Annimal Husbandry

Definition: breeding and caring for farm animals.

Really? I actually thought it meant that the husband had to do all the mucking out and the Wife (not mentioned in the term above) got to sit around for hours on end watching in wonder as her little baby duckling deals with life on the WiseFarm.

Our baby will be one week old tomorrow. We are still waiting for the other two eggs to hatch, but considering they are Muscovy Duck Eggs, which can take 35 days to incubate as opposed to 28 days for little brown ducks, our wait should end on Sunday. If there is no movement by then we are going to do a 'float test' to see if there is a live one inside. 

When we made a conscious decision to embark into this business of breeding (be they be for meat or eggs) the Chef and I decided to let nature takes it's course. We are not going to invest in an incubator and breed ourselves, we will let Broody Betty the Bantam Hen do all the work. If she has success of one or two birds a year then I will be happy with that. A slow growth rate to add to the flock. Manageable. I might buy a heat lamp just in case we have any last minute change-of-hearts though, because I worry that with giving Betty several different eggs to sit on she may some day get annoyed that none of them are actually 'hers'.

That being said, I think that Betty will be fine.  You see she is a very young hen. This is her first hatch-ling. She has not even laid an egg of her own yet, and has mothered the child of another. When the baby arrived last week we saw the testy males get into a slinging match over 'who da baby Daddy' is, and truth be told, they have not stopped bitching since. We are at the point now where we will be building a new fence (using old poles from a tent and some chicken wire) to keep the 'Lads' separated. A baby is a baby guys. It wants and needs for the same thing, no matter who's it is, or where it has come from. 

  

The other two female hens have turned out to be total cows also. So 'The Simpsons' (Bart/Rooster; Maggie/Lisa - the hens) seem to be showing signs of intolerance when it come to accepting new life. More than a few times I have witnessed the two hens trying to peck the life out of the little guy (remaining nameless until we know the sex). Thankfully, Betty (only 1/3 the size of the bigger girls) is one stellar Mum. She chases them away like a fire breathing dragon would and takes a shrill tone with them if they come within 3 feet of her nest. 

We, here on the WiseFarm, do not tolerate, well, intolerance. It is safe to say that we all come from entirely different backgrounds, are of many (or no) religions and are colourblind to what you may look like on the outside and only really care about who you are inside. Separating the hens might be a short term solution as you cannot expect chickens to learn our family ethos, but we will be introducing a few Guinea Fowl to the flock later in the summer. They are apparently great mediators and may help reunite the flock.

Stay tuned because the next posting might just be chicken soup for the soulless Rooster!

Those are all the WiseWords I have for today,

WiseMóna

One man's trash is another man's treasure

My Mother is a pack rat and I married a pack rat. I, am NOT a pack rat. Over the last few weeks it has finally dawned on me that being a pack rat is not the worst thing in the world as long as you keep recycling the hoarded items for new use. You are actually doing the earth a service by not disposing of what might be deemed by others as RUBBISH . This is where my husband and Mother are shining stars.

If you are planning on opening your home up to a few extra kids be it biologically or via any other (legal) ways, the one thing your should prepare yourself for is the onslaught of MORE WASTE. Here are Chez Wise when it was just the 'fantastic four' of us I had the weekly shopping down to a science and had plenty of time to browse around the markets and buy package free foodstuffs. 

In case you did not get the memo I HATE PACKAGING. You know what I am talking about - the plastic trays that most chickens are packed in, or the excessive amount of plastic packaging used for berries and other fruits. Buying loose produce, bringing my own bags to the shops and markets helps a lot and even the friendly butchers have started wrapping the meat in butcher paper only and holding back on suffocating it all in plastic.

You have to pay to have your waste removed in Ireland. Here in Galway the annual fee (depending on where you live) for waste removal is €288.00. That is a twice monthly removal of what we call general rubbish and all recyclables (plastic/aluminium/paper/cardboard) with the exception of glass. which we have to haul that the the bottle banks ourselves.  

You do have the option however of just buying the right colour bag (blue €2.50 for plastic/green €5.00 for rubbish) and literally pay as you 'dump'. Last year we spent less than €115.00 in waste removal fees thanks to careful shopping and the fact that my thrifty husband knows his TRASH.

Enter into the picture several little kiddies that do not know anything about the systems in place at our house and before you know it there are banana peels festering in the rubbish bags, and soiled nappies and glass bottles outside in the compost pile. Aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrggggghhhhh! 

