Jest Another Day in Pear-A-Dice - Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm in Alberta

[bamadude]

Road runner? MEEP-MEEP

 

[ozexpat]

emu

 

[Dragonfly216]

Turkey?

 

[Lacy Blues]

Do you have whippoorwills up there?

 

[CanuckBock]

Quail?

Close...people DO hunt some forms of this bird (probably gave it away now!).

Road runner? MEEP-MEEP

Oh Dude--The Road Runner says, "Beep, Beep" with the occasional "popping-cork" tongue noise...but I am thinking they would be most miserable in our winters.

The mystery babes I have breeze right through our coldest months sans heat of any kind.

So not a Road Runner tho that would be

to have running about!

Wonder if Fixins could have herded the RR's in her younger dazes.

emu

OK, now I did ask for more guesses but Oz ... really ... this is no way to treat a lady!

<<and I pondered how any woman would ever want to slap yer face ... never mind all--was it?-- SEVEN that have!>>​

My hand is clearly shown holding one of the mystery birds as a baby in TWO photos. I am sure many of us have seen how GROSSLY large Emu eggs are!

How BIG are you suggesting MY hands are? Visions of my great big PAWS, knuckle dragging across the lawns...yikes!

​

Recall the Black Swanny egg that made my hands tremble? 230 grams...

So it is not Emus...

Turkey?

Another great guess, but not a turkey poult...

​

Heritage turkey poults with three mystery birds - same ages
​

​

The mystery babies are originally from the forests in mountainous areas of Western China...same family as chickens (Junglefowl)....

Uh hmmmm...OK...One more hint...

Mentioned in the Twelve Days of Christmas song--one of the easier lines to remember too! Said to have cost $750 of the overall cost of $107,000 in 2012 US dollars.

So now someone HAS to guess them right!

Quote:

Do you have whippoorwills up there?

Is that a guess on the mystery birds, or?

Not sure we do...we are more west than central Canada. Do not recall hearing any--neat bird tho!


I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
Hank Williams - 1949:

He sounds too blue to fly.

The kid came to BQ & harvest some of is razzle dazzle berries!

Yes, yes...he shared with Fixins...



but the swans can harvest their own!​

And some pics from today of just the Fix (fur her evolving Fan Club!)...

Did someone say the "dogs" are ready?
​

Fixs & some wild Asters​

Before I go make supper (Rick had to roar off to pull a truck out!)...

Now ain't that sum sweet of a pic...

Totally different kinds of species, but we can be snuggle buds!

​

If only we humans could learn to live & dwell together so nicely, eh?

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[Chipper Chicken]

Chukar?

 

[vehve]

Aaaaand a partridge in a paaaaaair treeeeeeee...

 

[Lacy Blues]

I think a partridge and a ruffed grouse are the same bird?

edit: oops, did an image search... partridge and ruffed grouse are NOT the same bird. I was very close though wasn't I?

Yes, whippoorwill was a guess on the bird.

 

[CanuckBock]

Chukar?

Sorry, the mystery birds are not the chukar or chukar partridge (Alectoris chukar)...

Aaaaand a partridge in a paaaaaair treeeeeeee...

Bama...one of the "easier" to remember lines in that song, but not the first line!

The one I am referring to is the line that is "condensed" so to speak in that it names a "type" of this bird...not the actual kind that these mystery birds are... I know, not very concise!


One more hint regarding this song, in the Twelve Days of Christmas song...people think it is jewelry that is being given but in the truest BIRDer version...it is these kinds of birds that are given as a bouquet!

I think a partridge and a ruffed grouse are the same bird?

edit: oops, did an image search... partridge and ruffed grouse are NOT the same bird. I was very close though wasn't I?

Yes, whippoorwill was a guess on the bird.

Ruffed Grouse are genus Bonasa species B. umbellus which is a medium sized grouse.


Partridges are a name "catch all" for a whole host of kinds of birds...with the "hill" partridges (Genus Arborophila) being the largest grouping.

Partridges come in the following genus; Alectoris, Ammoperdix,, Arborophila, Bambusicola, Haematortyx, Lerwa, Margaroperdix, Melanoperdix, Perdix, Ptilopachus, Rhizothera, Rollulus, Tetraophasis, & Xenoperdix.



Ruffed Grouse and the Partridge grouping are in the same family of birds (Phasianidae) which includes chickens & peafowl...among these mystery birds!

The Phasianidae family of birds includes Tetraonidae (grouses), Numididae (guineafowls), and Meleagrididae (turkeys)...AND these mystery babes. I sure would love to scream their commonly used NAME out!!

Whippoorwill is not what these mystery babes are... I think because they are "native" to North America, it would be very much illegal to keep Whippoorwills captive without proper permits. I may legally keep these mystery birds...cuties that they be.

Mystery babes...​

​

OK....few more hints...

- These birds have their very own Standards but NOT the American Poultry Standard (APA SOP) OR the American Bantam Standard (ABA SOP). Their Standards were put out by the American Game Bird Breeders' Cooperative Federation in 1988. We imported a pair of Mr. Harry J. Hardy's Mandarin ducks...he is one of the Canadian members on the Standards committee.

- The genus that the mystery birds belongs to is called the "Ruffed XXXX" genus.

- These birds may succumb to Chronic Respiratory diseases just like landfowl (chickens) get...disorders like mycoplasma. So hatching eggs of this species can carry on this nasty hidden chronic condition into your poultry flocks. Same sorts of internal and external parasities that plague landfowl.

- In 2008, I wrote an article on "raising" these birds which was published on the font page of the March 2009 issue in the Feather Fancier (Canada’s National Monthly Bird Publication since 1945). This article may be found on my website on the Tales from Rat World page...BUT if you cheat & sneak a peak there, then I expect you to also tell me exactly what genus these mystery birds are!

- It is more often that I see men that choose to raise these landfowl and these are definitely birds that Rick chose to keep (thankful he did--marvelous birds! You need decent facilities to contain them as they can be flighty, but if you work quietly and gain their trust over time, they will come round--these are a wild species! I can easily touch their toes & Rick has a male that delights in landing on his hat! Does not mean they like to be held tho--so if I need to trim beaks &/or toes...best to use a cloth over their head to calm them down after catching them before trimming.

- Most active at dawn and dusk, the adult males will spread out their golden neck cape as part of their courting ritual -- very pretty to witness. Very shrill calls and how I knew babes had busted forth--the day old kids have piercing cries (similar to turkey distress calls). You cannot ignore these alarmed noises--at least I cannot! When quiet--you know the babies are content & happy--sans the shrieks of horror!

- Some serve this species as an exotic and très fine dining dish as "XXXX" under melted sand! <-- No, I am not making that hint an easy one--sorta like the Twelve Days of Christmas song...not as easy as you might first think!

- It takes two years for the males to get adult plumage--before this they all look like females. You may determine gender by iris colour...girls keep the juvenile brown eyes, but the males develop brilliant yellow eyes. Every year, their tails get longer & longer!

- Gorgeous decorative birds with some having females SO identical to the males that unless they "pair" up, you have to DNA gender them if you want babies from two birds YOU select--pretty easy to do this testing now with a few fresh plucked chest feathers, $12, and lab e-mails (and mails a kewl frameable certificate) you with results in a few business days! We did both blood (dabbed on a card you request on the Net) & feather DNA gender testing on our Australian Black Swans...was neat and fun to do.

toenail blood on the two "boys"​

Chest feathers on the two "girls"​

So hoping someone guesses what these mystery birds are...I am dying to post adult pickies of these pretties as older birds!

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[tnspursfan09]

Dove?