NEWSFLASH: Sally Muscovy Escapes, Arrested

(AP) Sally the Muscovy took flight this morning, escaping the Alpine Learning Center Compound. "Quack quack quack quack", said Snowball, her mate. ALC police gave chase and located her on the ground, half way to the freedom of the pond on the neighboring property. She did not resist arrest. The trial was swift and decisive. She was fined 4" of her flight feathers and released back to the yard.

When it rains, it pours

The Alpine Learning Center had some learning experiences this past month that we'd like to share with you, dear readers.

First, a short description of our water supply. There is a well here, about 120 feet deep, with a well pump sitting at about 100 feet. The natural waterline is at about 80 feet. The well has been tested to deliver about 3 gallons per minute during the wet months. This is not very much. This is why there is a 2000 gallon storage tank. We can't expect to take showers and water the birds at the same time at just 3 gallons per minute. So the well pump keeps the 2000 gallon tank full while an independent "pressure tank" and its associated "pressure pump" delivers 20-40 psi at the tap and hose. This can deliver a lot more water at high pressure than can the well pump alone, with a 2000 gallon buffer should we overdraw for a short while.

A month ago the pressure pump stopped working. This means I couldn't take a shower, wash dishes, flush the toilet, etc. All was not lost however; I could drain the storage tank, albeit at low pressure, and haul the water indoors. Not such a bad situation. It could get worse. The birds get water through gravity feed, they don't need showers like we do. They sure don't poop like we do, no issues there. My friend Erika had the opportunity to learn how to flush the old fashioned way. It could get worse, really.

I replaced the pressure tank with a bladder-style tank, and upgraded to a 3/4 HP pump. It took three weeks to accomplish this task, lots of reasons why, but the bottom line is water on tap sure is nice and convenient. You don't appreciate that sort of thing until you don't have it.

Last week I ran out of water. You know you run out of water when you are mid-shower, and air starts coming out the shower head. Good thing I had finished rinsing.

It seems too much a coincidence, and I haven't worked it all out yet, but at about the same time I got the pressure pump working, the well pump stopped working. With all that laundry that piled up, and joy at having water on tap, I used the 2000 gallon tank in one week. There is no warning that this happens, other than the aforementioned dry shower effect.

This would normally be an emergency, but I can probably grovel at my neighbors' doorsteps and ask if they could please spare a couple hundred gallons of water for me and my birds. But that would be un-mountain-man-like. It would be like asking for wood mid-winter because you were too stupid to stock up beforehand. I would never stoop that low... not until I exhausted all other avenues at least.

I thought I had learned enough knowing I could flush toilets, do dishes, take "showers" with 2 gallons of water, etc. I had 2000 gallons afterall. Wood-burning stoves to heat the water. Electric stoves to heat water in a pinch. But all the sudden, I had no water. The birds need water to live, I needed water to flush and wash. This is an emergency to them whether they know it or not.

Fortunately there was some rain coming. I placed my kiddie pools and other vessels into the path of roof runoff and collected what looked like a couple days worth of water. Not potable water, for me at least, but good enough for the birds.

You would not believe how dependent you are on water until you don't have it. You know what they say about earthquake preparedness? Believe it. Water is crucial. I went through 2000 gallons in a week. What would a family do with no water? That is an emergency! I suggest you all go out and stock up on at least 5 gallons per person per day. Water-dependent animals like waterfowl (they don't have "water" in the name for no reason) need more.

Today I have about 100 gallons in kiddie pools. I found a blown fuse at the well pump control box. Maybe that will be the problem? I'll know tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm drinking bottled water, "showering" with 2 gallons heated on the stove, and collecting rainwater like it's gold.

In bird news, it was a mixed week. Every Sunday I go to the Mountain View Farmer's Market and collect the scraps of lettuce, spinich, etc. that fall on the ground that people will not eat, but birds relish. Normally I get a 40-gallon garbage can, sometimes two. It's free, I save on feed costs, what the birds don't want I give to the red wigglers (which are going like gangbusters -- anybody want worms to take care of inedible food?) This last Sunday I collected about three or four time the normal amount of scraps. And they weren't even scraps: I collected perfectly good scallions, bok choy, dandelion greens, cabbage, turnips, beets, celery, and so on, and so forth. It was Christmas for the birds. Turns out that Second Harvest normally collects the excess food, but was not working that week. So I got all that extra food. It seems a waste to take it for the birds, but it would have gone to the garbage bag otherwise.

