Baby muscovy ducks 🐣🐥🐣🐥🐣

Our Muscovy's have been producing eggs since spring and now, of all times, is when they decide to hatch them out; they certainly picked a funny season those silly little quackers. With fall just around the corner we still have enough time for them to grow, the only problem now, keeping walking bait away from the barn cats.
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As soon as they hatched the father duck wouldnt leave the coop, I thought it was just some nice gesture to the moma but boy was I wrong. So the next day I walked in and gave them some feed, then, out of nowhere, the male duck bends down and snaps up a little baby duck by the head.

WHAT THE!!

So after a little research I found out this can happen, the male might be trying to stay in his hierarchical position, so any new male competition is lunch, regardless of whether its his babies or not.

The interesting thing of all this is, one day, the moma duck looked like she had left the kids with the other duck, we'll call her auntie. I thought to myself (how nice), it almost seemed like some type of companion parenting, after all, it does take a village, right.

But soon I realized something was off. Whenever moma duck came around, auntie would hiss, then  start biting and I could tell auntie wasnt letting moma near her babies.

This must have been happening for a while as when I separated the babies from auntie, they chirped away very unhappily. Auntie did not want to give up those babies, she hissed at me, bit me twice and fluttered in my face with her wings. Im starting to wonder if maybe she doesnt think she's stealing them, maybe she thinks there her own for some reason?. not sure why all this happened, but very interesting to watch the drama unfold.

In the picture here is moma duck and babies. Moma is a blue eyed, all white Muscovy, with a very friendly attitude. Her sister on the other hand,......

The little yellow one was just stepped on by our new goat, it was terrifying.
I thought she was a goner. But she literately dusted herself off, pushed her wing back into place and went off hunting for bugs with the rest of the family. Not even a sign of hurt or shock. I figured Id give it a day or two to really know how she was doing and so far, she's a trooper.

The old nest. As soon as the young ones hatched she gave up on the old eggs.

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Golden laced polish chickens in Ontario, ☼Canada.☼

As being new to owning chickens we wernt sure if they would come back after being let out, and the first time we tried it, it didnt turn out well. It resulted in me running around the property chasing after these birds with toes like velociraptors
( I may be exaggerating on that ).
But after a good hour or so I maged to corral them back in the coop.

We then found out chickens need time to grow used to they're new home, so we gave it a few weeks and then crossed our fingers. Now, we really couldn't wait the full two weeks, we dont like animals being locked up, so, it was decided, enough is enough, if they fly off they fly off, it will be a $40 lesson.

Luckily, now that we've added a few more animals, everything seems to have changed. When the chickens were let out today, they didn't immediately run off, they stayed to watch what the ducks were up to. After that, they started to act like chickens, rustling through the leaves and dirt looking for bugs, climbing up trees and looking for places to lay a nest.

The golden laced polish chickens just happen to be one of my favourite breeds, The colour pattern on them is brilliant, with they're boisterous hairdo resembling something of a mix between Einstein and don king. One thing to keep in mind, while they are an attractively showy bird, of coat and hairstyle, they are in no need of specialized care, in fact, they are an extremely hearty variety of chicken, putting up with frigged Canadian winters and our boiling heatwave like summers.

They enjoy scraps from the table, red wiggler worms from our compost, oats, sunflower seeds, cantaloupe, apples, kiwi, sprouts, and many other fresh foods.

Here is our rooster, youd think it would be annoying having a rooster right out back in your yard but honestly, I dont even notice. It also adds to the ambiance of a farm, with the goats meh'ing, and the ducks squakings, it only makes sense to have a roster crowing, after all, it is only just a few times in the morning, he doesn't seem to do much during the day. This might all change, depending on if we add more birds ( competition ) to the mix.

Muscovy's and chickens getting along

He seems to like this corner, its close to the coop door but far enough in the bush that he can feel like a real chicken.

