Tag Archives: Turkey

Amusing, Belize, Farming

Working Together!

The other day, Gnome went into the yard and then came straight back into the house and said:

“The male turkey is sitting on the turkey eggs!”

We both went to look and sure enough he had phased out into a deep meditative state whilst sitting on 9 eggs.  We made sure that the eggs were intact (which they were) but we wondered if this behaviour was a “good thing.”  The Over-Lord (the male turkey) has been a bit of a scamp and has broken the eggs in the turkey nest in the past.  Mama turkey (The Duchess) seemed unperturbed with it all (like it was normal for a huge 20lb turkey to sit on her eggs) and was nimbly dashing about outside looking for yummy morsels to eat.

Another Google search: Do Male Turkeys Sit On Eggs.

And sure enough there are reports that male and female turkeys “share the workload” and are known to take turns (like work shifts) to set eggs.  Okay….so after reading this, we decided not to chuck the Over-Lord off the eggs!!

Awwhhh….it is actually quite nice to see the Over-Lord and the Duchess working together.  She is coming out more to forage for food and I throw some corn near the nest so that she doesn’t need to go so far.  He hasn’t come off for 72 hours now!!  Most of the time they are sharing the nest and are sitting side by side.

How Lovely….

Male and Female Turkey Setting.

This is not a good picture because I did not want to disturb them too much.  If you look very closely, they are both there.  Another two weeks ago until estimated date of hatching…we’ll keep you posted.

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Pets

Kidnapping The Duchess!!

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Officially we are now crepuscular; up at 5am, doing our stuff until it gets too hot to move!!  I just wanted to share with you a funny story that happened about two weeks ago.  This was when we had no idea what to do with our goose eggs; the incubator was unreliable, all the female geese were insisting on nesting in the middle of the bush, there was a lot of pushing and shoving resulting in broken eggs  and there were no reliable broody poultry.  Our first solution was to get Muscovy ducks as they are known to be become broody at the drop of a hat.  These silly little ducks have proven to be duds.  As Gnome says,

“They’re treating this place like a hotel….”

Muscovy Ducks.

These two possess absolutely no broody tendencies.  They just twitter, stuff themselves full of corn and will have nothing to do with us.  Talk about a bunch of free-loaders!!

Anyway, at about the same time, our darling duchess (aka female turkey) had laid a clutch of eggs and was sitting all snug and cosy on top of them.  And then lo and behold, the Overlord (Aka male turkey) came along and smashed up the eggs (we are not sure why he did this) and the poor duchess was left whimpering on top of a bunch of broken eggs, refusing to move.

Overlord and Duchess.

This is when we decided upon Operation: Kidnap the Duchess.  Gnome made a lovely luxury nest cabana-style in the coop.

Deluxe Brooding Cabana.

In the middle of the night, Gnome stealthily grabbed and snatched the duchess and placed her in the new nest  on top of 7 goose eggs.  I assisted with a flash-light to guide the way.  The next morning, we opened up the nest door to find the duchess all quiet and calm,  sitting happily on top of her eggs.  Since then, she has not moved at all and we place food, snacks  (she loves bananas) and water by her side.  We hope that the eggs hatch…we have about another two weeks to go.  We did read on the Internet (although we are now cautious of any information that we read) that when a turkey sits on goose eggs, you actually need to help her move the eggs around on a daily basis and spray warm water to keep them humidified.  Well, the Duchess will have none of that because she won’t  get her off the eggs!  God forbid that we try moving her about; she would probably freak out and we definitely do not want to de-brood her!  Let’s hope and pray that we get a few goosies out of this one…

Sitting Turkey.

Keep on going Duchess!!  You’re a Champion!!

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Pets

The Great Egg Hunt!!

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?
Looking For Something?
Looking For Something?
Looking For Something?

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

Secret Nest.

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!

Eggs Galore!!

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, Pets

Meet The New-Comers!!

Meet the New-Comers to Casa Mascia Manor: The Overlord and The Duchess of Toledo.

Overlord and Duchess.

The Overlord is of equivalent rank to The Gnome and acts as Guardian of the farm and general bossie of all fowl.  His task at night is to sleep on a perch right in front of the house to guard Munchkin and Gnome.  Morning duties include the wake up call at dawn with “Gobbble–Gobbble–Gobbble–Gobbble….” and to keep the duckies and goosies in line as they troop out of the coup in the morning.  The rest of the day, he parades around the farm, puffing up his stomach every few seconds (with a loud POOF) to remind everybody of his rank and position on the farm.

The Overlord.

The Duchess of Toledo is dainty and nimble on her feet.  She likes nibbling on delicate greens and tiny insects.  If we gave her egg and cress sandwiches on doilies, I am sure she would not be adverse to the  fine pleasures which are be-fitting to her fine breeding.  The only requirements of this lady is to be by the Overlord’s side for public appearances.

The Overlord and The Duchess.