Started as a duck lady...

[silverlinings]

...and now I'm just a crazy bird lady

A friend of mine has been raising guineas, turkeys, ducks, chickens, goats, geese, and other animals for about 6 years now. I stopped by her house this morning to help bottle feed some of the kids and I mysteriously left with 2 poults. So, now I have Cosmo and Wanda. No idea if we actually have a hen and a tom but, here they are! My friend has Bourbon Reds (3 hens, 1 tom) and Royal Palms (2 hens, 1 tom) but only separated when the toms and hens started getting rowdy and going after one another. We aren't sure if they're pure, so I am very interested to see the results!

Anyway, thank you in advance for welcoming Cosmo & Wanda.

 

[Callender Girl]

Of course you left with Cosmo and Wanda -- they're adorable!

I think it's great to be able to pivot. I started with chickens. I saw a Craigslist ad from a breeder who had runner ducklings and added those. A couple of years later, I saw two lonely little goslings in a brooder at the feed store and brought them home.

I say, "Hurray for crazy bird ladies"!

 

[elorraine52]

agree with Callender Girls post!! i have had lots of birds over the years but now stick to chickens mainly as i have trouble keeping them safe from predators around. love them all though!!

 

[OklahomaYaYa]

Enjoy the turkeys! I've had chickens and ducks for years, even some geese one time (NEVER again)... and hub's let granbaby pick out 5 randomly chosen heritage breed turkey babies at Orschelns several weeks ago. They're fully fledged now, and two are toms - a Blue Slate and a Bourbon Red, a blue slate hen, and possibly two Narragansett hens.

Last weekend, the boys started strutting and strolling (About the size of a small volleyball when they do it), they're all trying to gobble and yelp... but their voices crack (Dorky teenagers) they go walking with me, with hubs... with anyone they 'know' from our household... so so cool to have them take to the air to catch up and fly past our heads, land in front of us, and start canvassing for bugs.

I wasn't expecting them to be so friendly and engaging when they came home. I've heard all the horror stories of toms attacking children and other chickens and pets, and they still have time to grow up to be jerks, but these seem genuinely people-oriented, curious, and friendly. I may... and don't tell my chickens this... I may enjoy interacting with them more than my chooks.

 

[silverlinings]

Enjoy the turkeys! I've had chickens and ducks for years, even some geese one time (NEVER again)... and hub's let granbaby pick out 5 randomly chosen heritage breed turkey babies at Orschelns several weeks ago. They're fully fledged now, and two are toms - a Blue Slate and a Bourbon Red, a blue slate hen, and possibly two Narragansett hens.

Last weekend, the boys started strutting and strolling (About the size of a small volleyball when they do it), they're all trying to gobble and yelp... but their voices crack (Dorky teenagers) they go walking with me, with hubs... with anyone they 'know' from our household... so so cool to have them take to the air to catch up and fly past our heads, land in front of us, and start canvassing for bugs.

I wasn't expecting them to be so friendly and engaging when they came home. I've heard all the horror stories of toms attacking children and other chickens and pets, and they still have time to grow up to be jerks, but these seem genuinely people-oriented, curious, and friendly. I may... and don't tell my chickens this... I may enjoy interacting with them more than my chooks.

Thank you! Haha at the never again comment for geese. My goslings follow me around the yard when I'm doing chores and it kills me the way they stick their little necks out and run around.

The turkeys are SO sweet. But, I know they've imprinted hard on my husband and I and I also know that makes it more difficult as they grow because they see you as a turkey and not a human I am looking forward to the antics! Already one of my little ones has been flying out of the brooder and greeting us on the bathroom floor when we walk in coming from someone who has only done a brooder for ducks and geese so far, I guess I didn't think about their ability to fly at such a young age!

I won't tell your chooks, your secret is safe with me