Here's a pic of the cornucopia in my truck, and a bunch of happy birds enjoying the harvest:




Ending on a sad note, Paris of Paris and Nicole (Nick actually) fame died. She seemed to have been doing so well, growing back all her feathers. I was hoping she and Sally the other Muscovy would raise a clutch of birds this year.

comings and goings

If readers will recall, the first batch of guineas were named and sponsored.

I'm sad to report that the very first guinea I ever raised has died. She was named "Kiki" by my good friend Betsy. Kiki was very special; and the three boy guineas who followed her around would probably agree.

She was first to hatch, first to buckwheat. First for many things.
It appears she was struck by something, like a vehicle, which caved in her shoulder. She struggled two days but didn't recover.

In an unrelated incident, a Rouen became food. I can't tell you how delicious it is. Ducks are made for confit.

The aviary I started a while back is finished. The ducks and geese enjoy the outdoors all day now, albeit confined. Protected more like. That's an improvement over the smallish coop, at least.

I've been using sawdust for the last year to help keep down the odor in the coop, and to soak up some of the "tailings" of the birds. It works but it compacts a bit too quickly. And when it packs down it gets positively revolting. Recently I responded to an ad on Craigslist: free mulch, plus $40 for your trouble. It took me seven trips, but I got it all. Good stuff too -- 100%, pure oak leaves and chips. Works as well as I had hoped too. I can skip days without worry.

Alpine Learning Series has a webcam now. Contact me for the address.

Something to write about, finally

As I sat here this morning reading email and sipping coffee, I noticed something odd outside -- a couple of ducks were watching something intently, one or two were jumping up but not really running, and one was making a long, drawn out QUUUUAAAAACK sound. Normally the ducks would be running towards the coop for safety if there were a predator about. So I didn't feel like there was anything wrong, but I checked anyway.

Lo and behold, I stumbled upon a duck with a bobcat latched onto its throat. The other ducks were not all that far away, watching, appearing to be saying, "Sucks to be you" to the doomed duck.

I yelled out a "HEY!", and the bobcat released the duck and jumped away... but not very far away, maybe ten feet at best. That was one brave bobcat, or maybe just a hungry one. I spotted it lingering at the edge of the brush 15 minutes later.

One last note. The Rouen that was attacked happens to be the very same that was nearly killed by a coyote a few months back. The same Rouen that's owned by my neighbor, not me. That's one lucky duck!

bird count is rising

Here's the situation: every time I catch a guinea hen sitting on a pile of eggs, I steal them from her so she doesn't get eaten by a racoon. Then I put the eggs into an incubator.

So far there have been 4 hatches: 8 lavenders, 2 browns, 6 browns, and 10 browns and jumbos. There are 36 unhatched eggs in the incubator. And I just got a $50 gift certificate from a hatchery.

Take some now, or eat them later. Your choice.

no capons for now

For those of you on the edge of your seats, I did not produce any capons. First I must say they are all fine.

The first attempt resulted in excessive bleeding. I was too traumatized to continue.

The second didn't bleed at all. But the fog was rolling in, I couldn't see, and every time a fly would happen by, it would flinch trying to snatch it out of the air, making it difficult to make the cut. So it was freed as well.

This current clutch will remain intact, the window has closed. I have two more clutches arriving, some are hatching as I type.

heat kills

You know those last few days of heat we had? It killed most if not all the worms in the worm bin. Ever pass a dead animal on the side of the road? It smells. How do you think a couple thousand dead worms smell? In my entry way? Hooooo-wheeee! Stinkayyy!

This year there are three seperate hatches of guineas. The first produced 3 females, 5 males, all lavender. The second, two unknown browns. The third, I'm guessing 3 females, 3 males, all brown but one (who's yer daddy?!). They are out of control, flying all over the place, begging to be let outside:



Speaking of excess keets....

Read no further, faint of heart.