Our muscovy ducks ♫ ☮ Do the ducky dance ☮ ♫

We just recently picked up a trio of Muscovy ducks and its really starting to feel like a farm around here. With 2 chickens, 2 goats, 3 ducks, 6 barn cats and a caboodle of kittens We are on our way!.

The one thing I can tell you is, out of all the animals we have so far, the ducks are a delight to take care of. They waddle around, with no big hurry, feasting through bugs in the air and grasses on the ground. Corralling them to a certain location is beyond easy, just walk behind, helping guide them in the right direction, and off they go!. The only slight gripe I have is, sometimes, if I'm a little forgetful and leave the goat pen door open, the ducks get in and start eating all the left-over seed on the ground, THEN POOP.

Muscovy ducks cleaning themselves

Muscovy duck closeup ( male )

Our male Muscovy has a wonderful demeanor, he shows no bother to our two goats, even going as far as to compete with them over snacks on the ground. When he flaps his wings, you can feel the air move all around you, freaks my goats right out!, He's also one snazzy dancer, If you walk up and bob your head slightly, he does his little dance and shakes his tale.

One of our female Muscovy's has blue eyes and is the more timid of the bunch. The other female seems to like de-feathering her, it was only a big issue when we first got them, everything has seemed to calm down now, Thankfully.

Muscovy closeup

 Our other female is in the background and has been laying eggs quite voraciously.

 I'm not sure what these are, if anyone has an idea please chime in!

I dont know too much about flowers but I sure can appreciate them! From what I understand, this is an iris. It grows wild under our maple trees in our front yard and what I find interesting is, How similar in looks it is to a vanilla vine

Our rhubarb has started to flower and I figured I would collect some seeds and see what comes of it.
I understand quite well the complexities of growing plants whose seeds pop out like the roulette effect. Yes, it will not be like the parent plant but that's the whole point!. When it comes to these things, the more genetic variety the better, after all, I would hate to see what happened to the banana happen to rhubarb, I couldn't go on with out my pies and strawberry rhubarb deserts.
I swear on that giant spaghetti monster in the sky!

Are these prickly poppies?

Now, Ive grown poppies before, mainly for leaning about the medical aspects and how they're grown but I never got that into all the other varieties. They look vary similar, the flower pod, the stem, the spikes on the flower bud, but the leaves are soooooOOOOOO covered in thorns it just didn't look like what I know. Ive only grown papaver somniferum, some Hawaiian blue poppy and a few others I piked up from Richters herbs.

If anyone out there knows what this is please let us know!

Its certainly something living out in eastern Ontario. The amount of wildlife here is extraordinary.
BUT! I feel there is a warning I must give to future property investors,
The one thing that might wreck it for SOME people is......
THE BUGS.

Man 'OOOO man are there bugs.

Ive never experienced anything like the bug population here. If you breath in to heavily, you've just consumed you protein for the day. The black flies will dive bomb your eyes and the mosquitoes will suck you inside out. Now, there is a benefit to all this chaos. The ecosystem is THRIVING. The amount of bird species here is unlike anything else in Ontario, the butterflies are everywhere, the parasitoid wasps are around in apocalyptic droves. Bees and wasps are a plenty here, at least on the organic farms that is.
So, if you can put up with a mouth full of bugs, you will do fine down here. lol.

Cheers!

Nubian goats Ontario, Canada.◍ Meet Nabob and Mocha our coffee coloured goats ◍

Pet Nubian goats

Nubian goats

Grass fed goats

Goats in Canada permaculture

This is mocha, he's a wild one. He loves eating/licking things he's not suppose to ( pressure treated wood, chicken coops, clothes on the line ), But he also enjoys the good stuff like watermelon, cantaloupe and oats. His favourite game involves head-butting anyone's hand, but of the two, he's the baby of the bunch, always needs a companion and CANT be alone.

Anglo-Nubian Goat

This is Nabob, He is gentler then mocha and he use to be inseparable, but has recently been gaining courage, bravely trotting off around the property. He's much pickier the Mocha and doesnt like fruit, just his oats, grass and maybe a few trees. 

