Picture Time!

Billy hates standing still
I love the hair on his nose!

 All the goats & Billy are in their winter wollies, it's so cute!

Surv wouldn't look up from dinner
for me

Diego wouldn't back up for me to
get a good picture of him

This took 5 minutes of me running
away from him & trying to focus the cam

He got a bum scratch
knees right too the ground,
too funny

Yankey's favourite expression!
Love her little face, and her beard

Harry was upset I was trying to get
pictures of Surv.

The Fox & the Stork

Lots of people ask whether or not you can keep turkeys & chickens together. My experience says yes, but you probably shouldn't.

I've found the turkeys grow up to be jocks, and they will go after the little nerdy chickens.

The turkeys require different management then our chickens. They remind me of the Aesop's fable of the fox and the crane. The chickens love to scratch in the litter and slurp up their little nuggets of food. The turkeys with their long neck & bills would rather eat out of a container so they can get a mouth full.

I am NOT going out there!

My chickens will NOT go out their door below about -5C, but the turkeys are out running around on the coldest days, playing in the snow looking for food.

The turkeys are stronger fliers and they really like to roost way up high. They're much happier in the barn rafters, wild turkeys roost in trees overnight.

There are also lots of concerns for turkeys over black-head, because it doesn't affect the chickens, only the turkey but they can both carry it. I have found this to be less of a problem then the different behavioural and managements practices that the birds need.

Regular maintenance

What an impressed chicken
looks like

All better

I try to throw a little hand-full into the nest boxes at least once a week, but eventually the poop builds up and I have to clean them out completely.

You can get your chickens to stop sleeping in the nest-boxes by cutting off access to them over night. I'd rather clean them out every now and again then get up at 5am for a few weeks to open their nests back up before they wake up.

That's why they are pooping in the nest boxes, because they are sleeping in them.

So when I start getting overly dirty eggs in the house it's time for a big clean out. It's gross, and messy but the girls always appreciate the effort.

I just scoop what in the nest boxes out onto the coop floor, then the next day I'll make sure to throw a little feed on top, so the girls mix it in to the rest of the bedding very quickly.

Love it when a plan comes together!!

Up in the rafters is really where
turkeys want to be

Friday during the snow storm the turkeys went out on a little walk, and decided it was so slippery they didn't want to go back to the coop; and I couldn't be happier about it.

Now that the turkeys have moved into the barn I've got a whole little "bachelor pad" area to keep Jr. Roo in. Then I just add in the hens I want to breed & voila!

Moved right on in!

We'll have to find a spot for Uggo, he's still not big enough to make a meal out of (and maybe at this point he never will be); but he's almost old enough to breed so I want him away from the ladies. 

Ever seen a Rooster smile before?
He's pretty happy!!

The turkey are happier way up high in the barn rafters anyway; it's closer to where they would naturally roost in trees. Of course they decide this after I finally figure out the perfect system for keeping their water running.

The chief-in-resident is not quite as pleased
but he's still got his huge harem, so not much to
complain about!

 Junior Roo is very happy with the changes. I've given him the for marran ladies (he is a cuckoo marran himself), the BPR and the 3 black stars. In a couple weeks when they've flushed out all of Big Nasty's sperm we should have some eggs I'd really like to hatch.

Course it will still be mid-winter, so that may have to wait a while longer. 

Ladies weren't too pleased with the catch
and release, but they seem to like their new digs okay.

Andy

I just want to squish is little face and call him Andy Dandy Candy, but I think he's the butchest animal on the farm!

My brave protectors

In case you notice one of the dogs is missing, that is because she is hiding behind my car, from the sheep...

What's all this fuss about?

ANDY!
Andy is a 200lb Suffolck, Rideau something-or-other almost 3 year old whether. You can't tell from the picture, but he's about the size of our water tank! Or, I'm 5'2" and is back is almost up to my hip.

Maddie was the bravest of the bunch!
See Meg in the back FREAKING OUT!

Or, according to the horses, the size of a small bear.

Yankey testing the waters.

Andy is the biggest sweetheart cuddle bug! Yanks immediately tried to tell him his place. I can say quite a few things about Yankey, but the girl has balls...

Show off

Meg proceeded to freak out for about 20 minutes, she's been living with goats and sheep and all sorts of animals for months now and this GIANT sheep was one over the line.

I should scare her with sheep more often

But I finally have a NICE photo of the surprisingly most un-photogenic horse in the world! She's stunning in person, especially when she starts showing off, but get the camera our and she starts standing weird, or sticking her tongue out or manure spots will magically grow on her side.

One lonely sheep + one lonely sheep
apparently =
one sheep scared poopless
and one wandering around asking the ducks
to be his new friends

Billy isn't so thrilled with his new friend right away, Andy is like 3x his size; but I'm sure by the end of a few days they'll be cuddled up in the straw together, best friends for life!

Buuuurgers!

Home-made burgers are AMAZING!!

We had our ground-beef ground medium (another bonus of having your own!) so it's very nice and juicy. I've learned the simplest recipe is the best with these. They get a little minced garlic & onion, an egg and a good helping of bread-crumbs.

I had a hard time getting the patties to stay together at first, and more bread-crumbs was the answer.

I also picked up these delicious ciabatta buns from Independent (Loblaws), with a little dijon, ketchup, baby spinach, red onion, fresh tomato... it makes quite the burger!!

And for those who like to claim you can't afford good food, one of these babies costs less then $2 and one will fill you up. WAY better tasting then a fast food burger, and less fat, no added salt (except the condiments), no added sugar. Just good food.

We might need to have these for dinner again tonight now.

Quite the farm dog

Gettin' in trouble

Learning his boundaries

Pooped from a hard days' work!

Loving farm life.