Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Sat. A.M.-Feb.6,2010 Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch

This is Picacho Peak - the half way mark between Phoenix and Tucson. And at the bottom of this mountain is:
Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch...

We arrived at 9 when they opened....a good thing as all the animals are hungry:) The entrance fee gives you a large mug of food and a small cup of nectar for the Rainbow Lorikeets.



Can you believe this truck? Yes, Keith and I took the Monster Truck Tour... It ran all thru the ostrich yards...was very informative too....and oh, then we went thru a small pond!

Keith is holding our cups with all the food...so here we go!

The first animals to feed were the deer.....and not just a few....over a hundred!!!

Ah, they were so cute and gentle. AND HUNGRY!


Keith couldn't feed them fast enough. They were so soft and tame.


Next came the Hole in the Wall Gang! Yes, the goats. I took some video of this action ....Keith and I were laughing so hard at these guys...I think we fed them the most! They looked and acted so needy.


I couldn't get the food out of my cup fast enough...and this goat was all ready for me to get my hand to his mouth.


Yes, THREE at one hole... The owners liked Keith and me so much they gave us another round of food so we could go thru the feeding trail a second time..:) it was so much fun.

And now the ostriches..... You don't want to get too close to these gals....and they are all females in this photo.
I believe there were about 1000 ostriches in this area... After Keith had an ostrich put his hand in it's mouth...we decided to throw the food into the pans. It didn't hurt Keith, but it makes you more aware of just how fast they are and how long their necks are.


One of the few males that we saw...it's mating time and they can get very mean.... Males are black and white. Females are brown.



On to the donkeys next. Keith fed them out of his hand, but me.....I put the food in the containers in front of them...


The most fun time was going into the Rainbow Lorikeet house.... You must open the nectar cups before you go into this area and hold on tight..... Birds land on you the second you go inside. They lick the cups clean and that only takes a few min.... We spent a lot of our time in this area waiting for the monster truck tour.


We learned all about the ranch and got to hold the ostrich egg. One egg is equal to 14 chicken eggs and costs $18. an egg. One female can lay up to 1000 eggs a year. They are so thick that our driver stood on one and it didn't break.

Ostrich Fishing: The truck took us out to a platform where we all got to fish for ostrich by putting a piece of grapefruit on the end of our pole...then lowered it down to the ostrich below. When they ate the grapefruit - you could see it go down it's throat like a snake when it eats a large piece of food and well.....you get the idea. The tour took 50 min. By the time we were all finished at the ranch....and purchased my ostrich feather and Keith bought a shirt...it was noon... Time to head for the Skydivers!!!!


















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