Do you know what a capon is? It's a (male) bird with its testes removed. This emasculation causes the boy-not-yet-man to take on some female characteristics... or more accurately, non-male characteristics. He is non-agressive, cares for young, and grows larger than a normal male would.

Why are capons produced? Male poultry are basically useless, other than for meat. But capons are even better -- their flesh is more tender, and they continue to grow beyond their normal size and weight. Although they ultimately cost more to produce, they are sought after for the above reasons.

Capons are out of favor though. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it is because capons are now produced through artificial means -- chemicals that inhibit the hormonal activity of the testes. Nobody wants to eat a chemically-enhanced chicken.

Yet at the same time, the old-fashioned way of producing a capon might be considered barbaric. It happens all over the domestic animal world, though.

Alpine Learning is going to study the effects of caponizing Guinea Fowl. This will be scholarly research: there will be control groups, experimental subjects. I'll blindfold myself, twice, so I don't know which I'm weighing. If I can read the results, I'll reports as honestly as possible.

ALC is not all about birds

How many of you have vegetable waste that you either 1) send down the plumbing through the food grider; or 2) toss onto a make-shift compost pile? The first option works, but you know that you can do better with this sort of waste, such as composting. But, the trouble with composting such small amounts of leftover scraps is that it isn't really composting -- the waste just dries up and withers away on top of the pile. Normally one would create a compost pile with the correct nitrogen/carbon ratio, mix it up, and let it sit for a few months. This sort of arrangement doesn't exactly allow for incremental additions of small bits of kitchen waste. What to do, then?

This is where vermiculture fills a void, that is, giving your kitchen scraps to red wiggler worms. Many months ago I responded to an ad on craigslist, a woman whose name I have forgotten said she had an abundance of worms and they were free for the taking, provided they be used for the same purpose. Kerrie and I went and gathered maybe 1000 worms, by hand, and I tossed them into a box with holes and set them to the task of eating the kitchen scraps. It is working better than I ever imagined. They were slow to start at first, because the population was small, but after a few months they have become so dense that I need to either make a bigger container or give some away. Here they are chowing down:



It's easy to manage. Put any non-animal waste into the box, mix it up so the food isn't on top of the pile, and ever other day or so give it a good mixing. There is no smell provided you keep it mixed. If you give them too much at once, some of the food rots. No big deal though, just keep mixing it up. It is really that easy. The population will adapt to the amount of food intake. If you toss in a lot, they will reproduce. It is that simple.

Let me know if you want a starter batch of worms, I have plenty.

new family members

Recall that Snoop the runner duck was on eggs for nearly 4 weeks, only to be ousted by Sally the muscovy. Unfortunately, Sally was a bit to heavy for the hatchlings... I was able to save only two.

A week prior, 8 lavender keets hatched. They are already too big for the indoor coop -- they are flying out of the enclosure, pooping all over the kitchen floor, etc. They will go outside tomorrow and the two duck-incubated keets will get the kiddie-pool-keet-kondo in the kitchen.

Found yet another clutch of eggs outside and put them into the incubator. Those hens sure put up a good fight when it comes to their eggs being stolen -- bruises on the hand, scratches, etc. They seem to forget within hours though.

Smells Like Rotten Eggs

Foie and Gras eventually sat less and less on the eggs until one afternoon they didn't sit at all and so I took them away. They must've been as old as two months by that point -- definitely not hatching.

You know the various sayings having to do with rotten eggs? Have any of you actually smelled rotten eggs? Have you thrown out 8 week old eggs from the fridge? You were worried, right? Now, imagine an egg being sat on for 8 weeks, i.e. 99.5 degrees, and imagine what microbes are churning away at the whites and yolk. I tossed those eggs onto my compost pile, and one broke when it hit. It sprayed the most disgusting cream-colored, putrid contents, under pressure, all against the wall of the compost enclosure. I couldn't wash it down fast enough. The smell was enough to make gag and nearly hurl. I know the meaning of "rotten egg" now. Take it from me, it's worse than you think.

Good ol' Snoop did her best as well, but it doesn't look like those guinea eggs are going to hatch. She put in a good 4 weeks of setting, very unusual for an Indian Runner.

