Tag Archives: Duck

The Great Egg Hunt!!

March 16, 2017 Munchkin

All our poultry are rather autonomous creatures on the farm. They basically just forage for yummies on our farm, swim in our pond and expect to be fed at the end of the day. They do whatever pleases them and they will occasionally give as an egg or two. Of course, there are no expectations for the ducks, geese or turkey to lay in areas designated by Munchkin and Gnome…God forbid…they would actually try to make our lives easier. Eggs can plop out at any time of the day…anywhere. Also, there are secret hiding spots…not in the coup of course!

Everyday is a Great Egg Hunt and we are forced to surreptitiously creep around our own farm pretending not to look for eggs. That’s because the fowl have a sixth sense for knowing that you are looking and will run off, hide or create interference to foil our search. We have to spend extra care and attention walking around trees and looking under logs and wading through bushy areas.

It is really quite a challenge because they refuse to co-operate with us; our running joke is that they read the Spanish manual while we read the English one and that’s why we have communication problems.

¿estás buscando algo?

Yes, we are looking for those roundish whitish things that you plop out and hide in the bush:

We have actually found quite a few; the smallest ones are the duck eggs and the medium sized ones are from the turkey (you can’t see them very well but they are white with brown speckles). The largest ones are the goose eggs…they are a real bonus when we find one of these!

Well, the next thing to do is to find a broody duck, turkey or goose. Any takers? Otherwise, Gnome will set them in the incubator (though, we are not happy with the level of success so far with this method). Gnome has even offered to “incubate” them himself on those brief occasions when there has been a power cut. If push comes to shove, I think he would seriously consider strapping some eggs to himself…especially to get a gosling or two! The Dedication of a Gnome is boundless when it comes to geese!

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Food, Pets, Plants

Whilst Waiting…

February 24, 2017 Munchkin

Whilst waiting for my freezer (one of those huge bottomless pit kind of freezers that you can get lost in) to de-frost, I will write my blog post. I have a whole load of pictures so I will try to thread a reasonable coherent story together for you of what we are doing right now. By the way, whenever I de-frost my freezer, I come across so many lost and forgotten goodies!! Will probably have a feast this weekend!!

Found these; Chinese Sausage!! Ooooh, you have to be Chinese to get excited about this stuff!! Ha-Ha.

Anyway, do you remember that at Chinese New Year, our darling little duckies gave us a gift of 8 eggs? It turns out to be even more special because on asking other local people, their ducks aren’t laying at all and don’t lay until March when the number of hours of day light increase. Anyway, so far there has been success with the incubator ie. the cat hasn’t sat on it this time round. This is because I deftly used Secret Invisibility Technique by sticking a vacuum cleaner in front of the incubator. Aha, I fooled the cat!!

The eggs were candled on day 3 to check if the embryos were forming; 6 out of the 8 eggs at that time appeared viable. Right now, two eggs have pipped and we are waiting to see how many actually hatch. Should be some fun, excitement and peep-peeping at the weekend!! With regards to our other darling little baby duckie (the lone duckie that hatched by itself despite the cat sitting on the incubator) he/she (we think “she” actually but have not properly sexed her) thinks she is a guinea pig now…sometimes a human being and definitely not one of those loud quacky things that quack around the yard. Yip, he/ she duckie is spending too much time with the piggies and loves to fall asleep to the dulcet tones of cavy noises.

I would also like to take this time to apologise for neglecting my food posts; I am either too busy or too lazy and can’t find the “in-between” state to re-start the food parades. We are still eating really well…I just haven’t written about them. With the dry season, there should be new harvests so I will endeavour to start again. I also want to post up my sorghum recipes…we eat it almost everyday now and is proving to be a very interesting, versatile and tasty grain. Look still eating great food:

Sorghum with Bamboo Shoots and Sweet Potato Greens.

It’s the usual stuff on the farm…always something to harvest…seeds to plant…and it comes round in cycles. You have to really like doing this to do it!!

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Pets

A Duckie Classical Education.

