DQ Farm (est. 1991)

We sent eggs previously, a few years back to test for omega 3.  In particular we were interested in the omega 6: omega 3 ratio.  We were not surprised to find 'ayam kampung' eggs and 'organic' eggs having ratios of 20 to 1.  We were focussing on the omega 6: omega 3 ratio and not on questions like whether the eggs are free-ranging or not, really organic or not, etc.

As a result of the tests, we wanted to produce our own eggs.  We have been doing trials on grass fed, free-range eggs for a few months now and we were surprised that physically there seems to be a difference:

The left egg is a normal egg bought from a supermarket. The expiry date is another 14 days away

The egg on the right is a DQ egg which has been in the refridgerator for 10 days.  The supermarket egg is a full 30% bigger.

The white of the supermarket egg is all over and watery.  The DQ egg has a thicker white around the yolk, and lesser watery white.

The DQ yolk and albumen stands up, whilst the supermarket egg flattens out.

We are surprised that there are physical differences.  We do not know what these differences mean.  A friend said it just means that the supermarket egg is less fresh and could be stale.  Stale? With the expiry 14 days away?

We will be sending our eggs for omega 6: omega 3 ratio tests and keep this blog posted.

 PS:  This is the Lady that laid the egg:

Carcosa's Site              www.countryfarmorganics.com

       

   

 www.ecogreen.com.my

www.wernerskl.com 

www.yogitree.com 

www.healthparadise-organic.comR U Lohas in Ipoh.

Delicious DQ curry chicken at R U Lohas

We deliver to Sri Perdana for special functions

Aussie Premier John Howard had our goat meat here for dinner

Apparently, only our chicken can compete with el cerdo.

Imagine that, home catering using organic ingredients!

There’s this troop of about 30 long tail macaque that’s been giving my friend, Nirmal’s household a hard time.  They would make an

appearance 3 times a day without fail. 

Long Tail Macaque

They will make a mess - salt, onions, potatoes, will be everywhere. In the garden, they will topple potted plants and break off branches and just create general mayhem.  It became so bad that my friend’s family is locked in everyday with all the windows closed.

The alpha male is especially BAD.  You threaten him with a stick or something and he glares at you, shows his fangs and make several threatening launches at you. And he is big, about 10kg.

Reporting to pest control is out of the question.  Their solution can be drastic; culling or forcible removal of the whole family.  That will not solve the problem.  Another troop will take over the territory.  We need to co-exist but how? How do we tell the monkeys that, hey, you stay at that side of the fence, and we this side and we leave each other alone.

A few days ago, I had a brainwave and hatched a plan.  After discussing with my friend, we proceeded.   I tossed just a few bananas at a chosen spot within the property.  The alpha female came with her children.  But because it is just a few bananas, maybe two or three got to eat them.  I did that over the next couple of days.  Just a few pisang at the same spot to tell them, here’s where you get good food.  The intention was to attract the alpha male as I have a plan to TALK TO HIM and arrive at a truce.

Sure enough, one day he appeared.  The rest of the troop kept a safe distance from him as he gobble up the pisang and left nothing for the rest.  So far so good.  Then I set a trap with one banana inside and slices leading to the trap, to inside the trap and to the bait.  And I have him!!

 Huge guy, about 10 kg and MEAN.  He was trashing and baring his teeth and hissing away.

With Nirmal to distract him, I proceeded to spray bright red paint on his body and limbs while avoiding his eyes.

He was livid.  Then after about 3 to 4 minutes he started to notice the red paint and he must be going, I am injured, I am bleeding to death.  Suddenly, he flops over and shows his belly.  I have him! 

So I tell him, well, ok, now we understand each other.  This here is my territory, you come in here you are going to get a trashing and you will bleed to death.  And I stop the spraying.  He jumps back on his feet and suddenly bared his teeth again.  You just can’t trust a monkey! And I started to spray the paint again.   And he looks at his red palms and feet and arms and he flops over again, ok, ok, you are the man, you are the boss.  I am not going to enter your space anymore!

This time I believe him.  I hold off for 10 to 15 secs for him to get his breathe, and then I opened the cage and he dashed out.  Not in fear or in anger, no, he dashed off looking like a subdued monkey. 

The next day the security cameras showed the troop hanging around the perimeter.  Later in the afternoon, the alpha male, with some of the red paint still intact,  could be seen walking on top of the fence but not once did any of the troop crossed the boundary.

 YOU STAY ON YOUR SIDE, AND I STAY ON MINE.

Today is the third day and still no monkey crossing the boundary.  Our little talk worked. 

So, is your organic farmer 'sustainable'?  Does he practise sustainable agriculture, or is he the organic version of the commercial industrialised farmer? 

Here's an example of how we practise sustainability:

This is a filtration pond.  Plants are used to absorb the nutrients in waste water from the fish ponds and from washing the rebans.  From the pond, the water flows out into a bacterial filter to further break down the pollutants.

From the bacterial filter, a long narrow winding stream further filters the water using water plants. 

Alongside, water loving plants such as bananas, misai kucing, etc. will absorb all nutrients that seep into the surrounding soil. 

 We try to reduce our foot print as best as we can.

