Video Sunday

OK, everyone starts to take a back seat when baby lambs are born, but I want to introduce you to my silly chickens. Larry buys production chickens - our first year were all Production Reds. Each year, we'll get a new breed of production chickens that are a different color, so that when they stop laying, we know which ones are how old. Next years are Black Sex Link (you'll see them in a second) I get funny chickens - I pick ones that lay eggs well, but then I just pick them because they are pretty. First, I got Americaunas - they lay green eggs. Then I got Buff Cochins, but the hatchery sent us BANTAMS, which are mini chickens. Silly. I still want my Silver Lakenvelders, but they are rare and hard to find. So this time, I got the birds below.


This is an Ancona. They are going to be mostly black with white spots when they grow up. This one has a pronounced comb, I think it's a rooster!


This is a Buff Minorca. She's going to be tall and skinny and golden colored, as opposed to my Buff Cochins who are short and fat and super fluffy.

Whenever you order stranger breeds, like the birds I like, they ask if you are willing to take substitutions, that's fine with me. And it looks like they couldn't complete my order - so I got an extra Americauna!!

These are our Thanksgiving turkeys! The turkeys are super mobile and tend to stay together. They are great foragers - but for now, because of their size, they have to stay in a pen. This keeps predators away from them. They are almost too tall to be in here, so soon, they will be let loose. In with them, are the Black Sex Link egg layers. They have to be penned, too, to protect from predators. They could easily be taken by a hawk or an owl at this small size. They are also eating different feed than our production reds, because they are so young. Once they are big enough, and are on the same feed, we will put them in with the rest of the egg layers.

These are our kitties. Natasha sometimes lets me be her friend. Today she did not. She might not have liked the camera flash and decided to hide today. But I did catch the two of them snuggled up on a doggie bed, taking an afternoon nap together. Natasha in the front, Marie in the back.

I thought I'd let you meet our Double Breasted Bronze turkeys. This is the BIG Tom. He likes to strut his stuff. There are 2 things they didn't do in the video. They didn't gobble. These guys gobble ALL THE TIME, but of course not when I am filming. They also didn't do any mating, which is fine. Those poor girls get attacked all the time, poor things! We have 8 left, of the 15 that made it to adult-hood (some illness and injury) We don't have enough room in our freezer, so these guys are spared, for now. Won't someone buy a turkey?

Here are Charlie Brown and Linus getting a little lunch from momma Shirley. I think you can see Velma and Laverne in the background. Anyhow, these guys sure have cute tails, but we actually have to dock them. It doesn't seem to hurt them - it didn't bother Lenny and Squiggy. We put an elastic band around it, and eventually it falls off. If we don't - they can have feces caught up in their tails and end up with maggots in their bum. I'd rather dock their tails!!

These are the Thanksgiving turkeys. They are noisy. And boy are they growing fast! They have a long way to go and a short time to get there. Thanksgiving is coming soon! Lots of folks have already signed up to buy these guys!