December 22, 2016 Munchkin

Hello, everyone, here’s an update on our surprise lone duckie that came out of a failed incubator project (because the cat sat on the incubator!). Yes, I know, the pitfalls of having animals on a farm!!

Just to give you a quick background on our duckies, of the mallard type, we had to incubate the eggs because these ducks refused to set. Aha…you might say (if you know anything about the duckie world)…Why didn’t you use the local broody ducks (of the Muscovy type) to set? And, Aha once again…the pitfalls of having animals on the farm…we have a dog with a ferocious appetite for muscovy ducks!

Anyway, to get to the point: we have, in the past, incubated duck eggs with success. However, we found ourselves somewhat at a loss in being duckie parents. We were inexperienced, young and ignorant of The Way of The Duckie Dabble. The result was a bunch of useless duckies waiting for corn mash at the end of each day with no knowledge of eating the good things in life like slugs, caterpillars, ants, creepy crawlies and grass. What a disaster!!

Anyway, we have spent many a day observing The Way of The Duckie Dabble and this is the All New Munchkin & Gnome Classical Duckie Education.

It’s important to keep duckie in a safe, warm environment where he can freely survey the outside world. We used a fish tank with a 100 watt bulb.

2. Spend lots and lots of quality time with duckie. At Day 2, Start him on a diet of protein (we used boiled eggs) and lots of chopped greens. Let him splash about in a bowl of water like a duckie.

3. From Day 3, allow supervised walks so he gets used to pecking at creepy crawlies and eating green things. According to Gnome, it helps to wear yellow wellies so that he thinks you are just one of his kind!

4. Introduce Duckie to other farm members in a controlled manner:

5. It is of utmost importance in a Duckie Classical Education to introduce other animals (or cultures) into his everyday world as quickly as possible. From Day 7, take Duckie to the Piggie Creche (9am to 5pm) for pre-school education. This will enable fluency in a foreign language at a young age.

So far, Duckie is doing very well!!

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Pets

Duckie Tales!!

December 17, 2016 Munchkin

Sorry we haven’t written much! Getting into the Christmas Spirit.

Anyway, duckie is doing well in emergency SCDU (Special Care Duckie Unit….Doctor’s Joke!! Cat is also doing well! Ha-Ha!!

Are they friends? Gnome says a resounding, “NO.”

So, I can’t let duckie out to talk to the cat??

Gnome says, “NO.”

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Pets

Against All Odds!

December 11, 2016 Munchkin 2 Comments

We have a Baby!! Yes, against all odds we have a baby duckie! We haven’t had much luck with the duckie breeding program because of gender issues (this is true, by the way, the male duck paired up with a male goose and wouldn’t have anything to do with the female ducks). Anyway, we have a new drake on the block that is satisfying the harem of ducks. However, none of the ducks wanted to set so Gnome made an incubator.

We put 12 eggs in the incubator (Gnome-rigged, of course with temperature control) last month and eagerly waited. Gnome candled them at the beginning and all of them seemed to be viable. Towards the end of the incubation period (takes 28 days to hatch), disaster struck when we realised that the cat had been jumping on top of the incubator because it was such a comfy warm spot, causing the temperature to fluctuate, subsequently spoiling the eggs. We were so disappointed and gave up on the project as an “act of cat.” However, there was one egg we had put in 5 days later than the rest which was due to hatch today…we woke up this morning to:

“…peep….peep…peep.”

Yes, we have one lone duckie! Awwwhhhh….soooooo cute….

Another baby picture:

We have set up an emergency brooding area in a fish tank with a 100 watt lamp to keep it warm. He’s just had his first feed and seems to be doing okay! A bit lonely but we are keeping it company…

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Pets

Cold And Miserable Out Here!!

October 18, 2016 Munchkin

munchkin-amazed

The weather starts off kinda sunny and cheery in the morning and then by about early afternoon, black clouds move in and there is a huge downpour. At least that has been the weather pattern for the last few days. It ends up being really cold and miserable…reminds of good old Scottish weather!

