has a decision to make, obey the chirps of the hungry babies, and take them out to forage, or stay with the rest of the warm eggs in the nest.

Mama usually waits 24 to 48 hours, and then gives up on the eggs, and takes the hungry babies walking to teach them how to find food, to scratch, dig, and find the food bowls.

thus, our orphanage almost always has occupants, and we just add the babies with "unfortunate" parentage to the orphanage, so they can properly socialize with their own kind, and learn the ways of the world.

the orphanage has hay bales, roosts, water dispenser dishes, grain bowls, feeder trays, and a sandy floor, where I throw whole corn, lettuce, and cabbage, and kitchen scraps.

our little Hovabator home-incubator, nice and humid:

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/6367/dscn4021fa1.jpg

HATCHING DAY:

http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/8417/dscn4022ey2.jpg

here's our homemade indoor brooder box, complete with feeder and waterer:

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/93/dscn4020lh6.jpg

fluffed out after hatching - we ended up with sixteen total in this batch:

http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/3006/dscn4030wi8.jpg

so, to answer your teeny weenie question Deb, (MUCH more long-windedly than you could EVER have wanted, LOL !!):

when the chickie babies DO follow a duck-mama to the pond, we take the babies away, put them in the orphanage, because otherwise, they'd just stand at the edge of the pond, cheeping miserably...

no, they don't try to swim, some instinct prevents it...

thanks for answering ... i felt compelled to ask ... didn't wanna know baby chicks drowned !!!!

next question ... is guinea pig a food item ??? i know what rabbit tastes like and love it but have not heard of guinea pig for dinner ... you do know that now that i have found this sight i will be picking your brain on all kinds of things .... i know ... we should have a thread called ask farmer kay ....

i will always be amazed by what you do and will always be honored to call you friend

yes, but shhhhhhh, don't tell Olivia !!

Guinea pigs appear on the menu in Lima restaurants

By Leslie Josephs, Associated Press Writer

LIMA, Peru — Ever wonder whether a cabernet sauvignon or merlot would best complement your childhood pet?

It might be a dilemma if you visit the coastal Peruvian capital, where chefs have turned guinea pig — a staple protein of the Andes — into a gourmet dish.

Five years ago, chef Marilu Madueno added cuy, as guinea pigs are locally known, to the menu at La Huaca Pucllana, an exclusive Lima restaurant popular with tourists that overlooks a pre-Inca temple.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/...igs-lima_N.htm

the meat tastes similar to rabbit, except more tender, with a texture sort of like the neck meat on chicken, when it's been stewed for hours to make soup or gravy.

except for a short stint as a wanna-be flower child in the late 70's, I had *no* experience at this...

thanks heaven for the internet and books, we're learning as we go.

we raise geese (6), turkeys (10), chickens (68), ducks (142), goats (5), rabbits (5), guinea pigs (20), and we have one pregnant pig.

we haven't had to buy meat, milk, eggs, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, or kefir, at the store for quite a while now.

with the prices going up so crazily, we think we did the right thing.

now if we could JUST get the organic GARDEN to survive.

the bugs here are un-freakin-believable!

on the other hand, the orchards are doing very well, mangos, bananas, citrus, dragonfruit, and cocoyams (taro) are all happily thriving.

the only things we need to buy are animal grains, flour, rice, beans, snacks, beer, and a few luxuries, and (of course, *sniffle*) most of our veggies.

what we really need is a live-in organic gardening expert for a couple of seasons, to get us really rolling.

:cool::winky::cool:

know anyone who'd like to volunteer?

we have a fully equipped, furnished GREEN eco-guesthouse, with a composting toilet, rain catchement system, water filters, storage tanks, and butane appliances... suitable for one or two people...

oh, and the guesthouse has internet, electricity, and phone lines, LOL !!

:hug:

I had my own organic garden here Kay, before the MS heat fatigue made us plant it over with grass seed. I did pretty well with it too! If I were single I'd come down and stay a spell to get you going with that! :) DH wouldn't go for it though... He's a homebody, (but adorable nonetheless.) ;)

The only problem I'd have is figuring out how to combat the pests in a tropical climate with eco-friendly means, as opposed to doing it in corn and soybean country. With all your birdies I think it would be doable! :)

Thanks for sharing your pics! :hug:

Here you go, Gazzy...

as promised, I present some Naked Neck Chickens, at Darwin Farm, deep in the remote jungles of Belize, in Central America, a couple miles from the Guatemala border, now officially flooded, and isolated from the world.

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/9...3358pi1.th.jpghttp://img517.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif
Naked Neck Chicken, with a top-knot, eating breakfast

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/9...3370fs3.th.jpghttp://img529.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif
Naked Neck having a chat with a REGULAR Chicken

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/7...3378rv9.th.jpghttp://img100.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif
Three Naked Necks with my new turkeys

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/3...3374co9.th.jpghttp://img266.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif
New turkeys, on loan from neighbor, because his Tom is too old... we'll share the resultant eggs

Olivia, babygirl?

How are you this evening?

It's raining, and raining, and raining some more, here in the rainforest.

Rained so much, we're STUCK at home, because the ROADS are all flooded.

Good thing, we had stocked up lots of food for our animals, or they might decide to take over, like in George Orwell's famous book "Animal Farm"

In a few years, your Mommy can read you that book as a bedtime story...

:D:rolleyes::D

Anyway, today we're going to look at the GOOSIES !!

Remember back in March, when they were hatched?

The goosies are now 7 months old, and pictures of them were the very beginning of this special Olivia Wok-Wok Thread.

Seems like just a short while ago, but the geese are ALL grown up now!

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/2...3421pl5.th.jpghttp://img523.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif

Here they are, Connor, Larry (who turned out to be Laura, lol!) and Moe, with their mother Gwynneth in the background.

Didn't they grow up to be HANDSOME little goosies?

The geese guard our property 24 hours a day, and let us know when anyone or anything comes around.

They wake us up to tell us if a possum or skunk or fox or jaguarundi is trying to get into our chicken coops, or bothering the ducks.

And the geese work CHEAP, for only a handful of corn and a few leaves of lettuce a day.

The rest of the day, they patrol the land, freeranging, and eat greens and grass... They're the greatest workers in the world!!

The next picture we're going to look at is of some of my ducks, taking a break on a fallen tree trunk.

Look CLOSE at the duck on the right:

http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/893...3385xs8.th.jpghttp://img55.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif

When ya got an ITCH, ya gotta SCRATCH, no matter how ya reach it !!

This is me, feeding my ducks this morning, at my pond:

http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/2...3413so0.th.jpg

Yes, Kelly, I'm still in my flannel jammies !

:D:p:D

Last picture for today... here's the baby turkeys, running around in their section of the land:

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/5...3418qw4.th.jpghttp://img100.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif

These are the same baby Wok-Woks you saw a few days ago, hiding under their Mama's feathers...

Now they're getting BRAVE, and going out to explore the world!

And they're growing up FAST !!

Que chic! :D (actually, that's a pretty good pun)

LOVE the stylish Naked Neckers.

I'm thinking I like the top knot one a lot. He/she sort of looks like my hairy chicken! :D