well, as long as Olivia understands that the ducklings MIGHT turn out to be "Mer-MAN" and "Cinder-FELLAH"

:):D:)

awwwwwwwwwwwww........

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/8138/dscn5488pb5.jpg

Olivia, Welcome to FREAKY FARM !!

We have several chickens who're too lazy to build their own nests...

They sneak into the duck condos and add to the pile of eggs.

The ducks dutifully gather the eggies into their clutches, and turn the eggs regularly.

Yesterday and today, the ducks started hatching chickens:

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/1341/dscn5476dh8.jpg
"Are you our mommy?"

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/1056/dscn5462vc9.jpg
"You're getting too CLOSE !!

http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/7464/dscn5482pf9.jpg
"WAHHHHH !! MOMMY !! Where ARE you ??"

http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/7953/dscn5461ec5.jpg
Mermaid and Cinderella go for a little stroll...

***

Since I'm on a roll, bonus pic - this one didn't actually *hatch* but it's cute, so I'm tossin' it in:

http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/8849/dscn5428fj8.jpg
If you aren't TALL enough to reach the feed dish, by all means - JUMP IN!

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/i...leyGoodOne.gif Thank you once again Kay.


I just one of the group who likes to see your photos!




.................................................. .................................................. ..............Thank you!

Another fan here. Love the pic of the chicky calling for Mom!

When my dear 4yo Grdtr visited recently, she sat on my lap while I showed her all the WokWok pics. We really had a good time smiling and laughing at your cute animals.

Can't wait to show her the new ones! :hug:

Twink, do you ever watch CSI Miami?

I SWEAR, that "awwwwwwwww" chickie above is trying out for the role of understudy to Horatio Caine !!

you know... a sorta "step... step... pivot... cock head, look interested" kinda deal...

:D

So True...:Thats-Funneh::ROTFLMAO::Head-Spin:

That is PERFECT!!!!! I just looked at it again and it is SO true! Too funny Kay...you nailed that one on the head:p

and Girlie?

the lil chickie is even a "redhead" just like H !!

:D:cool::D

Yes he is :p

Thanks for the photos!

the whole "Freaky Farm" thing is a bit odd.

see, Muscovy Duck eggs take 35 days to hatch.

chicken eggs take only 21 days.

so, the extremely diligent and dutiful Mama DUCK seems torn between taking the newly hatched baby chickies out to show them where to find food and water (which they must have a day or so after hatching) and at the same time, needing to STAY and "mind" her OWN eggs, which need to be kept warm, and rotated.

the "Lone Ranger" chickie (that's crying for mama, above) was left to hatch all alone, when the duck mama took Mermaid and Cinderella for their walkabout.

we try to do things here as naturally as possible, and interfere as little as we can, and just let nature take its course.

but we also want healthy, happy, and self-reliant free-ranging birds.

so, we have duck condos, and chicken nesting-boxes scattered all over our farm, and the mamas can choose where to lay their eggs.

then, after they "SET" on the eggs, we're now transferring the entire box to our giant new nursery, so moms and babies are as safe as we can make them here in the jungle.

and THAT's how we ended up with DUCKS hatching CHICKENS !!

:D:o:D

Those are some mighty fortunate animals to be living there with you, Kay. Room service and private quarters.....what a deal!!

Thanks for all the pics - I love seeing them!! :)

Kelly

Olivia, Olivia... where ARE you ??

Peek a boo !! I see YOU !!

Come out, come out, wherever you are !!

Come with me to see more of my duckies hatching chickens...

And the two little duckies you named Cinderella and Mermaid...

And some more of Linny the Guinea's relatives...

http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/3650/dscn5272kd8.jpg
Mama Hamadryad on her nest

http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/8479/dscn5271gc3.jpg
What's hiding underneath

****************

http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/8056/dscn5276yz3.jpg
Here's Mama Belladonna, hatching a few more

****************

http://img93.imageshack.us/img93/4430/dscn5280fj2.jpg
Mama Choco with Mermaid and Cinderella

****************

http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/7818/dscn5269mz2.jpg
One of Penny's baby guinea pigs at the breakfast buffet

http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/4687/dscn5270gn9.jpg
Penny and her babies

****************

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/2364/dscn4402ub4.jpg
and here's some ducks at our pond...

