Lesson Learned

If you decide to try raising turkeys, then here's a piece of advice: buy a lot of them.

I don't necessarily say that because they're all going to keel over and die on you (you may lose a few though; most folks do), but because turkeys are amazing to have when it comes to trading and selling. 

I bought 10 poults (baby turkeys) back in June, but lost 4 during growing season. The remaining 6 turkeys sold like hotcakes and I have had an overwhelming flood of interest from local people all clamoring for a Thanksgiving bird (alas, I had none left to sell). And mind you, I didn't sell these cheaply... More than that, I traded a turkey for some electrified netted fencing, and have had so many other people ask to trade things for a turkey. I had people offer lambs, goats, calves, misc. livestock supplies... The market was wide open. I am kicking myself for raising such a small number of turkeys this year, but I will be prepared for next year. Next year, I will have turkeys for sale and for trade. Who says legal tender comes only in the form of a paper bill? I've found some in the form of gobbling feathers. 

My last turkeys were butchered this morning, and I was sad to see them go. I adored the turkey's docile (if somewhat dim-witted), yet curious nature. Although, wrangling a 15 lb. bird who doesn't wish to be picked up does leave something to be desired... But I hear that turkeys can be herded, so next year I'll just have to make sure that I have a dog to help me with moving the butterballs. 

Despite the groans from many people over my choice of turkey breed, I went with the Broad Breasted White for my first time. This is like the cornish cross of the turkey world; they're huge, they can't mate naturally, they need a high-octane feed to make them grow, and as most folks say, "they just aren't "natural"!" I heard a lot of stories from people saying how terrible their BB whites were, how they wouldn't forage, etc. but I'm just going to shrug my shoulders here. My birds did awesome. I bought them from a bad hatchery (lesson learned there, too), so that's probably the reason why I lost 4 poults right off the bat, but all the rest were fabulous; foraging like nothing else, and just being turkeys. Lately I've been thinking about trying some heritage breeds next year... As great as the BB Whites were, I always like to keep on trying new things. That, and I just can't resist the available breeds over at Porter's Turkeys. I mean, how can one NOT resist a turkey that goes by the name of 'Sweetgrass', 'Fall Fire', 'Harvest Gold', or 'Tiger Bronze'??? One of my reasons for choosing a white bird on my first try was because I was sick to death of colored birds. I had slaughtered well over 5,000 turkeys while working at the processing facility and 3/4's of that number were dark colored, heritage breeds. Utter nightmare to pluck, let me tell you... Even while taking my last turkeys to the facility today, I got a lot of happy exclamations from the workers over the feather color on my birds. White birds! Yes, yes, yes!! But now that I'm thinking about raising some heritage breeds, I think I will at least stick with the lighter colored ones. No black turkeys for this girl...

Just today, I had three different people ask me if I had any more turkeys for sale... I've been hearing this question for two months now and have sadly had to turn people away. Why did I wait so long to start raising these birds? I really didn't think there were that many people in my area who would willingly pay $60 to $80 for a holiday centerpiece, but I have found differently. I also just learned of a local farmer who charges  $200 to $350 per turkey, and they sold out before they even bought their poults!!!! Holy kohlrabi. 

I'm not writing this post as some sort of hype; trying to give y'all the idea to raise turkeys as a get-rich-quick scheme. I think this has a lot to do with locality, and I just happen to be in a very good county that embraces local food (at any cost I might add...). But for years I have heard stories from people saying that turkeys were terrible to raise. I would like to take a moment here and say "Bah-humbug" to those stories. My turkeys were wonderful.

Lesson learned: Turkeys are quite enjoyable, and I did not raise enough of them this year!