Anyway, we all need to keep on going despite the greyness. Here are some pictures from the farm taken on better sunnier days. This one looks a bit startled but honestly, this is a happy, gurgling guinea pig:

Geese are fine with the rains and don’t really know what all the fuss is about:

Duckies: What’s Munchkin upset about? This is Paradise….

Belize, Pets, Philosophy

A Zen Garden For The Duckies.

January 28, 2016 Munchkin

Together

The Duckies have set up camp outside Mayor Gnome’s dwelling and are demanding MGNews coverage. So what’s up?

The peaceful duckies have been chanting incessantly:

“Waaa Waaa Waaaa….Waaa Waaa Waaaa…Waaa Waaa Waaaa…”

Everyday from dawn to dusk, they have bee protesting over their terrible living standards…the coup is getting old and bashed up and fails all duckie coup guidelines.

Plus they are upset over the Paradise Piggies getting all the attention. The spokes-duckie for the group stated:

“It’s not just about the Paradise Piggies! We duckies want freedom too. We ask Mayor Gnome to please grant us enough space to meditate, posture and stare into space to our heart’s content.”

But, the plot thickens…Evil Goosie is hatching a dastardly plan to convert the peace-loving group into Anarchists. He’s spoiling for a riot or anything that involves violent pecking and general disorder.

Mayor Gnome has been forced to work round the clock to restore order to the farm.

This is a public statement from Mayor Gnome addressing the duckie situation:

“Dear Duckies, I have meditated over your complaints and I will make things right! Right Thought, Right Action. We shall act speedily and build you a Zen Garden!”

In a later interview, Mayor Gnome confessed that he had to take control of the situation quickly. He explained,

“I know what that Goosie is up to. I don’t want this situation getting out of hand…it would be a major catastrophe if the duckies turned to anarchy..”

Yes indeed. Mayor Gnome is true to his word and is building a Zen Garden for the Duckies.

The Zen Garden is a whopping 30 feet by 30 feet. That should be plenty of space for the Zazen Duckies!!

Hooray for the Zazen Duckies!! We have a feeling that they might get some prime-time space on this Blog…the duckies’ endeavours on the contemplation of existence is indeed worth reading about.

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Pets, Philosophy

The Nefarious Mr. Goosie.

July 17, 2015 Munchkin 2 Comments

That dastardly goosie has been casing me for the last couple of weeks; he knows my routine and most importantly, feeding times. He has learnt the art of stalking, infiltration and acquisition of stolen food.

Goosie Stalking; hiding in the shadows of two metal barrels, plotting and scheming away:

Goosie Infiltration and Acquisition of Stolen Chicken Feet:

Cheeky Bugger: Steals Chicken Feet From the Other Bowl Too!!

The Nefarious Mr. Goosie is stealing chicken feet from the dog bowls…whoever heard of a goose eating chicken feet?! I was led to believe that they only ate grass.

If you ask me, the removal of the Wart of Evil “didn’t do nothing” as they say here in Belize:

Mr. Goosie is still displaying evil and wanton traits. Gnome takes a philosophical stance and says that Goosie is the balance on our farm; he describes the fluffy ducks and friendly guinea pigs as the “Yin” of the “Yin and Yang” of our farm. He explains that Goosie has to naturally balance the “good” with his “bad.”

The Yin of our farm:

The “Yang” of our Farm:

Gnome advice to Munchkin: Be brave, Munchkin. Don’t run from goosie! Show NO Fear!!

Belize, Blog, Farming, Food, Pets, Plants

Far From The Madding Crowd.

May 5, 2015 Munchkin

Hello Everyone!! Goosie is recovering very well from his traumatic doggy attack and was released from Farm-ICU today. He made some quiet honks through-out the day and then sounded a loud HONK in the afternoon and drew me his usual dastardly-look to tell me that he was back in action. To top it all off, our missing duckie suddenly reappeared, as if by magic, tonight for feeding time. We had no idea where she had been for the last 24 hours…we tried doing doggy sniffing and patrol all round the farm perimeter today looking for signs of her…and then she just pitched up for food tonight! No questions asked, we quickly ushered her into the coup. Wow…we are so pleased that everything has ended well and all our duckies and goosie are safe.