About every 3 months Sally the Muscovy seems to want to set, and right on schedule this past week she plucked out a bunch of down from her chest and sat on an empty nest. Well, there was actually one egg, but it's a fake to trick the girls into laying in a nest box. Today I saw Sally and Snoop had switched -- Sally is now on the guinea eggs. I think they are too old by now, but good luck to her anyway.

A little over a month ago I broke up a Lavender's nest and put the eggs into the incubator. So now I have week-olds growing faster than you can believe. If theory holds (noisey birds are girls), we have three females, five males. We'll see how close theory matches reality in a few weeks.

Double Trouble

It has been a month since Foie started setting on her eggs. If things go right, this weekend there will be little goslings. I'm not so sure it will happen though; the eggs were laid over a several week period, and the oldest is pretty old. My money is on not this weekend, but the next before any hatch.

Gras, the other Embden goose, seems to believe Foie is not up to the task. She started sharing setting duty about a week ago, much to Foie's consternation. Here we have a shot of Foie hissing at me, with a leg on Gras as though to teach her how to set.



They are fun to watch, even when on the nest. They constantly shift around, moving eggs back and forth, and when they do sit, they pull straw around thier bodies to make a good seal so no eggs are exposed. When they are both taking a break, they carefully pile the straw over the eggs to keep them warm.

On a sad note, Blue of Blue and Velvet the Runner ducks fame, took ill and had his life taken by yours truely. It would have been a painful, lingering death if I had not done so. He was sitting alone all this past week, having great difficulty breathing. At first I thought it was hardware disease like the Pekin, but the postmortem showed he had mold in his lungs; the entire right side was filled with it in fact, I'm surprised he made it this long. I'm researching exactly which it might be.

I hate to end on a bad note, so I will leave you with a picture of Snoop sitting on a nest. Nothing special about this, right? Wrong! Runner ducks are known to be very poor setters. Nobody told this little girl though. Better yet, she's setting on 20 guinea eggs! Good girl!

Naked Guinea on the loose

I'm not sure what Lucky has in mind, letting go of her feathers like this. I bet she's cold out there.



In other news, a Lavender that had gone missing the other day has been found in the brush sitting on some eggs. I'll take the eggs (and put them into the incubator) so she doesn't become racoon chow.

this and that

There have been a few losses and near losses lately. Spring seems to be feeding time for predators' young.

A lavender guinea disappeared; a pile of feathers were found in the field below, body nowhere in sight. A jumbo guinea disappeared, but no feathers were found. Maybe it is sitting on a pile of eggs?

Yesterday I noticed "Lucky" the white guinea is missing. Haven't had the chance to look for feathers yet. She might be on eggs too, hard to know.

A few weeks ago I saw and heard guineas burst into the air, shortly followed by a coyote running out into the open. I immediately ran outside, in pajamas and bare feet, just in time to see the coyote carrying off Cocoa the Runner duck into the brush. I gave chase. I must've surprised the coyote, because a moment later I heard a pathetic quack from Cocoa. She was on the ground, trying to stabilize herself with her wings. I scooped her up, put her into the recuperation ward along with Paris, and she was 100% fine when I got home that evening.

This past weekend one of the Michelle's died. She had been losing strength over time, and finally gave up the ghost. I put her in with Paris the Muscovy on her last day to keep her away from the drakes. I swear I am not anthropomorphising, but Paris immediately took up the role as nurse. She began taking water from the bowl and dripped it on Michelle's wings, then preened for her. There is no doubt in my mind this was the intent. Then Paris played in the water. Michelle responded by drinking. Good Paris! Alas, the postmortem showed that she died from "hardware disease". This is good and bad news. Good because it's not an infectious agent or anything which would require me to try various antibiotics, which is usually hit or miss. The exact cause is known. This is bad because I have a lot of this "hardware" floating about. "Hardware disease" is ingesting metal (a nail in this case), which punctured her gizzard. The abdominal cavity was colored green, probably from bile leakage.

To end on a good note, recall the picture earlier of a goose egg. I have been collecting them as they are laid so that I can return them to have them hatched naturally. When I brought them to Foie two days ago, I think she said something like, "OH MY GAWD LOOK AT THOSE LOVELY EGGS GIVE THEM TO ME NOW NOW NOW!!!" And so I did put them down into the nest. Today she seems to have taken to them as though they are her own (which they are of course), protecting them, hissing and biting me, drawing blood even. I think she'll be a great mother.