Separated at birth??

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/7540/image0bw3.jpg

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/8138/dscn5488pb5.jpg

:D:cool::D

That is awesome! hehehehe

You just insulted that poor baby, David Caruso ACK!

That carrot is as big as the baby trying to eat it!

LOL! Thanks for that. That is a great pic. What a personality. :D

yep, but did you SEE how much da beebies have GROWN ??

they have to eat a LOT to develop properly, lol !!

oh, and sorry about the insult to my chickie, NaeNae.

it was just the head-cock... was so... familiar... :D

I must admit that I said "FINALLY !!" last night when Horatio got snipered.

(we're a little behind on our CSI, we have to download the shows from the internet.)

although it seems cruel of me, "H" was getting soooooo tiresome.

:o

"I... (theatrical pause)... think WE... (pause) should arrest him."

he takes like, five minutes to utter a complete sentence... :p

Yoo Hoo !! Olivia ?

My mama ducks are now bringing out their babies to play.

There's lots to learn, so the Moms teach the babies where to find water, grain, cabbage, whole corn, and delicious bugs to eat.

Sometimes the baby chickens get tired, and they climb on the Duck Mama's back for a free ride.

And sometimes, Mom gets TIRED of playing "piggy-back" and stands straight up.

Guess what happens ??

The chickie-babies slide off her back, and land on the ground.

Luckily, there's only a few inches to fall, and they have cushiony feathers built right in, so they get a SOFT landing...

In today's pictures, you can see the Mama Ducks teaching BOTH their REAL children (baby ducklings are called 'patitos'), AND their "adopted" babies (little chickens are called 'pollitos') how to go about their daily lives:

http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/4083/dscn5493zc9.jpg
"Yippee !! We're going for a RIDE !!" Two chickens perched on a duck's back.

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/8439/dscn5494ca0.jpg
"Oooooops !! Help!! I'm sliding OFF..."

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/6707/dscn5497dx9.jpg
"Are you SURE you're my mother ??" said the chickie to her duck mom.

http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/7474/dscn5502zj1.jpg
"Look, children! Nice bugs to eat, yummy-yum-yum!"

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/2178/dscn5507wz1.jpg
Baby ducks and chickens lined up at the feeder, with mom supervising.

http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/4543/dscn5499sg0.jpg
"This is cabbage, kiddies... it's got vitamins and fiber, and is GOOD for you."

:grouphug::hug::grouphug:

I hope you are well and happy today Olivia,

love, Auntie Kay

I may be in my second childhood...but I love the way you tell a story, momma Cayo..:)

Dear Olivia,

I know you might not see this for a while, 'cause you're busy taking a long drive, but I wanted to show you a picture of your favorite duckie-baybies, Cinderella and Mermaid:

http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/3570/dscn5536rp5.jpg
3 mama ducks with 3 nestfuls hatched, smallest ones on Saturday, during storm.

We had a BIG ol' storm go by the past few days, named Tropical Storm Arthur.

During the storm, one duck mama hatched her babies, and today the ducklings came out of the nest for the FIRST time.

In the picture above, they are standing behind Choco's babies (your pals Cinderella and Mermaid) and also behind Belladonna's babies.

so, in the picture, you can see three different sets of ducklings, tiny new ones hiding in the back (look close!) middle-sized ones hatched last week, and two BIG babies (Cinderella and Mermaid) in front.

I hope you have a safe and fun trip, Olivia, and a happy day today!

lol, they're WATCHING me with eagle-eyes !!

picture me, squatting down in the slippery mud, clutching a pailful of chicken eggs, bags of corn and cabbage in my left hand, while trying to hold the umbrella, AND the camera at the same time.

I think they were LAUGHING at me !!

like: "Neener neener, lady! WE have FEATHERS and you don't !!"

Good afternoon, Olivia, honey-child !!

How are you today?

Things are well here in the jungle.

This morning, 9 baby ducklings hatched to Mama Tricia...