Nabob the Nubian goat

Nubian goats cutting grass

Anyone know what kind of tree this is?

Nubian goats in Ontario, Canada.

My new tent, there's nothing like sleeping under the stars, even if its just in your backyard, the grounding force speaks for itself.

Tenting in eastern Ontario

Finding wild gooseberries + ✉ rare plant shipment ✉ ␘PAWPAW'S & SASSAFRAS!!!!␘

Pawpaw - fairchild/zimmerman

 What a looker.... lol

Ahh well, they're alive.

We just received our order of 5 pawpaws, 1 Cornelian cherry and 1 Sassafras tree. All seem to be alive but time will tell. While we are in the agriculture business to sell food, we are also collectors of rare species, efficiency and economics be damned.

Variety is the spice of life so they say, and I tend to agree with'em.
The sassafras tree is something Ive always thought about since I started gardening. When you enjoy cooking and growing your own food, you inevitably start wandering down the path of potential, and for some reason its always those plants with such a troubled history I crave to own so badly. Im not sure if its the allure or just our nightmarish history of how we treat plants (/things) plaguing me, putting my bulldog determination into high gear, trying to order/acquire every species possible before its gone or screwed up with genetic modification.

The Pawpaws we managed to get our hands on were as follows.

1. P.A Golden
2. Fairchild-Zimmermin
3. O Taytoo
4. Davis
5. Green river

Pawpaw Canada

Rare plants Ontario

Wild gooseberry

I thought I would take a trip around the property and see what I can find since spring is in the air and its never to early for a curious mind. Ive already come across some fossils of bone turning into quartz, dragon fly fossils, ancient crinoid blooms stuck in carboniferous limestone, a massive boulder with a rainbow-like quartz vein some 5 inches in width and 8 feet in length. There are heirloom apples on the hill and beach plums separating the pastures. Chaga lay on the fallen birch tree in the back, and heritage raspberry bushes fill every nook and cranny. An absolute smorgasbord of taste, history and experience.

Red gooseberry - poormans

 (poormans gooseberry potted last year)

You can see on the lower part of the plant where the old growth has weathered and turned a dark brown/maroon. This area will be filled with thorns.

( unless you have a newer variety that is semi-thorn less e.g "captivator")

 

Red gooseberry Ontario Canada

 ↑ This is a red gooseberry ( poor mans ) that I potted up last year.↑

Wild gooseberry leaves

The leaves have almost a maple leaf like appearance and once you know the plant you will be seeing it everywhere. They have a strong stem and will hold the weight of the berries. Sometimes the plant can look intimidating, covered in thorns from stem to berry, but even then the fruit is still edible.... with proper preparation.

Wild raspberry canes

Old raspberry bushes by a drive shed, we will see what they have to offer after all these years.

Wild gooseberry stalk - old growth

 Wild goosebery bottom/middle stem.

Raspberry cane ( heritage )

Gooseberry plant identification

Wild gooseberry bush hidden. By the time the fruit is ready no-one would know where this bush is. Spring is probably the best time to go hunting for things like this

Gooseberry patch hidden

 Gooseberry patch

Gooseberry wild variety

I shot this with my iPhone as I didnt have my camera at the time, but I just wanted to show how mixed in these gooseberries actually are. This is right in the lawn, If I didnt know any better I would just be running this thing over with the mower or letting the goats nibble at it. 

( its the blurry plant in the middle)

Old 1850's double barn

Spring flowers

Purple spring flowers

 SPRING!

mini Rockhound dig Ontario

Old rock pile Ive been going through, found some outstanding specimens but Ive packed them all for now, more on this with another blog.

Catnip

Your cats favorite pastime, The infamous,...... CATNIP!.

strangely, some people find it smells funny, I kinda like it. Ive yet to make a tea from it, curious, as  Ive heard that certain concentrations, in certain people, will actually give experiences similar to marijuana. I have not had the time to experiment with this but since its just outback it seems a good a time as any.

Here goes......

 BOTTOMS UP!

catmint

gooseberries hidden