#poultry2020

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The turkeys have gotten pretty large (chicken for scale) and we have decided not to eat them this year. We can’t be hosting big holiday gatherings while the Plague continues, and we have a male and a female, so we’re going to let them raise next year’s dinners.

The tom is called Thanksgiving and the hen is called Christmas. They are very entertaining, curious and bold, and seem to take care of themselves pretty well. They sleep outside, on the fence or in a tree, but our winters are mild and I think they’ll do all right. We might try building them some shelter, but I bet they won’t use it if we do.

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Early evening checking on birds. The chickens were optimistic, but alas, I did not bring them snacks. Turkeys chilling on the fence.

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He’s right behind you!

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We're going to sell a few of the teenaged chickens. Really we have more than we needed anyway, but the three we've set aside were selected for their annoying tendency to roost up a tree with the turkeys.

The Dominique is looking like he's probably a rooster. We do not need two roosters, but he's gonna be SO pretty. We may sell him later, but we're putting off the decision.

Pictured: The GOOD, well behaved Leghorns, making progress integrating into the adult flock.

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A guy emailed me yesterday about buying eggs, and he wanted to know whether we care for our chickens in their old age, or just keep them while they're young and productive and then get rid of them.

Loaded question, eh? Like when somebody very formally asked my dairy boss what she did with the male calves. They're expecting a bad answer, and planning to be mad at you about it if you aren't sufficiently virtuous, by their standards. Or maybe they're just curious how it works - possibly.

I told him I definitely have a few older ladies (heck, they've got to be about 4 now? Old by production hen standards) who have a place here as pets for as long as they're living well, but that I'm less sentimental about the younger ones, and I won't promise I'll never put one in the stew pot.

But then, "get rid of them" - is he worried about what might happen after that? So I also reassured him that, if I ever do decide I can't afford to feed an unproductive bird, or have any that aren't enjoying a good quality of life due to age or illness, they would never end up abandoned or neglected or taking up resources as a rescue. Because I will put them down myself if that ever happens. That's the most responsible thing.

I doubt that's what he wanted to hear. It's also not as black and white as I think the question implied.

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I just had to go save the turkeys from their dumb choices. It is raining. It has been raining all day, and it is not warm. The turkeys have been in their pen for a couple of days bc they keep trying to sleep on the fence, and the young chickens go with them when they do. We let them out a couple of hours ago to roam, and see if they would go back on their own, but as the sun set, there they were, on the fence, huddled against the cold wind and rain.

They have a dry pen, with a nice roosting bar! It’s out of the wind, and has a roof! But no. So I grabbed one under each arm and took them home, shut them in. As soon as I picked them up, all three started making “oh no! where are you? we are separated!” noises. As I went back for the third one, it hopped down off the fence and started wandering around, looking for its friends in entirely the wrong places, not remotely where their sounds were coming from. It also kept making sad searching noises, and I worried about catching it. Probably should have done this later, when they were more asleep.

But Omie to the rescue! She was with me, being good & not chasing any birds (too distracted by that new rabbit, perhaps). As the lost turkey circled the small coop, looking for chicken friends, I was able to send Omie around the opposite way I went, and we got the turkey in the alley between the coop and the fence. Then she calmly moved it down towards me, and I just picked it up!

I told her how good she was, but I was also holding a calling turkey, so I hope I got the message across strongly enough! This is exactly how I want her working with birds - calmly, intelligently, and not until asked. So good.

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#6: Turklings, approaching gangliness.

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So, the mystery of "Does it seem like we're getting less eggs? I feel like we're getting less eggs than we should be" is solved 🙄