Next Generation

Foie and Gras the Embden Geese have started laying eggs!



On the right is a Runner egg, in the center is a Pekin egg, and on the left an Embden egg. It'll make a nice omelette. (The first eggs will not be hatched until the girls get the hang of laying.)

Put in your Christmas Goose order!

Separated at Birth

Paris Hilton:



Paris Muscovy:

Babysitting, by Nancy

My friend Nancy graciously volunteered to look after the family while I was out and about in exotic lands. Here is her report.

--

Greetings from the Alpine Lodge!

It's just another day in paradise, tho the temperature
has dropped to its usual 50F. Near midnight on
Thursday when I landed in San Jose it was 55F, and got
up to 70F the next three days. I'm in the hills west
of Palo Alto, with a view of the ocean off the back
porch, through a dip in the mountain ridge. The sun
sets directly over that bit of ocean, just because I'm
here. We're bordering Portola Redwoods State Park so
there are gorgeous tall trees everywhere, and not a
single sign of man from the house. Every window has a
breathtaking view.

The bird-sitting is wonderful, and so entertaining!
Who'da thunk. The guinea hens have a window which is
left open during the day so they can come and go.
They'll disappear for hours at a time, visiting the
neighbors above or the field below. They remind me of
Victorian ladies with their constant pick-pick,
chatter, big bustle skirts and their fluttering about.
They enjoy a few modest piles of millet in the
morning on the front porch. Some of the guineas have
names but I'll be damned if I can tell their colors
apart, much less which is which. There are 5 brown
guineas, 5 jumbo pearl, 6 lavender (well, maybe only 5
now), 5 royal purple, 1 buff, and 1 white. Some of
them have the most beautiful white spots, like a
ladies' expensive blouse. I have a lovely feather I'm
taking back to show my grandmother.

The gander, Pate, is a scream. He is the most
prominent and the friendliest. You can pick him up
and pet his brown mohawk. I've finally mastered
answering his call so he loves coming right up to me
and squawking loudly right in my ears. He's probably
trying to figure out with which end to mate, on a
strange bird such as myself. The geese, Foie and
Gras, are plain white and have been taking turns
braving a closer look with a staring blue eye.

There are 9 female Pekin ducks called The Michelles,
after their previous human. Sure makes greeting them
easy! They are all plain white, but I'm sure they can
tell each other apart. The two male Pekins are
Snowball and Jack. My friend Lissa came up to visit
for a bit yesterday, and was disappointed that
Snowball hadn't run right to her in a tearful reunion
after she'd been his first human and raised him from a
chick.

There are 6 male Rouens that look like Mallards, they
are beautiful ducks. One is called Frenchy, he is
missing his tailfeathers and has white eyebrows! He
says (pinch nose) "quaque". The others are unnamed
except for RF1, RF2 etc, which stands for Rouen Food
1, Rouen Food 2 etc.

And now my favorites- the Muscovies. Muscovies are
plain white with a red face. They appear to be more
docile, and sweeter, maybe even a little more
intelligent. ;) The first Muscovies they got were
Paris and Nicole, but Nicole turned out to be a dude
so now he's called Nic. Or, nic-or-doodle. Little
Sally is considerably smaller than the rest of all the
ducks, and she's my favorite. I always toss her a
shovelful of dirt since she's standing politely away
from the rabble when I'm digging for worms.
Unfortunately she and Paris are also everyone's
favorite conquest, so they both look rode hard and put
away wet. The back of their necks are bare and their
featherbones are dirty and sticking out from the
others' rude feet. At first I thought Nic-or-doodle
was sick, since he aspirates when he talks rather than
a loud quack. He's quiet, and slow-moving, has dorky
feathers that stick straight out from each side, and
wags his whole feathery hind-end just like a dog when
he's happy to see me. He waddles right up and says
hello.