I can't be mad with the children. It is not there fault that they were not taught the difference between organic waste and aluminium cans. I get that. What I do not get (and will not tolerate) is that littering seems to be a well practiced trend with the newbies - that is until the litter patrol twins pipe up.

Although we appear to always blather on (ok, just me with the blathering on) about eating healthy food etc. it is not unheard of for a child to have the occasional bag of Tayto or chocolate bar around here. Only a day or two into our time with all these lassies running loose in our house Jack declared (in horror) that one of the ladies had just 'littered' in our back garden. Sure enough the offender had just tossed aside a wrapper from her treat as if a litter fairy would swoop in later and place it in the rubbish bin for her.

It was more like the Trash Troll that made an appearance. I can state, at this time, that it may be a little confusing for the newbies to try to figure out where each item should go. I mean, lets face it, we have organic waste going out to the compost pile, plastic and aluminium going into a blue bag, general rubbish going into the trash can - and somewhere around all this we squeeze in paper and cardboard. So, now they just stand in the general area and ask where it should go.

I caught a glimpse of one of the younger ones munching on a banana yesterday and toddling over to the compost pile where a hungry hen was waiting to feast on whatever she was willing to share. 

It has only been a  few weeks and the two and a half year old gets it. Not so difficult methinks then, for the rest of the world to get on board. 

Now, back to being a busy Mum and plan a little better so I can keep our waste at a minimum.

Enjoy what is left of your weekend!

Those are all the WiseWords I have for today,

WiseMóna

A recap in which came first, the Chicken or the DUCK??

If you have nothing better for doing, you should click on the photo above and view it in a larger window. I know it is not my finest piece when it comes to taking photos . The lighting is not flattering to the mother or child, but it is our first baby.

Just less than a month ago we found 'Broody Betty' at a poultry fair near our home. She is the tiniest little ting, no bigger than a pigeon. BUT this is what her breed is famous for. Broodiness that is. 

All she wants to do is sit on eggs for periods of time and pop out feathery flocks for us to fawn over. We sat her on three eggs. Her being the size of a pigeon we had to be selective. We choose a laying egg duck and 2 Muscovy Duck eggs. We hope to breed meat birds so a succulent duck breast might appear more frequently on the 'Chez Wise plat do jour'. 

I am not going to bore y'all to death with this story. We placed the eggs under our little 'Broody Betty' and lust shy of 23 days later we have our first appearance of a little black baby duckling. He is the cutest little thing and eating like a champ. In true Wisefashion she has not snubbed him for 'being different or in this case not a chick' and has embraced her little 'adopted' baby as one of her own. (yes, I am proud).

Our rowdy Rooster Bart and the Horny Henry the Drake acted out what seemed like a whole episode of a Jerry Springer show earlier today as the new downy duckling joined the feathery flock here in the Wonderful Wise World.

Although I was on the school run picking up my crumb catcher and missed the whole show I assume it went something like this:

Bart the Rowdy Rooster:
Eyeing up his 'new wife' Betty, noticed the new life peeping out from under her fluffed feathers.
He sauntered over all proud and with great posture hoping the world would see what he had produced.

Horny Henry:
Might have heard a peeping that sounded nothing like a new summer chick but more like the squeak of a wee ducky embracing life.

So, Henry and Bart get into it. Henry points out that Bart (being a Rooster) cannot lay claim the the downy duckling because - well, it's a duck. Henry, being the proud Rooster that he is decides to peck the life out of Henry and by the time I arrive I am left holding on to a defenseless drake covered in blood.

It was a massacre. The children were all running around the garden trying to catch the rabbit that had to get away from it all. Henry the Drake refuses to 'let it go' and seems like he wants to fight to the death.

Bart the Rooster is acting submissive now and I believe is just waiting for the paternity test to see if he should push the issue.

I about had a cow this afternoon. I was so so so so so stressed when I saw my blood spattered Drake. I did what most women would do. I called my Mammy. She dropped everything and raced over. (thank you Mum).

She reassured me that the Drake was fine and would recover just fine and she gave our newest little feathery family member plenty of 'ooohing' and 'aaaaahhhing' so I was able to relax for the evening and enjoy the start of what I hope will be a fruitful weekend! Two more eggs should hatch tomorrow!

The Ducks and Hens are sleeping separated tonight and we will try to re-acclimatise the tomorrow in the hopes that they can get over their snit.

Now, all I should have to worry about is convincing my little ducky to take a swim when I know his Mum (a hen) will think he is going to drown.

11:35pm here in Galway, Ireland and we have just seen daylight let go of it's grasp for the day!

Those are all the WiseWords I have for this evening.

WiseMóna