Dead Turkeys, Hatching Eggs, and Cycling Cows

The day is only half over and already I am tuckered out, and desire to simply curl up with a warm blanket and a River Cottage episode. Maybe I'll do that later... Hmm, and perhaps even with a cup of homemade hot chocolate? Okay, the deal is sealed. Once I'm done with this here post, you'll find me in the living room oblivious to the rest of the world with the laptop sitting in front of me and a cuppa' beside me. I'm easy to please. :)

I got up earlier than usual this morning to milk the cow and goats before the day's adventure began. Normally I milk the cow first, and then do the goats last, but whenever I milk early, I have to reverse the order and do goats first. Mattie (cow) refuses to get up before the sun has risen, and unfortunately that doesn't happen until 7:30 these days! You can push, prod, plead, threaten, beg, and curse all you want with that cow; if the sun isn't up, then she ain't movin'. On the days when I have no choice but to milk her in the dark (not that it's dark in the barn, seeing as I have lights galore!), I have to wake her up 30 minutes prior to her turn (this gives her time to ponder getting up), wait for her to slowly get up, stretch herself like a cat, go potty (this one is imperative; the rubber floors in my milk parlor don't drain very well), drink 10 gallons of water, go potty a second time (seriously Mattie??? Can't you do it all in one round??), give a few grunts of either happiness or displeasure (depends on the time), and THEN she's ready. What do you mean she's got me wrapped around her finger hoof? 

Milking chores were done hurriedly today (as much as one can hurry with a cow like mine!), since I had to be in Willamina at 8:45am, and I was hauling four turkeys with me. Today was the day: The turkeys were going on their last voyage and their destination was the slaughter house. [enter Beethoven's 5th symphony]

As many times as I've raised poultry for meat, I'm always anxious on slaughtering day, wondering if my birds would weigh enough. I told my customers this year that I was hoping for 15 lb. turkeys, but part of me was nervous... What if they don't weigh enough? What if they weigh *too* much? What if something's wrong with one of them? I don't have any extras! 

It's hard to entertain worrisome thoughts though when you're busy trying to catch your victims. Still in their 10'x12' chicken tractor, I wondered just what I would do if they scurried to the farthest corner of the heavy, covered pen. I really didn't want to be crawling on my hands and knees inside a 2' tall structure that was covered from a day's worth of turkey manure. I may be a farm girl, but even I have my limits. Thankfully, since the turkeys had been on a 24 hour fast (necessary for all animals about to be slaughtered), they were more than happy to come right up to me. And they still kept approaching after I whisked them away one by one. Can't decide if that's lack of brains there, or a case of well-socialized birds... Although the term "bird brain" had to come from somewhere I suppose... Hmm, well that's something to ponder with the hot chocolate later. 

When the turkeys were all loaded up into the back of our little pickup truck, I was an utter wreck. My birds were muddy from the heavy rains we've had, and they shared their war paint quite generously with me. Oh well; I was just going to a processing facility, not church. I was delighted however, to find that turkeys travel amazingly well. Accustomed to the cackling of chickens, and dramatic wails of the goats, the turkeys surprised me by simply plunking their chubby selves down and staying stock still for the 15 minute drive. 

After the turkeys were dropped off, we came back home since it would be an hour before my birds were done. When we finally went back, I was dismayed to see that all of my birds were neatly wrapped except one. Since I used to work at this facility, I knew that an unwrapped bird meant something was wrong and the business manager needed to discuss the problem with the owner. I could see large purple blotches all over the breast of the hunk of meat, but other than that it looked normal. The business manager came up and motioned me to come over to the problem bird. It turns out that it wasn't anything hugely terrible. One bird had a broken wing and some bruising on the skin. The meat was in perfect condition, but on the outside my bird didn't look so great. The wing was thoroughly checked for any signs of gangrene or other infections from the break, but there was nothing, save a few blood clots. Personally, I can't help but wonder if this break didn't occur today. One of the workers pulled my turkeys roughly out of the truck and put them in a waiting pen, and it just so happens that he grabbed the birds right where the break was on the condemned turkey.. The broken bone looked too fresh to be something that happened while it was on my property anyway. Oh well; what's done is done. All the turkeys dressed out great, weight wise. They're all within a few ounces range of 15 lbs. some slightly over that, and some slightly under. I'm taking the last two to be butchered on the 13th; these two needed to gain a bit more weight (they're hens, and thus smaller) so they stayed behind. 