First, here's one baby duckling that had a ROUGH time.

it couldn't hatch all the way out of its shell, so we had to HELP it a little bit.

we dipped the duckie's bottom in nice warm water, and loosened the shell stuck to its butt.

then, we held it, wrapped in towels, while it dried and fluffed all out.

and HERE IT IS:

http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/6646/dscn5625qw6.jpg

and here's the duckling's brothers and sisters, all coming out to play, with their Mama:

http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/4748/dscn5636uq9.jpg

Olivia, do you remember your old pals, Mermaid and Cinderella?

well, they're almost TEENAGERS (in the world of ducks)

so, they're almost half as big as their MOM now...

and here they are... I took this picture of Mermaid and Cinderella today:

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/9940/dscn5634uc3.jpg

here's Cinderella (but I'm not sure if it's going to turn out to be Cinderfellah yet.)

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/6232/dscn5631jq8.jpg

(Mermaid is the WHITE duck, on the farthest left, and Cinderella is in the center)

here's Choco, (Mermaid and Cinderella's mom), with an earlier clutch of ducklings last year...

the babies behind her are Thelma and Louise, lol !!

http://kayleon.ourbelize.net/pictures/DSCN2905.JPG

Hello there - OLIVIA !!

I've got some Wok-Woks for you today, sweetie...

Here's Mama Tricia, who brought her ducklings out to PLAY today:

http://img399.imageshack.us/img399/1639/dscn5683dg4.jpg
Mama Trisha is named after our very own TK (lovely, graceful, and camera-shy)

http://img382.imageshack.us/img382/5369/dscn5673sn2.jpg
it's VERY hard to take pictures of these duckies, as they move around a lot

http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/7581/dscn5689yz0.jpg
after I spent an hour sitting in the nursery, Trish finally started to relax

http://img382.imageshack.us/img382/8294/dscn5672zc7.jpg
Mama Trish is VERY protective of her beautiful little duckling babies, lol!

Olivia, we're going to have lots and lots of babies very soon!!

:D :winky: :D

This morning during my rounds, I counted FOURTEEN ducky-moms sitting on nestfuls of eggs...

four in the Duck House, two under the tree by the pond, four by the rabbit cages, one next to the cement bags - hiding under the tarp, and one enterprising mom who built her nest behind a tire, leaning up against a TREE, over by the guesthouse, and two in boxes under the guesthouse.

plus, ten chickens have gone broody (but I ain't a-reachin' underneath to see what they got, I leave that to my honey, the chickens like him better, lol!)

anyway, here's a few of the moms who posed for my camera this morning:

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/6814/dscn5691gu7.jpg
one of the four moms in the Duck House, sitting on nests.

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/7152/dscn5693sr9.jpg
another ducky-mom in the Duck House

http://img382.imageshack.us/img382/6008/dscn5628yl9.jpg
duck in the chicken boxes... silly girl!

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/5992/dscn5692dp4.jpg
cranky momma hisses at me... "Go away, I'm BUSY, you fool!"

http://img399.imageshack.us/img399/926/dscn5639eh2.jpg
nestboxes aren't GOOD enough for some enterprising ducks!

http://img382.imageshack.us/img382/1783/dscn5640hz4.jpg
Amelio holds back the tarp, to show me his discovery...

http://img399.imageshack.us/img399/2543/dscn5690bq2.jpg
one mama-duck sleeping away the morning on her eggs...

http://img382.imageshack.us/img382/5497/dscn5669ii5.jpg
Choco-latte on her nest in the nursery

http://img399.imageshack.us/img399/6517/dscn5647iw8.jpg
three broody chickens, sitting on only-mi-esposo-knows-what...

I love the pictures Kay! They're awesome.

I am also very honored to have a duck in Belize named after me. Now, if I could figure out a way that Mama Tricia and I could trade places so I can go snorkeling. lol.

LOL Not to fear I transported Olivias wok wok wallpaper to Arkansas with us! She loves the new Mermaid and Cinderella pics!!

oh my goodness, it's not a good idea to go snorkeling during hurricane season, honey!

and we're three hours inland from the Caribbean, 'cause that makes me feel safer from the storms.

better to come in the fall, or winter, it's wonderful then.

* * *

didja notice that Mama-Trisha has MUD all over her beak?

she's a funny girl, isn't she?

she's been trying to dig her way OUT of the nursery, 'cause she's SHY and doesn't want all those chickens and geese peeking in at her, she wants to take her babies and go hide in the bushes...

she doesn't understand that there's wildcats, poison toads, boa constrictors, tarantulas, scorpions, and WORSE out there in the brush...

the nursery is for her own (and her babies) protection...

so I was singing a little Queen to her, to get her to mellow out and trust me a bit:

You got mud on your face
You big disgrace
Wavin' your feathers
All over the place

:D:):D

Good Morning, Olivia-baby!

