Cycle of Life

This morning I was distracted and let the turkeys out while the House Ding Bat was out. 

He attacked 2  the turkeys and it looked like so much fun Oakley joined the chase and the dogs killed 2 Red Bourbon Turkeys.  

So my stupidity has killed a bird AND undone weeks of training on Oakley. 

To show that the cycle of life is never ending on the ranch this morning we had twins.

  I have been saying for weeks we could have lambs any day and that day finally came. 

Shelby had twins this morning.  

Growing Turkeys

The turkeys are growing so fast sometimes I think they look bigger every morning. 

We started with getting Luca used to the turkeys.  

Every morning and evening they go out so they can stretch their wings, run, and forage for food. 

When we got Oakley we started working with her right away to train her to not chase the turkeys. 

Unfortunately we had two wild chickens that I didn’t train Oakley with.  I thought I had trained her to turkeys she would accept the chickens…. 

1) Livestock Guardian Dogs are not supposed to be considered trustworthy until they are 2 years old 

2) I didn’t think about how Oakley would respond when the chicken started stealing the turkey’s food 

3) Livestock Guardian’s are supposed to be introduced to animals that are accepted on the property.  

We no longer have wild chickens.  Totally my fault! 

 Oakley is amazing with the turkeys. 

She will watch the turkeys run, flap wings, even chase her and she has not acted aggressive at all.

Teen Son will be selling 5 of the turkeys for Thanksgiving.  That will be a whole new adventure.

Turkeys

Teen Son bought some Broad Breasted White Turkeys and we bought 6 Red Bourbon Turkeys.  So far 3 of the Red Bourbon’s have died.

  We have been working on getting Luca used to the turkeys so they will be protected instead of chased by our dog.  Luca isn’t real happy with the playful turkeys 

Coyote Trouble

We have been having trouble with coyotes.  They got our last Red Bourbon Turkey during the day.  At 8: in the morning one was under my bedroom window going after Palm. Sheep and birds have had to be kept inside their pens unless we are going to be home and outside. 

When our first sheep were killed over a year ago I was told we should get a Great Pyrenees.  Then for every loss from coyotes I have done a little more looking into Great Pyrenees and other Livestock Guardians.  Two things held me back: I was uncertain how we would do with a Livestock Guardian Dog, and most importantly our property is not fenced.  When Tomas our Red Bourbon Turkey was taken we knew we had to do something and I began researching Livestock Guardian Dogs.  LGD are big dogs usually – I have had big dogs in the past but not giant dogs.  Many LGD’s are aggressive we have a lot of company and scouting events so dog aggression worries me a lot.  Most Livestock Guardian Dogs bark a lot, (the barks are a way of saying “I am here, don’t mess with my animals”) Darling Husband and I are not fans of barking dogs.  LGD’s often are used to covering large areas and will often roam. 

My other issue is I have always gotten shelter or abandoned dogs I have never purchased a dog.  The last time I had a puppy I was 8 or 10.  Getting a young livestock guardian dog or puppy is usually best so  you can train the dog to accept your animals, family, and property.  Many people buy and breed these large dogs for aggression and fighting instead of encouraging the Livestock Guarding characteristics then try to pass the dog off as a Guardian.  I am open to the idea of rescuing a Livestock Guardian Dog but I really need a dog I can count on to keep my animals safe and accept our company. 

I started talking to breeders about different breeds, continued my internet searches and finally decided on a Maremma.  Luckily one other members of a Facebook Group that I go to had a 6 month old Maremma for sale.  He had already been guarding alpaca’s, used to cats and chickens, and seemed perfect for us.  We got to work finishing fencing the property and waited Luca’s arrival.   

The Birds

Palm, Laurel, Hardy, and a Stooge

It has been a long time since I sat down long enough to give an update.  We were given the opportunity to purchase our neighbors house.  I had hoped to get it and keep it as a rental but it has turned out to be way too expensive for us to keep.  Buying it has allowed us to take care of some drainage problems it has that leads to drainage problems for our property.  It has been a lot of work but it will be worth it every time it rains. 

I will try to update you on all the animals as quickly as I can. 

Palm trying to impress the new ladies.  The Shrew told him she was not interested and to stay away from her and Tomas.  

Las time I wrote we had 1 Tom turkey, Palm was hopefully a girl, we had the 2 turkey hens, and four babies.  All the baby turkeys died; 2 died in their box, 1 ran off and we couldn’t find it, 1 went in to the roosters pen and was killed.  While we were fixing our Flip House we forgot to lock up Dakota and he broke out of the house.  He killed one of the turkey hens and one of the chickens.  A few weeks later a coyote got the other turkey hen.  So we were left with just Palm and Tomas.  Palm is looking like he is a boy but Palm still has not started getting any black marks on his feathers so I am starting to think he may be a different breed than the Royal Palm.  We were looking new turkey hens but it took a while to find some close. 

Tomas strutting his stuff.

 We found 2 mixed breed hens.  We brought home Lolita and The Shrew.  They are 1 year old and we are getting an egg about every other day from them.  I have made some awesome scrambles! 