By the time I got home, it was 10am and I wasn't even finished with barn chores. The layers and meat birds had to be fed, Mattie had knocked over the water buckets again, the hay manger was empty, and I had to feed the remaining turkeys. Halfway through barn chores, I saw our mail lady drive up with a package. Surprise, surprise, it was for me! My Pumpkin Hulsey hatching eggs had arrived! :) The eggs all look great from the outside; I'll candle them in a few days to see what I can see. All total I got 11 Pumpkin Hulsey eggs, and then 1 surprise Swedish Flower egg. My incubator is being fired up as we speak (er, as I write this and then as you read it, I guess), and the eggs will be put in there tomorrow morning. And then we have the long, slow, boring wait of something like 27 days before the eggs hatch. [faints dramatically]

After the eggs were dealt with, I went BACK outside yet again to finish up barn chores! It was getting quite close to 11am now and the laying pullets hadn't been fed!! Slogging out in my filthy clothes, I momentarily grinned at my dirty state. You eventually hit the point where you're so dirty that you really don't care if you get any dirtier since it won't even show. You gotta' love that, right? Finally, all the poultry were fed, the ruminants had their hay and water, and everyone was tended to.

And then there was Peaches...

Oh goodness me.

My dear little heifer is experiencing her first heat cycle today. In other words, she wants a bull, and she wants one BAD. She's eleven months old now, which is a little early for a heifer to be cycling (or for a Guernsey cross anyway) but Peachy seems to be doing it despite what the books say. Her main victim is Mattie, as the determined heifer repeatedly tries to mount her. Mattie is not impressed and  turns to face the impudent youth. Peaches ignores the hint that her forwardness isn't wanted and simply trots to the south end of her elder again and tries once more to mount Mattie. Actually, Peaches is mounting just about anything she can, from the hay manger, to trying to get the goats and sheep. If you stand outside the barn, you'll hear a lot of bumping and banging against the metal walls. No, there's no construction work going on inside, it's just my antsy heifer. Oh Peach cow... Darling, I wasn't planning on having you bred until July of 2013! But aside from her rambunctious behavior today, Peaches has been as good as gold. She just recently went through a growth spurt (last week I think it was...) and she now stands just slightly taller than Mattie. Okay, so Mattie is a seriously short cow to begin with, but something tells me that Peaches is going to be a downright giraffe in stature. Mattie is my elephant, and Peaches will be the giraffe; Hm, methinks I have a nice little zoo starting here! LOL. 

So now I'm tuckered and craving bitter hot chocolate. My day has been full of dead turkeys, hatching eggs, cycling cows, elephants, and giraffes. Sheesh, no wonder I'm tired...

Off I go now to watch some River Cottage! 

Free Range

The turkeys are being free ranged right now, although it was not my decision...

They're loving their freedom, and I have to admit that it's kind of fun to see the mob of them running around like the prehistoric nerds that they are.

And why are they free ranging if it's against my wishes? Sigh... Dear friends, Heidi the goat has finally taken her wrath out upon my chicken tractor...

And it now looks like this:

Believe it or not, it's actually not supposed to have those rips, or the broken top bar, or the bowed in sides, or the mangled chicken wire. Nope, it used to look pretty nice.

This is not the first time Heidi has assaulted my chicken tractors. One of the reasons why I hated this year's batch of meat birds so much was because of Heidi. She was continuously busting into them and eating the chicken feed as well as injuring birds. I have duct taped, stapled, screwed, zip tied, and nailed my poor tractors back together more times than I can count... Heidi is such a greedy creature that no barrier can stop her when she smells chicken feed. In today's case, when she found that I cleverly put the feeder at the back of the tractor where she couldn't reach it, she decided to climb on top of the tarp and get in that way. Apparently the tarp couldn't handle 200 lbs. of caprine. 