Today, I want to introduce you to a new duckling at our farm.

As soon as she hatched, I just KNEW she was going to be special!!

She's the most unusual color, a SILVERY bluish-gray that's simply breathtaking.

Since my camera is broken, I had a visiting friend take a picture for you.


http://img377.imageshack.us/img377/8...farmbm6.th.jpg

(the above is a clickable "Image Shack" thumbnail - I haven't figured out how to post in-line images on this laptop yet. wah wah wah! )

This color is VERY rare and beautiful, so of course, I named her...

Lady OLIVIA !!!

:grouphug::hug::grouphug:

Tomorrow I will put up pictures of our new baby goat kids, Alia and Paul.

The kids are named after the children of Duke Leto Atreides, in the movie Dune

Tomorrow we're also going to be taking photos of Cinder-Fellah for you.

Yes Missy-Olivia, your little Cinderella DID turn out to be a boy, and what a FINE drake he is...

Cinderfellah's all cinnaminny and chocolatey shades of brown, with glossy feathers, and a PROUD carriage, he will make a FINE daddy drake for us.

Cinderfellah's so strong and healthy, we're going to keep him for breeding stock, and give him a special gold-watch retirement, where he gets to free-range the farm, and visit my lady ducks all day, every day (as long as he behaves, lol!)

:grouphug::hug::grouphug:

Yippee! The wok-wok thread is back!

Olivia, sorry about your Cinderella! Ooopsie!

Can't wait to see pics of Paul and Alia.

:Excited:

Yippee from me, too!!! I have missed this thread! I love seeing all the pics and reading the funny captions you put on them, Kay.

That little silver duckling is beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen one that color. You picked out a perfect name for her! :)

aw, now... Cinderfellah can't HELP being male... he was BORN that way!

:D

AWWWW we love Miss Olivia, we have enlarged and printed her picture to add to the rest of her wok woks including Cinderfella! And now that I got the house she can hang all of her wok woks back on the wall!!!!

it's soooo much fun (NOT!) being on a non-Mac computer, and having to learn how to do stuff all over again...

and I really MISS my little Nikon digital camera.

this climate is VERY hard on delicate electronics.

I'm going to buy a replacement camera, and have it drop-shipped to a friend in the Estados Unidos, and she can bring it next time she visits... but that will be months... wah wah again, lol!

anyway, that's why the WOK-WOK thread has been on hiatus, kiddies.

:cool::D:cool:

okay, Olivia, I struggled with might and main to get a second picture up for you today.

I had to upload it, rotate it, resize it, host it, and post it...

here's another shot of your beautiful namesake, Lady Olivia:

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/2...farmgd8.th.jpg

:grouphug:

I have missed this thread so much Kay, thank you thank you thank you:hug:

Kay anytime you want and have question, if the ibm owener isnt about, dont hesitate, K

it's mainly a cog-fog issue, Frankie-baybee...

I have to do things a bunch of times for it to come easily nowadays.

being a Mac Girl, I *expect* using a computer to be easy... and that's all I've owned since the early 80s.

so, I'm practicing until I get the pattern *set* in mah pore ol' haid.

here's some more practice:

************************************************** *********************************

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/5...farmqj0.th.jpg

Olivia, this is Hadassah, setting on her eggs, in her nest box, under our palapa.

Hadassah started laying her eggs in mid-August, finished on August 25th. and now we're waiting until the eggs hatch... which should be in about two weeks.

Hadassah is a REALLY good mommy, ( just like yours), and she keeps those eggs warm 23 hours a day, only leaving to eat, drink, and use the little turkey's room.

:D

tomorrow we'll look at our baby goats, and CINDERFELLAH !!!

Kay, Is it the humidity that zaps your camera? I read in another thread where someone got their pager and cell phone wet and put it in a ziploc baggie of rice. I guess it absorbed all the water?? I don't know but they said it worked.

Do you think if you kept your camera in a ziploc baggie with some dry rice in it that would help? I have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to electronics so if that's a bad idea just tell me! :o It just seems so simple and thought it might be a way to preserve your camera. :)