Butching Turkeys

Warning:

don't scroll down unless you want to see dead birds.

When we were at the fair Teen Son’s Ag teacher mentioned the person who had butchered the turkeys in the past was no longer available.  Teen Son found out it was $25  a bird to do the butchering and volunteered.  The problem is we are not real confident of the job we are doing!  So he gathered three friends, borrowed the pot a wonderful friend of ours uses to cook crawfish and got to work.  Well the kids got to work – I took pictures. 

 

The boys put the birds in a cut down traffic cone then cut the veins so the bird would bleed out.

 

One of the FFA girls older sisters knew what she was doing and gave lessons. 

 She sure did make the day so much easier!

They started doing the plucking with a plucker attached to a drill.  

These birds were 25 to 40 lbs and holding them in the air got old really fast.

 

The kids switched over to plucking by hand.

 

Posers!

 

Not to be out done by his big brother.

The first bird gook over 40 minutes and by the time we got down to the fourth turkey the kids had it down to 25 minutes.  4 kids working 25 minutes to earn $25.00 is not a great profit.  Teen son enjoyed doing the work and plans to raise a few turkeys to sell for Thanksgiving.  

Preditors and Lost Dogs

Our turkey, Palm, showed signs of distress (panting, wings puffed out) one morning.  I was busy and didn’t pay a lot of attention but Oldest Daughter called me very upset at how sick Palm was.  I stopped by the local feed store to see if they had any advice.  He said it sounded like Palm had been scared by something and to see how he was in the morning.  If he was still sick in the morning then it would be time for some medicine.  Oldest Daughter was not happy with my wait and see approach and wanted me to bring Palm into the house but by the time I got home Palm was resting happily on her perch and I was not going to move her.  Palm was fine in the morning.

The next day someone left our gate open and Luca escaped.  I chose Luca’s breed because it isn’t known to be runners like some of the Livestock Guardian Breeds are.  Luca checks on me every 20 to 30 minutes and often is by my side when we are outside.  I was very worried about him.  We put up signs and notified animal control.  He showed up sometime the next morning.  We were so relieved.

Here is Luca sleeping after being gone all day.  Dakota is waiting for him to want to play.

The next night Darling Husband and I were snuggled on the couch watching Alaska: The Last Frontier’s show on predators.  I got up to put on my pajamas and we joked about how lucky we were to have such a small predator load.  By the time I got upstairs I was hearing funny barking.  I called Luca and Tessa, Luca came from running from around the bird’s area and Tessa who never barks was barking by the sheep.   I got Darling Husband and a flash light and together we went to see what had the dogs so riled up.  We found Tessa between the sheep and an opossum.  We opened the gate to try to chase it through but it just hissed at us then Darling Husband grabbed a hoe to try to give it a little push.  In case you are wondering – BAD Idea.  The opossum grabbed a hold of the hoe and hissed and gnashed his teeth at Darling Husband.  We were worried about what it would do if it succeeded in getting into the birds coop so Darling Husband got the gun and shot it. 

 

We had a few peaceful days until New Years Eve.  At midnight a lot of fireworks and guns were shot off in the area.  Tessa ran up to look in my bedroom checked on the cats in the crate by my bedroom door and then ran off.  I got up and checked on her and she seemed ok and I did not bring her into the house.  Partying in our neighborhood, guns, and fireworks went on until 3:am New Years Morning.  I did not check on Tessa after the midnight blasts.  When we got up Tessa was gone.  

Thanksgiving Break

Shrew on her last day.

Shrew picking a fight.

We bought a turkey The Shrew to replace our female turkeys that had been eaten by the coyotes.  The Shrew was a nasty mean bird who killed a baby turkey and would pluck the feathers off of any bird she could get near.  We decided to butcher her for Thanksgiving.  In the weeks leading up to butchering time I watched a lot of Youtube videos on how to butcher a turkey.  Finally the day arrived and Teen Son, his friend, and I got to work.  We hung the shrew upside down slit her throat and let her bleed out.  Plucked her and then cleaned out her insides.  It was not as bad as I worried it would be.  2 days later we cooked her for Thanksgiving – she was tough but delicious. 

The Shrew was a nasty bird and she was only 6 lbs it's a lot of work but not horrible.

Part of the Thanksgiving gathering.