So, is your organic farmer 'sustainable' or is it just business for him?

So, what do we feed the chickens?  Grass of course.  We seeded over 30 varieties of grasses, legumes, and plants in the fields.  We selected them for protein, for omega 3 and for antioxidants.

Then, we supplement by cooking for them!  Yes, we cook for our chickens to give you the best, most flavorful, nutritious chicken you can find in the world:

These huge cauldrons, or kawahs ("crater kuali") are used to cook for the chickens.  What do we cooked? The final mix is a secret,  but we have banana piths, old-type non-GMO jagung, ubi, sago and lots of tilapia from our own ponds.

Here's a pond next to the reban to cool down the chickens while trapping the flies and insects as free protein for the fish.

What's with our claim that our chickens are "Permanent Free Range"?

In some countries, free range is defined as having "access to outdoors".  So, if you have lots of little doors for the chickens to go out, and yet you place all the feeders inside so that the chickens seldom if ever go out, you can still validly say your chickens are free range.  In Malaysia, free range can mean hanging around a permanent reban which the chickens retire to during the night.  The grounds will be smelly, dirty, full of flies.                                                        

Our permanent free range chickens are raised in fresh fields with movable coops being used to move them from padang to padang.  They never go back to a reban.  They are moved from fresh field to fresh field, and when the time come for them to be harvested, they are on fresh fields, not muddy smelly bacteria infested grounds.

We are the only farmer in the world using these heat-insulated movable, dismantleable field houses.  One man can pull the tent to a fresh field once the existing field becomes dirty.

Today I captured the mystery sound in audio video.  I am trying to add a link here and I hope it works as I am doing it the first time.

Here goes:

The recording comes out a bit tinny and does not do justice to the actual sound.  Perhaps if you up the bass and the mid range, you might be able to get a closer approximation of the sound.

The sound was coming from this nest I build for the chickens to lay eggs.  The edited video containing clips of the sound is only about 20 secs long.  The actual unedited video is 19 mins long - way too long to upload on this blog.

If anybody wants to view the full 19mins, you can email me.  The video will show me shoving a stick around the inside of the nest and you will see nothing, zilch!  Then suddenly, the mystery bird sound from thin air.  Enjoy!

The flower pot you see here is where I placed my video cam to record the scene.

Apparently sellers of 'ayam kampung' or 'choy yin kai' are increasing their prices for the Chinese New Year.  This is an annual profiteering exercise disguised as 'traditional business culture'.  Prices are expected to hit rm13.50 per kg by next week.

We are not increasing prices!  Our prices remain the same for the past year or so, at rm12 to 12.50 per kg. 

Take your pick - pay more for a chicken that is saturated fat-laden, with an omega 6: omega 3 ratio of 25 to 1 and above, or pay a reasonable price for a chicken that has been lab-tested to have up to 50% less saturated fat and having omega 6: omega 3 ratios that can be as low as 4:1.

Nonetheless there are some savvy buyers out there.  At Jusco Taman Equine a customer just ordered 300 birds for delivery tomorrow, 15/1/09.  Yes, that's correct, 300 birds.

Happy lunar New Year to all our Chinese and Korean stockists and customers.

About a year ago, I decided to plant a “qi” garden.  What this means is a garden with plants that will emit lots of energy.  This was my working sketch: 

The meranti that forms the top layer, now 30 meters tall.

By the beginning of this year, the garden was taking shape nicely and I began to do my qi gong exercises regularly in the garden.  The garden emanates a calm energy and one feels energized yet calm after a couple of hours in the garden.

 The jungle - like atmosphere of the garden 

Rare funguses form the bottom layer

One day, about 4 or 5 months ago, I heard a low “kroaw kroaw” in some of the bushes.  It sounded full throated and I estimated the bird that made the sound to be the size of a pheasant or a large chicken. I was doing my qi then and I just sort of looked at the location where the sound came from, some bushes and return to my qi exercises. After I finished, I did a casual examination of the location where the call was coming from and found nothing.  Odd, I thought that a large bird like that could hide itself so well.

This carried on for a while.  Each time I moved around in the garden or did my qi, the bird would make its calls.  Not calls of anger or alarm or warning.  Nothing like that, just calls to let you know it is there – kroaw, kroaw, kroaw.

One day, curiousity took command, and I went down to my knees and search everywhere in that little garden.  Nothing, nada.  And when you least expect it, it goes kroaw kroaw kroaw.

 (to be continued)

Kini kita sediakan minuman herba untuk mereka yang memerlukan.  Rumusan konsultan kami, HS Wong, minuman ini mengandungi bakawali dan herba lain dan terbukti di ladang kami menguatkan sistem pertahanan badan pekerja serta haiwan seperti kambing, kuda dan lain. 

We now brew immune boosting herbs like bakawali for those who come to our kitchen.  We also provide multivitamins.  Donors for the multivitamins (which we have to buy) are welcome. 

 Once a week, a shot of bakawali to keep the coughs and colds away. For those who come to our kitchen, a drink of the herbal concoction first before getting the food.

 Pahit nye!!!

Sorry guys, drink up the most bitter drink you have ever drunk in your life, before you can get the food.