On baby turkeys

Well one of the Royal Palm turkeys didn't make it.  I had suspected he was too lethargic to pull through, and the other one kept walking on him.  I had such a suspicion that me and Rob went back to the animal swap to try and get another one but they were sold out.  In fact they were sold out of all turkeys.
But thankfully the person hosting the swap on his farm had some hatched recently, and while not Royal Palms, we bought another turkey chick in case the fading one died.
He did die after another day, it was sad, but almost expected.  So now we just have the one Royal Palm and a Bronze Breasted turkey.  The bronze breasted will end up looking much like a wild turkey but I believe they have the same genes that cause the double breast meat.
I had the dogs on the deck with me this afternoon.  Squire is still recovering from his broken leg, he has another 6 weeks with the splint. My rooster, Spike, came to visit and crow for us, and I got a good shot of him.  He is such a pretty rooster.  I hope to incubate some of his eggs soon.

 And here is my farm truck.  The rabbits and chickens like to rest in the shade.  My parents got me this truck while I was still in high school.  I named it Goliath, because every vehicle deserves a name, and it will serve you well if you call it by that name and take good mechanical care of it.  (yeah I know ... humanizing a truck...).  But still it runs and does everything asked, including sheltering the farm critters.

Shopping

Saturday morning Rob and I went shopping.  A quick swing out to get some odds and ends, like a new hose nozzle, a stock pot, and dishwasher tabs.  Then a swing by the yearly animal swap that a local farm hosts for a weekend.  They include some workshops/demonstrations and a hay ride and some people camp there for the weekend.

Not much was going on when we got there, even though it was close to 10 o'clock.  This was likely due to the threat of storms moving through.  But it was dry when we got there.  Some people that had brought animals to sell and had camped there were available.

I hadn't gone with a specific purchase in mind, just a curiosity and a budget of 50 bucks burning a hole in my pocket.

There was one couple there with their 7 children, (I don't say kids cause that could get confusing at an animal swap as there were some available).  They had several cages of chickens, some inside one of the small buses they had drove up with heat lamps on them, and a cage of young rabbits.

They had some Buff Orpingtons and Welsummers among many other breeds.  I bought three pullets (young hens), 2 Buffs because they are one of the breeds most likely to sit on eggs and hatch them (most breeds have that instinct bred out of them so they keep laying eggs), and a Welsummer because I liked her color.

(As I type this the 10 older birds that were free ranging are all trying to cram into the old, small dog house to escape the heavy rain ... nevermind they can all come under the deck or go to their coop/tractor)

I also couldn't resist getting some more turkeys.  I loved watching the original 5 grow up and they were fun.  Having them follow people around because they liked people, and went to investigate loud noises amused me.  Like the day the electric company was putting in a new pole across the street and they went to see what was going on.  I had to herd them back, the guys weren't sure if the turkeys were mean.
This time I got a pair of Royal Palms, and I can only hope I got a female and male.  I would like a breeding pair as they are pretty turkeys.  More likely I just got two males.

 What I hope they look like when grown.

This week I also got my garden ready for planting.  I planted three of the beds with cooler weather crops, lettuce, cabbage, peas, and broccoli.

 The goats got the weeds I pulled.  Godiva is looking especially pregnant (the darker, closer goat).

 In the last bed I was hoeing up a toad showed up from under the dirt.  We were both surprised, but he hung around long enough to have his picture taken.  He was a rather large fellow.

fences, dogs, and Ms. Bunn

So the yellow and white dog came back at the beginning of the week.  I'm not sure if I wrote about it here before, but during winter it had been trying to get into the chicken wagon.  I made several requests for the owners to lock the dog up, and for awhile it seemed ok.  But then they got another brown dog and the two started coming around again.  The yellow and white dog came all the way up to the garage where the chickens were free ranging and eating some food I had out for them.  I knew he was coming and was waiting on the deck with the shot gun.  I admit I didn't take a lot of time to aim at him, as I really didn't want to hurt the dog.  I blame the owner really.  But I needed to protect my chickens and make it clear to the owner I was serious, since she was actually across the street this time.  (The other times she hadn't been around).

The dog got away, I don't think I hit him, they said I hit his ear, but he wasn't yelping and continued to run around for another hour before they took him home.  Her friends were yelling and cussing at me so I called the police to talk with them.

The next day I started building The Wall. (yes I stole that from Game of Thrones)

I pulled all the fencing I had and started putting it up along the front of our property.  I put the signs and the orange fence directly in front of the house across the street so they would get the message (I hope).  Since the poor dog can't read.  The bad thing about it is, the dog and person that owns him doesn't even live there, they live at the start of the street but always show up at the house across from us.

In other fencing news, I put together a lighter, portable electric fence for the goats and they are doing well with it.  When I first put them in it, Camo put his mouth around one of the cords and got nailed.  He learned.  The girls were smarter than him (as usual).

And while milking Miss, Ms.Bunn came by with a bunch of hay.  She is building a nest for babies.  I think she has it made under the garage.  I look forward to seeing her babies and maybe catching a few.

Been Awhile

First things first ... Squire broke his leg Easter Sunday.  So that was a special trip up to an emergency vet to get it fixed.  I don't know what he was doing at the time, I was milking a goat.

Made more mozzarella.  It turned out much much better since I remembered the salt.  Rob even sold a few of the string cheese logs I made.

Took a walkabout trying to find some mushrooms.  Failed at finding mushrooms, but it was pretty seeing all the spring growth.

The orchard and berry plants are in the ground.  I need to finish fencing it and then I will take some more pictures.