The chickens stealing fodder.

Most days all the birds roam free so often we find eggs in unexpected places.  Letting the birds free range has cut down on our bug population.  I had hoped they would break up more of the sheep and cattle poop but so far they are not going into the cattle pasture unless they are stealing fodder in the morning.  

Baby Turkeys

Henny’s eggs started hatching.  Her nest was not in a good place for her to have her babies so I planned on waiting for one of my kids to help me move her into a “maternity pen”.  I couldn't wait for help. I am too impatient so I set up and moved the maternity ward pen by myself. Then I got brave and moved Henny and her poults to the new area. She was not happy with me - tried to bite me a couple times succeeded once. At first we had 11 baby turkeys and one working frantically to get out of its egg. Then Henny sat back on the eggs and told me to give her some privacy.

I was so thrilled.  Day old turkeys are easy to sell for $10 each.  I was thrilled.  One of my animals might actually start helping pay for herself!  I wanted to wait until they were at least a week old just because I have read that baby turkeys are so fragile.

13 poults hatched.  One died the first night.  The babies thrived.  The eggs that the other turkey hen put in her nest never hatched.  When the poults were 6 days old my son discovered 4 dead in the pen.  We cleaned out the pen, made sure the rest were healthy, and continued checking on them throughout the day.  One died after escaping the cage.  Everything was fine at 2:pm, then we got busy. 

When we went to feed the animals and put everyone in a pen for the night, we discovered 3 more dead.  Henny appeared to be trying to protect the poults from the wind by grabbing and stepping on the babies. 

We put the 4 surviving poults in a small cage with a heat lamp.  I was very worried when we went to check on the babies but they seem to be thriving. 

 

Brooding Turkeys

Our turkeys are amazing fun animals.  I do not know why everyone doesn’t have one.  They are so fun – we have only had them a few months so that opinion could change. 

When we got the turkeys, Penny, one started laying eggs the first day.  The problem was she would lay them in bad places.  When she lays the egg or makes the nest she looks like she is dying.  My cats have learned to leave turkeys and chickens alone but when they are laying with their neck stretched out flopping about in the dust one of the cats couldn’t help herself and jumped on the poor hens head.  The hen walloped her and the tom then chased her away from their area for a few days.  She also placed them under trees that cannot be fenced around or under a stack of building scraps.  We would find these eggs sometimes after they had been broken but IF we found a whole one we put it in the turkey coop and hopefully she would eventually start having eggs in there. 

The other hen, Henny, started laying eggs after they had been here about 10 days, in one of the nesting boxes we put in the turkey coop.  Yay! One of my animals is behaving properly.  After she laid 17 eggs she started sitting or brooding on the eggs.  She gets up once or twice a day to eat and drink then goes back to her nest.   One thing I started noticing was Penny would sit on top of Henny for a while and push her around and then walk away.  So I did an egg count when Henny was up for a short walk and we have 24 eggs in Henny’s nest.  Penny has been putting her eggs there!  Some of those eggs will take an extra week to hatch.  I could find nothing on the internet about if the last ones that were put there will hatch.  

We moved Penny into the chicken coop, gathered up all the eggs we could find of hers and put them in a nesting box in the chicken coop.  The first night Little Palm chirped and cried for hours.  The second night we put Palm into the chicken coop too.  At first the chickens were not real happy but when the temperatures dropped down at night they moved over on their roost so they could enjoy Palm’s extra heat.  

I am working on getting a camera again but it is back ordered.  

Where Is My Phone

It has been Spring Break here so the kids and I have no school or work.  It has been very nice.  I have been letting the kids sleep in.  Dakota and I go take care of the chickens, turkeys, and fodder.  It is not easy to be around the birds with my dog but he gets a nice walk and time with me.  Then I go back into the house to get at least one child to help with sheep.   The new sheep are not easy to care for yet.  The first 5 sheep are easier but still little buggers.  I occasionally get knocked over or a sheep runs off while we move them from the night area or day area.  Some days this week I have done the cattle by myself some days I do it with the kids.  Most mornings I have been doing the animals in the morning in my pajamas because of getting so dirty especially IF we are going to something where I dress nicely.

Friday, I wanted to have a fun family day.  Thursday night Stick Boy was up all night coughing so I wanted to let the kids sleep.  I don’t have any pockets in my PJ pants so I grabbed a shirt with a breast pocket and put my phone in it in case the kids woke up and had a problem they could call me.  I let the chickens out, let the turkeys out, got the fodder, put Dakota back in the house, and fed the cattle.  I woke up Teen Son and Pre Teen Daughter so they could help with the sheep.  As we finished moving the sheep, Tomas and Butterball came walking down to watch what we were doing.  I reached into my pocket for my phone to take a picture and NO PHONE! 

I ran around all the places I had been in the morning except the cattle pasture hoping it wasn’t in there.  NO LUCK

Pre Teen Daughter and I start walking through the pasture.  We can’t find it.  I ask Teen Son to call me and we hear the ring tone very faintly.  Pre Teen Daughter walks up to Onyx and pushes her back a little (yes Onyx is gentle enough my 76 lb daughter can push her around) and there is my phone.  Slightly scratched up but mostly useable.  