 We went to a friends for Thanksgiving.  We had a wonderful time and stayed after dark and the sheep were still out.  When we got home we all went in different directions to find the sheep, feed the cattle, take care of the dogs, put the cats away, take care of the fodder.  We found the sheep near the top of the property and they were feeling full of piss and vinager jumping, skipping, and running.  The sheep ran down to the sheep pen then turned and charged the fence to the cow pasture.  The cows didn’t like the sheep running towards them so they charged the fence.  Our young heifer, April, didn’t stop in time.  

April eating happily after she recovered.

The spot where April got stuck.  The new silver is an old gate we "fixed" the hole in the fence with.

We have a telephone pole laying against the fence and she slipped over the pole and against the fence and ended up trapped on her side between the pole and the fence.  It was 9: and very dark, the wire cutters were not where we thought they were the other cattle were mooing and stomping around us.  I turned the flashlight on my phone and held it in my mouth and got the hay and fodder to the rest of the fodder while Darling Husband took the good flashlight to find some wire cutters, and Teen Son tried to keep April calm.  Finally we got the fence cut and April free.  She refused to eat and walked with a limp but she didn’t seem hurt otherwise. 

Getting the sheep used to Tessa.

Every day of Thanksgiving Break we worked with the dogs and sheep.  Our sheep love to run and dogs even Livestock Guardian Dogs love to chase.  Luca is a really young dog to be trusted with the sheep.  Tessa a young Anatolian Sheppard is intense.  She likes to follow them at a distance of 30 to 50 feet and they like to run so she kept them running.  Every day we would put Blackwell, Hotrod, and sometimes another sheep on leads and the Guardian Dogs on leashes and walk first one dog then the other.  After a couple hours we walked the sheep without the dog on a lead.  That worked great until we added 2 dogs.  When Thanksgiving Break ended we were able to allow both dogs and all the sheep to free range.  It is so nice when things work.

A silly Pielbuey

The sheep have anywhere on the property to go so why are they stealing the cattle's food?

Problems with Birds

We love having the birds roam the property during the day.  When I picture free ranging birds I picture the chickens and turkeys playing in the trees, going through the bushes, grabbing bugs out of the leaves that have fallen under the trees, I never imagined they would choose to spend time in my husband’s shop.  One problem with this we never know where they will lay their eggs, again I thought the birds would make beautiful nests.  We are getting about 2 eggs a day from our 4 chickens in the coop. 

 

Sometimes, we find a new nesting spot. 

The turkeys making sure the car gets cleaned properly.

We do not like the new turkeys we bought.  Shrew who I thought would calm down attacks all the other birds.  One afternoon we found Lolita hiding under a tree with all the feathers on her back pulled out.  She had huge holes under her wings, we thought she may have gotten attacked by a coyote.  When we put the turkeys in the pen Shrew went after Lolita.  So we put Lolita in a separate cage thinking she would spend time in the laundry room but as soon as she was away from the other birds she cried like we were torturing her.  Soon she healed enough to let her out.  One morning a few days after I was letting all the turkeys free range again I walked outside to a huge fight going on between Lolita and Shrew.  We put Lolita back into small cage and Shrew started attacking all the other birds.  Right now Shrew is being kept in a cage separate from the other birds hopefully soon she will be ready for Camp Freezer.  Lolita has healed but she will often lay next to Shrew’s cage and let Shrew pull her feathers out.

Palm likes to supervise the guys working

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.  

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.  

Turkeys!

The day finally arrived to pick up the turkeys.  The turkey coop isn't ready yet.  No surprise there.  It started pouring the night before we were supposed to pick them up.  I got an email from their owner they had snow during the night so we need 4 wheel drive to make it to her house now or maybe we should wait for better weather.  OK. 

Darling Husband has no work that day because of the rain he thinks he will finish the turkey coop before we leave so I should not put off picking up the birds.  This means we are putting the turkeys in the suburban instead of the back of Darling Husband’s truck.  We take the back seat out of the suburban and go to put the animal crate in the suburban and it will not fit.  We once again empty out the cat’s night time enclosure because that will fit in the suburban. 

We pick up youngest son from school and head out on our adventure.  As soon as we get up in the mountains we realize the heater we just had fixed isn't working.  Fortunately the suburban has a heater in the back so that keeps us from freezing.  We used Darling Husbands sweater to wipe the windshield every few minutes. 

It’s snowing, very cold, windy, and muddy at the house we pick up the turkeys.  We get 2 hens and a tom.  They are beautiful. 

The problem with Darling Husband building a coop on a rainy wet day is it is rainy and muddy where we are building the coop.  He has other things he can do without getting muddy and wet.  So we get home and NO the coop isn't finished.  It is raining and wet so we put the turkeys in a safe temporary place and go into the house.