So it is now demolished... My lovely chicken tractor... Finished. Darn that goat. 

Thankfully, I have some sweet new friends nearby who offered a grand barter: I'm helping them build a website (Goat pedigrees and HTML codes: those two things I can quote in my sleep) and in exchange they are building me an authentic Joel Salatin styled chicken tractor. You know, those fancy ones with the metal on the top and sides instead of a cheap tarp? Yeah, that one. ;) 

Having a new, armored chicken tractor is going to help things immensely around here, but I think it's high time I stopped avoiding the inevitable and realize that Heidi really needs to go to a home that doesn't have chicken feed at such close range... My Nubians respect boundaries very easily; the La Mancha cross does not. And chicken feed is ridiculously expensive. :( 

This morning I filled the turkey's feeder half way up. Two hours later I found the wreckage and a feeder that had been licked clean. Observe:

Somethin' has to happen here. Either the goat has to go, or this farm girl needs to permanently give up poultry of every kind. And somehow I don't think I can do without the poultry...

P.S. Did you notice my pathetic grass??? Even Oregon is now being touched by the drought! I'm praying for rain! 

The Turkeys

It has come to my attention that I haven't mentioned my turkeys since they got here! Time for an update!

I lost one poult straight off the bat on the first night, but other than that they have been superb! They have been the funniest little peepers, and I laugh every day because of them. Most mornings I try and sneak up to the brooder box while they're still sleeping; I'll softly whisper "Morning turkey birds!" and with that, there is a stampede of nine fuzzballs that remind me of tiny velociraptors. I really enjoy showing them to visitors since they will come running when they see a hand, whereas the chickens will run away.

In the thought of raising more of these birds, I really hope that I end up liking them. It makes more monetary sense to raise turkeys over chickens in my state since Oregon only allows one thousand birds to be grown and sold on a small farm. And when a chicken sells for $14.50 (my price this year) and a turkey sells for $60.00 (again, my price), it *does* make more sense to raise one thousand turkeys instead of chickens. But it's still a thought. We'll see how these turkeys do before I make any decisions. 

Sorry about the scarcity of posts lately! Things have been crazy lately as I am --- hmm, shall we say planning something? ;) Changes are a'coming dear friends. 

Turkeys Are Here!

I'm too tuckered right now to think up any clever title for this post, so I shall be blunt. Turkeys are here!!

This is my first try at turkeys, so I ordered the oh-so-small amount of 10 little poults. I was slightly wigging out this morning since the post office hadn't called yet, but the poults were *supposed* to arrive today! I called both the post office, and the hatchery and got brushed off by both. The poults would get here when they got here. Nice customer service there...

11:45AM came and while madly chasing cornish crosses around the pasture in an attempt to catch them (Heidi decided she wanted to eat chicken feed and totaled a chicken tractor), the poults made their arrival right along with a student who was here for a spinning lesson. Oy. Can things get any crazier? 

So the turkeys were hurriedly placed in the brooder, the chickens caught, and I go running up to the house gasping for breath and hoping that this lady wouldn't be scared off by a wild-haired girl who spends more time in the company of chickens, then she does with humans. Thankfully she did not seem to mind me being her teacher. Either that or she thought it was some sort of "quaint and rustic" adventure. Hmm.

Once the spinning lesson was over and I voraciously ate some lunch, I went back out to see my new additions to GSF. They are *SO* cute!! I'm trying to enjoy them as much as possible, since I'm sure I'll probably end up disliking them by the time October comes (their big date for the freezer). They're a lot different from chicks, and I must say that so far I like them better. They're curious and friendly little things that twitter ever so quietly, and they fall asleep in your hand. :)

Maybe I'll try and get a video of these tiny birds later...