April Fools Day

I have a friend who’s family does April Fool’s Day right.  In my family we may say a few jokes but that is is.  My friend has 2 adult sons.  One of her son’s has his yard and home that everything is perfect in.  She and her other son bought 3 rabbits and painted their backs with 1, 2, and 4.   Her son called his mom in a panic he had caught 3 rabbits but couldn’t find #3. 

She bought 2 turkey babies and put them in her boyfriends office.  Her boyfriend is willing to keep either the rabbits or the turkeys not both.  She called me to see if we would take her turkeys.  Hmm will I?....

Of Course!

Sadly one of the turkeys died before we got it.  She brought over the turkey, a huge dog crate to keep it in, lots of baby turkey food.  We named it Butterball.  We think it is a Broad Breasted White.  It spent it’s first few days here in a large dog crate.  Then we started letting it out for short periods of time with our birds thinking it would be happy to hang out with our chickens that are about it’s size.  Butterball has no interest in the chickens but he/she is in LOVE with Tomas.  

The first time we let it out Tomas spent 30 minutes trying to herd Butterball back into it’s crate when Tomas realized it wouldn’t go in the crate he just started protecting it from the other birds. 

We have been letting Butterball out whenever we are out with the animals so we can hear if there is a problem.  He likes the turkey hens and when they are taking dirt baths he will go up and run his beak through their feathers.  Yesterday Teen Son forgot to put Butterball away when he was tired of watching him.  We were busy and left home for several hours and Butterball was healthy and happy when we got home to put the animals away.  Butterball will now be a free range bird with the rest of them and only spend nights in the dog crate.  

Turkeys

Tomas, our handsome man.  Male turkeys are the body builders of the poultry world.  He walks around puffed up all day.  

When I decided to get turkeys I did a lot of research.  You hear a lot of stories about people raising turkeys so large they can’t walk.  I didn’t want that.  Or they fly up onto a fence and when they go to fly off they fall and bruise the breast meat or break ribs.  Again didn’t want that. 

I like the idea of Heritage Animals, animals that can do what animals have been doing for centuries.  Have their own babies, eat, get fat, breed, and grow old without a lot of help from humans.  We chose our cattle breed for their personality traits, taste, milking ability, and mothering ability.  The sheep we chose for their cuteness – but if I do breed them Shetland sheep and Pelibuey Sheep are supposed to not need a lot of assistance giving birth and be disease resistant.  Heritage cattle and sheep are pretty much the same animals that could have come over with the pilgrims. 

So I looked up Heritage Turkeys and was shocked.  Most of the turkeys we buy at the grocery store are Broad Breasted Turkeys.  These turkeys have been raised to get big fast and have huge breasts, they have to be artificially inseminated.  They also are only meant to live to get big enough to be eaten so as they grow Broad Breasted Turkeys can lose the ability to walk. 

A Heritage Turkey must be able to breed, raise it’s own  young, walk throughout it’s life, they live 3-7 years, and take over 6 months to reach eating weight. 

Our turkey hen sharing her coop with the chickens while everyone is free ranging.  

Loving Spring

This week has been exceptionally warm.  The fodder sprouting beautifully, when we had the cold weather it was slow to sprout.  The turkeys love the fodder. 

The baby chickens are getting along wonderfully we have taken out the screen that divides them.  We have put the cage that holds the chickens inside the chicken coop that has the roosters in it.  Hopefully all the chickens will get used to each other and be able to be in one pen.

The cattle are in a pasture with a lot of grass in it right now but I am still giving them some fodder and hay to help the pasture last longer.  All the cattle except Onyx, our old Lowline Angus girl have been eating the fodder for weeks.  This week even in a pasture with a lot of grass Onyx started eating the fodder. 

The sheep are in an area with lush green grass and they don’t eat the hay or fodder we give them at night when we put them in their coyote proof enclosure. 

Life is beautiful in our corner of the world.  

I need to remember to reflect and be thankful. 

The Turkey Coop

We woke up to another cold wet rainy day.  Darling Husband needed to finish the turkey coop.  But, for some reason before he could start he and Teen Son needed to go to the feed store.  They came home with more chicks!  We don’t have a place for the turkeys and now we have more chickens???  They put the new baby chickens with the older baby chickens and the older chickens start pecking at the babies so we divided their cage by putting a screen in that has openings big enough for the baby chicks to go through if they want. 

The guys discovered that one of the turkey hens had laid an egg.  Teen Son was so excited to show it to us he tripped, dropped, and cracked it on the way to show it to us.

Then Darling Husband left to run some errands and one thing led to another and the turkey coop didn’t get finished until the next day.  It is beautiful!  If I had to do it again now that the turkeys are in it, it would be deeper (don’t tell DH that).  It is beautiful the turkeys are happy, since then we have 3 more eggs.

 One thing I will say is it is amazing how huge turkey poop is.