New things on our farm:

Gnome only uttered one word, “melomel.”

The Kun Batz (Ketchi Mayan name for Belize wild passionfruit) has ripened to an edible fruit and tastes like a cross between a lemon and water-melon…very good!

An unusual wild green pod growing, which we had been watching for 9 months, suddenly exploded. The dried pod looks like a nice ornamental for displaying (soap, maybe?!).

We are going to germinate the seeds because the vessel looks really pretty; it is boat-shaped and could be lacquered to make it last.

We are glad that we can share the highs and lows of our farm life in this Blog!

Belize, Farming, Pets

Wild Goosie Chase Saves Duckies!!

May 4, 2015 Munchkin

In the heat of the lazy afternoon fowl-play was afoot as we heard the sudden beating of wings and then a HONK that sounded like a shreek and then then the crash of mad chasing under the house. I ran out and caught a glimpse of a dog pouncing on my poor goosie as it fought back valiantly with its wings and beak. As soon as the stray dog caught a whiff of me, it scarpered quick smart off the property. Goosie was left in a state with blood on his neck and a severe hurt look on his face; he refused to look at me in the eye and beat a hasty retreat towards the shade of the coconuts.

After all this pandemonium, we suddenly realised that the goosie’s duckie buddies (white duck and two brown girls) were missing.

Gnome heard distant quacking coming from the pond where the fowl go to swim during the day. We walked the 150 yards, in silence and fear, to the pond and noted a trail of goose feathers as we went along. When we finally got there, the dog was there drowning one of our poor ducks in the pond. As soon as the dog saw Gnome, it sprang out and bounded away. We stayed for a while in the pond area with the poor, bedraggled half-drowned duckie swimming around dizzily in circles. There was no trace of any other ducks and we scoured the pond area to no avail. Eventually, the half-dead duckie got so distressed that Gnome said that it was best to leave her alone until routine feeding time.
We headed back to the house in a forlorn state wondering about our duckies. I checked up on Goosie and he seemed okay sitting under the coconuts. All of a sudden, Gnome and I heard WakWakWak (White Duckie Male Quack) and goosie perked up and hastily bobbed his head from side to side, frantically looking for the source of the noise. As soon as white duck came into sight, Goosie gave a mild honk of relief, ruffled his feathers and slyly sidled up to his best buddy. Gnome and I felt much encouraged by this re-union.

And so we waited the long hour until feeding time. During this time, we tried to put together the events of the afternoon and realised the brave actions of our goosie. Since the goose feathers traced back from the pond to the house, it looked like the goosie took flight back to the house, luring the dog with him. Meanwhile, this gave the rest of the ducks a chance to run off to safety while goosie ran “interference” to save his buddies. Awwwhhh…what a Champ our Goosie is!!

When it was feeding time, we went back to the pond and, to our dismay, found no trace of our distressed damsel. We felt so terrible for leaving our duckie behind earlier and walked back to the house, desperately unhappy, feeling the weight of the world on our shoulders. We fed the rest of our animals and performed the rest of our evening routine. Just as the sun was coming down…it was a deep red tonight like blood spilling across the sky…we heard an insistent QuackQuackQuack outside the duck coup. Our duckie (the dizzy, swimming one) had returned and was trying to get into the coup. Oh, we were so pleased to see that she had recovered and did not look half-drowned anymore!
So far. So good. Only one duckie missing and most probably taken out by the stray dog. Goosie is alive and recuperating. Sleep tight duckies and goosie…don’t let the bad dogs bite!!

Casa Mascia Apothecary

Tag Archives: Duck

The Great Egg Hunt!!

Whilst Waiting…

A Duckie Classical Education.

Duckie Tales!!

Against All Odds!

Cold And Miserable Out Here!!

A Zen Garden For The Duckies.

The Nefarious Mr. Goosie.

Far From The Madding Crowd.

Wild Goosie Chase Saves Duckies!!

Everything Handmade in Belize.