Sophie's Choice Eggs 酥肥鴨有機蛋~ Debuting in Fall 2011 (or Summer 2012)!

One of these 6-week old Mallard duckies will be ours next week!

What do you know?! Sophie 酥肥鴨 is laying her own eggs! And...Abbie 鴨比 will be my "farmer in training"! 11 years ago, hubby and I, along with Kobee and Jubee bird (then 11 months and 6 months old, respectively), moved into our Farmhouse style, Plan 3 Shea home.

Jubee ~ Our Yellow-Naped Amazon girl who doesn't lay a single egg BUT has tons of fans 

who loves to hear her sing 'Opera' ! She loves to chat ~ in English, Chinese and Spanish!



Kobee ~ Our Non-Egg-Laying but super cute African Senegal



Jubee "speaking" at last year's Vacation Bible School

We decorated the house with pix of farm animals, roosters, and birdhouses around Christmas break in Y2K, then had Caleb the following Thanksgiving (hence, the bird houses lining our kitchen cabinet never got painted)!



Somehow....after 10.5 years, we did end up with a bird  farm!!



Never did we imagine that we would really end up a having a funny farm (or at least a feathered-farm)!

~ Farmer Soph's Business Card ~ This is All for fun, not earning, as we only yield at most 300 eggs a year!

Last summer I started becoming interested in chickens....not sure why or how.....Maybe the kids are getting older and I'm starting to have more time on my hands. But whatever the reason, I started ordering catalogs from McMurray Hatchery and became passionate about owning backyard chickens. I even called our association to see if it's okay, and they (sounding confused), said, "Well, I guess......it's ok! As long as they are 'common' animals." Now, are ducks common...or exotic here? Wall Street Journal says more people are keeping ducks and chickens as pets! Of course, the shipping cost of these poultry pets dampened my passion quickly ($40 to ship, not including the birds!), so I let it go for almost a year.



This bird business is just an aside... You can't really earn $$ with eggs (^_^) Just the poultry feed costs $45!


But I guess some things are meant to be, because lately I've been stalking the OC Craiglist again...especially the "Farm and Garden" section. I looked for chicks and ducks, which were only available in Norco and Riverside area. This past week, I came upon TheraPony Lana's FB site, and saw that she had a "Duck-sitting" request! (^_^) How cool was that? You can babysit 6-week old ducks (so they get used to being with people) AND maybe keep them if you (or your kid) gets too attached to duckling! So next week, we will embark on our Duck-sitting mission! Maybe May-May (our new duckie's name....Reason (1) She's adopted in May ~ (2) She is Abbie's little sister "妹妹". This is the closest "little 妹妹" (sibling) I can humanly give to my 5 year old Abbie, as we've already closed shop!

Got this in 2001 ~ I guess it forshadows our future! Due to economy, eggs are no longer 5 cents a dozen!

I'm praying hard that if duckie and us bond well....Voila! Instant Pet! Kobee and Jubee will enjoy teaching duckie how to talk, sing, scream! But this is just for fun. If May-May and our future chick (coming August 2011 or later?) never lays an egg, we will still love them dearly! Just like Kobee and Jubee....who never layed anything CLOSE to an egg...are our babies and always will be....even if they scream and bite and cry like the kids all day long (^_^)!




Our Family Room paining since 2003 ~ Truly a Farmhouse!

 


Our Chicken and Moo Moo Kitchen decor.... since we moved in!


I remember when we first decorated our farmhouse home, 10.5 years ago, I made all the furnishings "farm-friendly". Now I think it is starting to look like a REAL barn! Of course, it's not a big transition, 'cuz we already have 2 chickens in the house (Hubby's a 41 year old and Abbie's 5 ~ both born on the year of the Chicken)! This will be a good experience, as the kids (and I) will learn about where our essential foods come from (not packaged nicely in supermarkets) and appreciate nature and God's creation!

Got this at Big Bear ~ Haha, that reflects the occupants of our Farm home!

So here's our new adventure! If you are interested in 100% organic, free-range chicken or duck eggs, get ready for some super healthy, mouth-watering eggs coming your way! I'm also renting out our feathered friends to help eat away the pests and provide natural nitrogen-rich fertilizer for your yard! (^_^)



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Post Scriptus (June 1, 2011)

The first day of duckie's arrival was very tumultous, as hubby couldn't wrap his head around the idea that there's a BIG (not the small baseball-size fuzz-ball you see on Sear's Easter photo shoots) duck in our home! And duckie is SOOOOOOOOOO loud! She "Honks" like an ice cream truck horn when she's unhappy! When Abbie leaves her to go into the house, she makes sure the whole street hears about her disapproval!

She quickly stole ALL of our hearts, and thankfully we didn't have to return duckie the next day (as hubby was very not thrilled when faced with a BIG living bird he's used to seeing at Sam Woo, peacefully hanging there, looking delicious and not staring/quacking at him all the time!

Today is Day 3 of Quacker (named by Lana's little girls) Stay here, and even Hubby is enjoying living like a farmer! He told me he let Quacker our of her crate and she followed him everywhere, not wanting him to go inside! She sits by the door of our sliding back door and "hangs out" with us. I think she makes the Perfect Guard Duck!!! 

This is the farm that Quacker came from! The bunnies and ducklings are "Party favors" for all the kids who go to the Emily's 9th birthday party!