There are a bunch of runners; slender ducks that stand
up nearly straight. White with some gray, white and
brown, dark brown, lovely black with some blue-violet.
The males have curly-q tails! They all love to crowd
around the shovel when I dig worms for them. It's my
rule that if someone is in the way of the shovel, they
get petted. The ends of my pink fingers poking around
the shovel have gotten a light clamp or two, as have
my trousers, shoelaces, and glasses. I'd been warned
that getting "goosed" is not just an farmyard myth!

All the ducks pause when a jet goes overhead, tilt
their heads and look up at the airplane with one eye.
It is hilarious. They also stand on one leg, slowly
and gracefully stretch the other leg up and behind
them, just like a ballerina. There is rampant
barnyard sex, although the cooler weather has put a
bit of a damper on things. My favorite activity is to
walk up to the coop, stand in front of the door for a
bit while they get really excited, then quickly throw
the door open and step aside. There is a deafening
roar and a mass stampede for the freedom of the
out-of-doors. I learned my lesson the first day when
I was nearly mowed down.

I'm gathering about 10 eggs per day. The first
morning I had a record-tying egg, 122g! As Chris
said, "poor girl!" There are three wading pools that
I empty and re-fill daily, plus a cornucopia pellet
feeder that never runs out, some chicken scratch, and
some whole wheat berries. Every evening at dusk the
guinea hens all gather around the coop, running in and
out until it's dark enough to stay inside for the
evening. Kiki, the oldest female guinea, is the last
one in. After that it's easy to herd all the ducks
inside and lock them in for the night.

Today I had some big excitement. I'd let the ducks
out early and had been checking on them periodically
since they'd settled quietly in the center of the
yard. I left a window open to listen for trouble.
Mid-morning I heard the guineas making a lot of noise
and look out just in time to see them all soaring from
the hill above into the barnyard. A beautiful sight!
I had been counting one guinea short for the last few
evenings, so I thought this would be an opportune time
to see if I can figure out which one is missing. No
sooner was I standing at the edge of the yard, all the
ducks napping in front of me, when right in front of
my eyes a coyote bounds out of the brush and pauses,
as if he couldn't believe his feasting eyes. He was
brown, the size of a medium dog with long legs, a big
head, and big ears. I thought surely he saw me, but
then he lunged forward towards the literally sitting
ducks in front of us. So I run forward too and he
immediately turns and heads back into the brush. I
run after him, throwing stuff, yelling and arms
flailing. I spotted him a few minutes later in the
brush on a nearby hill, trotting away. Wow, that was
close! And in broad daylight. Hope the coyote is
able to find some food somewhere, but not on my watch!

There's a mouse that lives right outside the front
door, I heard him chewing up a storm last night. I
have the chocolate carefully stored up high in case he
breaks through. I frequently see hawks circling
overhead. The wood stove is to die for. That kind of
heat is a dream come true. I'd propose if it didn't
already belong to Chris. I've locked myself out
twice, luckily they knew I was going to do this and
had prepared accordingly.

Until next time,
Nancy

How many ducks does it take to...

...build a coop?



Answer: None. They supervise.


This is the beginning of an outdoor, fully-enclosed, predator-safe coop. It increases the nighttime safe zone by 50%. In the picture they are jockeying for position to get the worms I shovel at them.

Eleven Eggs

I am guessing there will be a number of egg-laying records in the next few weeks to months. Today it reached eleven. I love eggs, don't get me wrong, but because duck eggs have more cholesterol than chicken eggs, I have to restrict my intake. PLEASE STOP BY AND TAKE SOME EGGS! Motorcyclist buddies may throw them at disrespectful cagers on an as-needed basis. (Take two dozen.)

A few days ago there was one enormous egg weighing in at 107 grams. That's about 50% bigger than your average jumbo chicken egg. The poor girl! It is written in various publications that egg size can vary a lot during the first year. I'll say.

Last Friday the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA recently gave me a passing grade. More on that later.

Lastly, I am not kidding that I need a fowl sitter from between Saturday the 11th of February to the 18th -- 8 days. I'll try my neighbors but I want to keep all options open. The actual work consists of the following daily activities: adding some fresh bedding, putting food into the feeder, refreshing the automatic waterer, and letting them play outside for one hour, sunset being ideal. Worm digging is optional.